Prologue
Arizona
Someone pinch me. I had to be dreaming.
How could this be real life?
There was no place for someone like me in Jameson Fisher’s world.
Living in a small town where everyone knew everyone, I was the girl who blended in—just another face in the hallway, a person he’d pass without a second thought. I kept my distance from the ‘popular’ crowd, and the idea of Jameson even noticing me? That was a fantasy, a dream I never dared to entertain.
So, you can imagine my shock when he asked me to dance at our high school’s semi-formal.
I had been standing off to the side, talking with a few friends, when the football team—usually loud and boisterous—suddenly broke into a thunderous cheer. The players rushed toward a girl one by one, pulling them onto the dance floor. And then, in a move that felt as unreal as it was sudden, Jameson slipped his arm around my back and led me into the center of the gym.
For a moment, I was frozen, unsure of what was happening. It was as if the entire room had tilted on its axis. The world spun around me, and I struggled to find footing in this new, unexpected reality.
A slow, soft musical beat filled the gymnasium, reminiscent of a lullaby that made everything feel hazy and surreal. We shuffled to the rhythm, his hand warm on my back, my heart hammering in my chest. It was enough to lull me into a false sense of calm, like I was in a dream I never wanted to wake from.
I’d crushed on Jameson from a distance for so long, imagining what it might be like to have him notice me, that all I could focus on was committing everything about him to memory. But standing there, wrapped in his presence, everything about him felt different. I let myself be captivated by his warm brown eyes, the same ones I’d admired from a distance, now locked on mine with an intensity that made my heart race. The golden flecks in his gaze shimmered, their warmth drawing me in, while his heavenly scent surrounded me, pulling me deeper into something I couldn’t quite explain.
But it wasn’t just that he was seeing me differently. I was seeing him in a new light, too. No longer was he the distant, untouchable boy I’d dreamed about from afar—he was right there, real and present, and my whole world shifted instantly.
Jameson was a twin, and while they were nearly identical in appearance, they were worlds apart in terms of their personalities. His brother, Jaxon, was more mature, protective, and caring—a sharp, striking contrast to the boy whose shoes kept bumping into mine. The school’s class clown, a charming goofball who never took anything in life seriously—except football—and always had a crowd of admirers around him.
I didn’t belong in his world.
My crush on him was nothing more than a fantasy, a silly daydream.
Nothing more than wishful thinking.
I was an only child, raised by a single father who set the bar impossibly high for any guy who might ever want to win my heart. No one would measure up—not even Jameson. But, forsome foolish reason, I had allowed myself to hope—just for a moment—that maybe, just maybe, he’d be different.
And that was the biggest mistake I made that night. In the blink of an eye, he showed his true colors and became the bane of my existence. I had let my guard down, foolishly convinced he might be more than a handsome face.
But the truth was clear, and as painful as it was, I knew one thing for sure: Jameson Fisher was dead to me—until the end of time.
Chapter One
Arizona
“Just hear me out for a minute.” Tara pressed her palms together, pleading with me to consider her request.
“I really don’t need to,” I replied, even though I felt terrible. “I heard you just fine the first time and my answer remains no.”
I jumped down from the back of the ambulance to retrieve one of the boxes filled with fresh supplies from the table beside the storage closet.
“You do realize that any female photographer within a hundred miles would be salivating at the sheer mention of this opportunity?”
“Perfect! Then you shouldn’t have a problem finding another one,” I said, climbing back into the rig.
“The one we had under contract for years just pulled the plug. I’m stuck, Arizona, and I can’t rely on just anyone to handle this. It has to be someone I trust, but more importantly, someone the guys trust.”
Tara, the wife of one of my fellow paramedics, Greer, was the head of the Rockwood Hospital Foundation, located in the nearest major city to Sutton River.She was responsible for raising funds to support the hospital’s programs, services, andfacilities. Hence, the reason for her unexpected visit to the station.
“In case you forgot, it’s not my area of work.” I sliced through the tape that secured the box with a pair of scissors and started replenishing one of the drawers with fresh gauze packets.
What Tara was asking of me was a straight-up nightmare.
