My stomach turns as I park my bike and take the soggy Chinese food out of the rusty basket that’s screwed to my handlebars. The town of Summerland has a lot going for it, from the warm and inviting people to the charming small-town scenery, but it does have some faults. Mainly one in particular.

The Chinese food sucks.

I was so hungry on my way home from work that I didn’t care that the sweet and sour pork tastes less like pig and more like something that was caught in the alley behind the restaurant. I just wanted to stuff my face with anything, even if it is laced with MSG and has a questionable origin.

“Tyler,” I call out as I open my front door. “Get the Pepto-Bismol ready because I have dinner.” I walk in and slip off my shoes as I hold the greasy bag. “If you can call it that,” I whisper to myself.

It’s been three days since Tyler arrived in town, and he’s been staying at my place ever since. To say it’s been going amazingly is a massive understatement. It’s been absolutely perfect.

It’s like once we both gave in, we can’t get enough of each other. We’ve had sex about fifty times in the past three days, and even the heartburn and upset stomach that this Chinese food will surely bring probably won’t be enough to slow us down.

He’ll be leaving soon, so we have to take full advantage now. We haven’t talked about what’s going to happen with us when he leaves, and I can’t bring myself to think about it. I just love having him here in my home, and I don’t want to ruin it with anything.

We usually ride home together on my old bike, but Tyler grabbed a cab and left early today, saying he needed to work in solitude for a bit. The ride home was lonely and wasn’t the same without him, but at least my legs aren’t aching now from having his weight on my bike.

I smile when I look down and see his shiny shoes next to mine. I reach up to my neck for the wedding ring that he gave me, which is usually hanging from my gold chain, but my hand hits nothing but air.

Right. I couldn’t find it this morning, and since we were already late from having sex in the shower and on the bed after, I didn’t have time to look for it.

“Tyler,” I call out as I walk through the family room and into the kitchen. I hear sizzling on the oven and when I pass the couch, the mouthwatering smell hits me and makes my stomach groan.

“What are you doing?” I ask with a big smile as I walk into my tiny kitchen. Tyler looks huge in it as he moves around gracefully, throwing some spices into the sizzling pan. He’s wearing his ripped-up jeans, the ones that force my hands to gravitate to his sexy ass whenever he wears them, and a black polo shirt that shows off his big arms and round shoulders.

He turns to me with a happy smile on his face and a platter of barbecued shrimp in his hands. “I’m making dinner,” he says, placing the shrimps in front of me.

My mouth waters as I stare down at them.

“What’s that?” he asks, motioning to the oily bag in my hands with his eyes.

“Garbage,” I say, handing it over.

He takes it and walks to the garbage as I sit down at the table that’s set with a brand-new tablecloth, wine glasses, candles, and fresh flowers. But it’s too hard to focus on any of that with my starving eyes on the plump juicy shrimps.

“Eat up,” he says, smiling as he returns with a bottle of red wine. He pours me a glass as I devour three shrimps, tails and all.

“Delicious,” I say, but my mouth is full so it comes out as “Rarishous.”

I wash it down with the smooth red wine as he walks behind me and slides his rugged hands on my shoulders. “Mmmm,” I moan as he begins massaging me, filling me with more hunger, but this time it’s not for food.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” I say, feeling like I’m in heaven with his skilled hands taking all of the stress from my back. “What are you making?”

“Salmon Wellington, rice, and veggies.”

I groan in anticipation. It sounds so good and it smells fantastic.

“Where did you learn to cook like this?” I ask. His family is extremely wealthy, so he was probably trained by some famous French chefs that his father helicoptered in or something equally fancy.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket and shows it to me. “I’m following along to a YouTube video.”

I laugh as he finishes massaging me with his skilled hands. Every now and then, he takes a four-second break so I can take a sip of my wine without spilling it on my shirt. If I wasn’t ready for him to move in before, I definitely am now.

“So, when is this amazing Salmon Wellington going to be finished?” I ask once all of the shrimps are gone. If the main course tastes as good as the appetizers, I’m in for a real treat.

“Shortly,” he says, releasing my shoulders and stepping in front of me. He looks nervous with his fidgeting hands and eyes that keep darting to the door that leads to the garage. “But first, I have a surprise.”

“Is it another Ferrari?” I ask with my eyebrow raised. “Because I’m really enjoying biking to work with you. My ass has never been so toned.”

“I know the Ferrari wasn’t exactly your style,” he says, taking my hand. He pulls me up and smiles as he guides me to the garage. “This is more you.”

I close my eyes as he opens the door even though he never asked me too. I just love getting surprise presents.

“Can I open my eyes now?” I ask with my heart pounding in excitement.

“I never said you had to close them,” he says with a chuckle.

I open them and gasp when I see a brand-new bike in the middle of the garage with a red bow on the matching red handlebars.

