Cold – Town Desire: A Forced Proximity, Age Gap Romance

Tell me why running from my ruined career somehow turned into me living with my best friend’s dad… and catching feelings for the grumpy, age‑gap contractor who walks around half‑dressed like he’s trying to ruin my life.

I come to Pine Hills to get my life together, not to melt every time Luke Hayes looks at me with that quiet, controlled intensity that makes my pulse trip over itself.

He’s off‑limits. Older. My best friend’s dad. And absolutely the last man I should want.

But then one chaotic night in his kitchen—frosting everywhere, his hands catching mine, his breath brushing my cheek, everything shifts.

Suddenly we’re brushing past each other in narrow hallways, sharing late‑night confessions, and pretending the air between us isn’t thick enough to choke on.

He softens around me. He listens. He smiles. And somewhere between gingerbread houses and the way he says my name like it’s a secret… I fall for him.

Hard.

Then I discover he’s about to lose the home he’s breaking himself to save, and Sylvia finds out everything.

Now I’m standing in the wreckage of the only family I’ve ever felt part of… wondering if loving him means losing them all.