Small Town Smokeshow

He's got a reputation a mile wide, a smile that could burn through any girl's good sense, and did I mention he's also the man my sister once loved and left behind?

He strolls through town like he owns it, tips his hat with a promise in his eyes, and slides those calloused hands across my bakery counter like they haven't been haunting my dreams for years. He's six feet of pure temptation wrapped in worn Wranglers, and every time I'm near him, it's like striking a match during a drought...

Dangerous, inevitable, and exactly what I shouldn't want.

I try to convince myself I don't notice the way his gaze lingers, or the way he says my name as if he's tasting it. But all my good intentions crumble to dust when we find ourselves alone under a sky full of stars with nothing but whiskey and want between us.

And it changes everything.

We promise each other we're just having fun, yet his fingertips brush across my skin when no one's watching, and we pretend we don't ache for each other in a room full of people who would never understand. Every kiss stays in the dark, every desire whispered like a secret, and every touch brands me with guilt.

I know better than to fall for a cowboy like him.

I know better than to want my sister's past.

But when his eyes find mine, I forget every reason I've ever had to say no.

Every touch feels like a risk and every secret like a countdown. I'm lying to everyone, falling harder for a man who never promised me anything, and wondering how much longer I can pretend I don't care whether I'm just another notch on his well-worn belt.

Because I'm in love with Hunter Calloway regardless of the cost.