Mountain Man's Winter Sunshine

A grumpy firefighter. A fake romance that burns real.

I came to Wildwood Valley to disappear.
To escape a controlling mother, an ex who wouldn’t take no for an answer, and a life that felt suffocating before I was even living it. Slipping behind the bar at a mountain town roadhouse was supposed to be temporary—just long enough to breathe again.

Then he walked through the door.
Not the man I was running from. The one who watched me from the corner booth every night. Silent. Intense. A grumpy firefighter with dark eyes and a permanent scowl that made my pulse trip every time they lingered on me.

I told myself I didn’t notice him.
I lied.

When my past catches up with me at the Roadhouse, panic takes over. I need protection—fast. And the most dangerous-looking man in the room is Briggs. Six feet of muscle, bad attitude, and barely contained heat.

So I climb into his lap and beg him to play along.
One whispered please changes everything.
He calls me his without hesitation. Puts himself between me and the world like it’s instinct. And suddenly, the man who’s been watching me for weeks isn’t pretending anymore.

But I’ve spent too long being someone’s project. Someone’s sensible choice. Trust doesn’t come easy.
Briggs has one night to prove that he doesn’t want to save me.
He wants to keep me.