A heartfelt, second-chance romance where first love is rekindled, old wounds heal, and the sweetest endings are the ones you almost lost.The first time I fell in love, I was sixteen. For two blissful years I smelled like nothing but buttercream and stolen moments. Dalton was the boy next door who had nothing but flour on his hands and big dreams. But somehow that felt like more than enough. He baked me pastries in secret, kissed me on rooftops, and promised me a life that tasted better than anything I could wish for. But the night we were supposed to vanish together, he disappeared first and took all our plans of forever with him. Instead, I married the man who was supposed to be straight from a fairytale. Except the castle he whisked me off to is a gilded cage, and it turns out glass slippers are shockingly painful. No wonder our marriage fell apart—it was all just fiction. So when yet another lonely birthday rolls around, I do something admittedly reckless—I hire an escort. Just a secret stranger to get me through the night. Except it’s not a stranger standing in my doorway. It’s Dalton—older, a little rougher around the edges, and still looking at me like I’m the only thing he’s ever wanted but couldn’t afford. He thinks he’ll never be worthy of my world. I’m desperate to escape it. What if the sweetest ending is the one you almost lost?

A heartfelt, second-chance romance where first love is rekindled, old wounds heal, and the sweetest endings are the ones you almost lost.The first time I fell in love, I was sixteen. For two blissful years I smelled like nothing but buttercream and stolen moments. Dalton was the boy next door who had nothing but flour on his hands and big dreams. But somehow that felt like more than enough. He baked me pastries in secret, kissed me on rooftops, and promised me a life that tasted better than anything I could wish for. But the night we were supposed to vanish together, he disappeared first and took all our plans of forever with him. Instead, I married the man who was supposed to be straight from a fairytale. Except the castle he whisked me off to is a gilded cage, and it turns out glass slippers are shockingly painful. No wonder our marriage fell apart—it was all just fiction. So when yet another lonely birthday rolls around, I do something admittedly reckless—I hire an escort. Just a secret stranger to get me through the night. Except it’s not a stranger standing in my doorway. It’s Dalton—older, a little rougher around the edges, and still looking at me like I’m the only thing he’s ever wanted but couldn’t afford. He thinks he’ll never be worthy of my world. I’m desperate to escape it. What if the sweetest ending is the one you almost lost?