Heart Trick

My new neighbor is a jerk. Sure, he’s the embodiment of tall, dark, and handsome, and he looks like he could crush a watermelon between his muscular thighs. But he has managed to become enemy number one within the first forty-eight hours of moving into the apartment next door. I may have retaliated and escalated the situation. I’m not above being petty, and I’m determined to make him break first. Until he sees my cheating ex-boyfriend giving me a hard time outside our building and steps in to help. If it weren’t for the pictures in the press the next morning, I would’ve assumed his act of kindness was just a fever dream. But my face is everywhere—labeled as hockey star Trenton Ward’s new girlfriend. Now, my grumpy neighbor’s agent wants to run with this story. Apparently, his image needs some sprucing. (I can’t imagine why with such a charming personality.) I agree under one I get to use him for inspiration in the new romance book I’m working on. I swear I meant it in the figurative sense when I signed the contract. But after a few fake dates and a toe-curling kiss, Trenton turns into my experimental guinea pig for all my spicy scenes. I may be fake dating one of the NHL’s best goalies, but out of all the things we do, faking it is not one of them. Only, falling in love wasn’t in the fine print.