Hopeless

The town's prince is Beau Eaton, a charming military hero with a troubled history.

I'm the quiet girl from the wrong side of the tracks, the outcast bartender.

I'm twenty-two and all... virgin, and he's thirty-five and all man.

He and I are engaged. Corrected: my fictitious fiancé.

As a bet, we begin. He doesn't think my last name is a point of contention for anybody. In order to make a point, he gives me his.

Everyone wins. He's freed from his worried family's scrutiny, and I'm able to distance myself from my family's reputation while I save money to leave this little town.

All I need to do, he says, is wear his ring, follow his example, and act as if I can't take my hands off him in public.

However, the things that transpire in secret between us are what muddle all those well-defined boundaries.

It's not faking at all, but rather what goes on behind closed doors.

It was meant to be a display engagement. This contract? It has a deadline.

He once said he would never experience love.

And yet, here I am, completely enamored with my fictitious fiancé.