“A new bike?” I squeal, staring at in shock as I step into the garage. It’s an old retro bike, but it looks brand-new with shiny parts and a coat of bright red paint that really makes it pop. The large wheels are nice and firm with new treads, unlike the flat slippery wheels on Lightning. There’s not a spot of rust on it, and even the basket is in perfect condition, unlike the tattered and frayed basket on my old bike.

My pulse is racing as I walk around it, inspecting every beautiful inch.

“What do you think?” Tyler asks, watching me as he leans on the door frame.

“I love it,” I say, not taking my eyes off it. The seat looks so comfy, and the chain isn’t all stiff and tangled like the one on Lightning. “Where did you find it?”

“It took some digging,” he says with a laugh. “There’s a guy who restores old bicycles like this down in Nashville. He’s really popular, but I managed to get him to bump me up to the front of the line. I had it flown in this morning.”

“I love it,” I say, still staring at it in shock. It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.

“Better than a Ferrari?”

“Way better.”

I sit on it and moan. The seat seems to be massaging my ass as I grab the handlebars. Wow.

“There’s even footholds in the back for me,” he says, smiling as he points to them.

I love it, but guilt starts creeping in. “Can I still keep Lightning?” I ask. “For sentimental reasons?”

Tyler laughs. “Of course. What are you going to name this one?”

“Vegas,” I say, smiling. “Can we take her out for a ride?”

“Definitely,” he says with a grin. It’s such a nice summer evening, and the annual fireworks are in the center of town tonight. Every year the town celebrates the founding of Summerland with a firework show, so we decide to pack up the lovely dinner that Tyler made and eat it in the park. The whole town will be there, so it should be a lot of fun.

It’s a gorgeous night as I pedal down the quiet streets, enjoying the summer breeze on my face as Tyler waves at some kids who are drawing on the sidewalk.

“That’s the security guard Michael’s boy,” I say as they wave back at Tyler. “And those two girls are Nancy in HR and Phil in shipping’s twins.”

Tyler exhales long and hard as we ride away. It’s only been three days, but he’s already getting attached to the workers and the town. At the factory, we all work together like a big family, pitching in and helping each other out. There’s a huge sense of community which Tyler doesn’t get on the isolated top floor of McMillan Worldwide Inc.’s huge skyscraper. He keeps telling me how much he loves it here.

He keeps saying how he loves what Hospitech has accomplished and all of the good work that we’ve done.

“You save lives here,” he said this morning when we were looking over a shipment of incubators that were about to be sent out to a prenatal hospital in Virginia. “What you do matters.”

He finally saw that we are making the world better by saving lives and keeping families together. We develop and build specialized high-quality hospital equipment here in Summerland, and if the factory gets shut down, the quality will suffer. They just don’t have the same kind of skilled workers in any of the third world countries that the factory will reopen in. The quality won’t be nearly as good when McMillan Worldwide Inc. tries to save money by cutting corners, and the patients will be the ones who have to ultimately pay the bill—with their lives.

Tyler is more committed than ever to saving the factory after seeing the good we do, but it may not be enough. We’ve tried hard, but we haven’t even come close to finding a solution that will save it. And even if we do, his cousin Nick might close it anyway out of spite. I wouldn’t put that past him.

“So, you want to save the factory?” I had asked this morning after the incubators shipped out.

He nodded. “The factory, the people, the town. I want to build it up even more to save even more lives, not tear it down. It’s the right thing to do.”

We both stood uncomfortably as we watched the truck get smaller as it drove down the street. We didn’t say it, but I could tell we were thinking the same thing: unless he gets the job, which he probably won’t after what we did, the factory is shutting down.

I turn the corner, riding away from the kids drawing on the sidewalk, hoping that this won’t all be gone in a few months. Everything will still be here rotting away, but without jobs, the people won’t be.

The park is full of people as the sun starts making its slow descent down to the horizon. There’s an excited energy in the crowd as people chat and mingle before the fireworks start.

Groups of kids are playing in the playgrounds and on the soccer field as their parents talk and laugh, not worried about their children’s safety in this cozy family town.

“Dahlia! Tyler!” Emily says, waving us over to where she’s sitting on her picnic blanket.

“I didn’t know you were back,” I say, smiling to her when I arrive. Tyler says hello but then leaves to go say hi to some of the guys he’s made friends with at the factory.

I have one eye on him as I catch up with Emily. He’s so natural and friendly around them as they hang on his every word. He has all of the authority and power of a boss at work, but he can act like one of the guys after five o’clock, and they accept him as one of their own.

“I totally fucked Nick,” Emily says, making me whip my head around to look at her.

“What?” I ask, jerking my head back in surprise, or maybe it’s in disgust. “Why?”

“He’s rich, and he’s hot!” she says, grinning at me. “Well, besides his big thick eyebrows, he’s hot.”

“Emily,” I say, glaring at her. “He’s trying to put us out of a job.” I lower my voice so none of my smiling neighbors can hear. “He’s trying to shut down the factory.”

“He’s sweet,” she says, playing with a strand of her hair. “I can convince him to keep it open.”

A horrible thought springs into my head. “Please don’t tell him the truth about me and Tyler. Mack can’t know that we got married by accident.”

“I won’t,” Emily says, reaching into her bag for her makeup case.

“Emily,” I say in a warning tone. “This is important.”

She rolls her eyes into the tiny mirror in her hand as she fixes her mascara. “What do you take me for?”

A gossiper.

I don’t say it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Emily has stayed quiet from what she’s told me, but if Nick starts digging for incriminating information about us, it won’t take long for her to open her big mouth about that night.

“So, you two seem to be hitting it off,” she says, smiling as she sees me watching Tyler. “You like him, don’t you?”

“He’s my boss,” I say with a huff.

“So?”

“We’ve agreed to keep it professional,” I say, smiling as he high fives a six-year-old boy who runs by him. “We’re staying friends so that we can focus on trying to keep the factory open.”

“Right,” she says with a laugh. “The only thing you’re focused on keeping open is your legs.”

“Shut up!” I say, turning to her with a shocked look.

“Oh, please,” she says, laughing as she rolls her eyes. “You look more relaxed and less uptight than I’ve ever seen you before. You’re getting some dick.”

I slap her arm playfully as my cheeks get red. “Am I that obvious?”

“You’re basically fucking him with your eyes right now.”

“I am not,” I say, staring at his ass.

“Summerland isn’t the only one with fireworks around here,” she says. “He likes you too. I can tell.”

“Really?” I ask. “How can you tell?”

“He’s here, isn’t he?” Emily asks with a shrug of her shoulders. “He didn’t fly all the way out here for a shitty three-minute firework show.”

My pulse races as Tyler says goodbye to the guys and comes back with a big smile on his face. He fits in here. He fits with me.

“Those guys are great,” he says as he sits behind me like it’s the most natural thing in the world and wraps his arms around my body.

I glance over at Emily who is giving me a knowing smirk. I stick my tongue out at her.

We break out our dinner, sharing it with the nice people around us, and have a great time eating and talking as a group.

When the sun is gone for the night and the bright stars are popping up in the sky, the mayor announces that the fireworks are about to start.

The children race over from the playground and soccer field to snuggle up to their parents as they start to get excited for the show.

There are people all around us, but it feels like it’s only Tyler and me. I’m always completely absorbed in his presence when he’s around.

The crowd cheers as the first firework whizzes through the air and pops over our heads, exploding into a chandelier of blue sparks. Tyler holds me tight as we watch the show, and I realize how happy I am with him. It’s nice to have a man to share these kinds of nights with.

I let out a contented moan as three fireworks explode in the sky. There’s nowhere I would rather be in this moment than wrapped in Tyler’s muscular arms in my cute little town.

Everyone claps when the show is over, and before long they’ve all returned home and it’s only Tyler and me still left in the park. We’re sitting on the blanket that Emily left us, facing each other as we look up at the stars.

“You can’t see any of these from Vegas,” Tyler says, staring up at the cosmos in fascination. The stars are looking spectacular tonight, but I’m staring at his face instead. Nothing is as spectacular to me as Tyler’s gorgeous face.

We spend hours talking, only taking breaks to make out, and before long the evening has flown past us and we’re deep into the night.

“You forgot this,” he says as he digs his hand into his pocket. He pulls out my wedding ring, but there’s no chain attached to it.

“Where’s the chain?”

“At home,” he says with a grin. “I guess you’ll have to wear it on your finger.”

I hold my breath as he takes my hand and slides it on my ring finger. This time it doesn’t slide off. It’s no longer too big.

“What happened to it?”

He smiles as he holds my hand, looking at the diamond ring on my finger. “I may have had it fitted.”

My stomach flutters as my heart starts hammering in my chest. I should take this off. It’s not real.

But it feels real, and the look in Tyler’s eyes looks real.

So, I keep it on.

Tyler will be gone in two days, and I might not see him again. Plus, I love the way it feels.

And I love that it came from him.

I’m staring at the diamond on my finger when he lightly touches my chin and guides my head up until I’m looking into his deep green eyes. “I love you, Dahlia,” he whispers, staring at me with his cheeks glowing.

“What did you say?” I heard what he said, but I just want to hear him say it again.

He smiles as he repeats those three perfect words. “I love you.”

“That’s what I thought you said,” I answer, smiling as I melt into his arms.

He holds me tight as I enjoy the best moment of my life.

“Do you have something to say to me?” he asks after a few moments of silence.

“Yes,” I say, taking a deep breath. “Thank you.”

I feel it, but I’m not ready to say it yet.

It’s too dangerous. There’s too much on the line. I gave into my feelings in his office in Vegas and look where it got us. I messed up the whole plan because I gave in.

I won’t give in until he is assigned Mack’s position and the future of the factory is secure. It’s too risky to do otherwise. We can fall out of love or just end up throwing everything else away like my parents did. It’s safer to stay friends, act professionally and stick to the plan.

I have to remember that I can’t have love and a career.

And it’s even more important to remember that if I pick the wrong one, the whole town is going to suffer.