When I Fall

For nine years, the narrator has kept casual hookups and his heart in separate boxes. The women he takes home know the deal: one good night, nothing more. He is clear about it, and it has worked.

Then comes a night at McGill's pub. He has his eye on a sweet brunette from Kentucky and is sure of how the evening will end. Before it can, someone from his past walks through the door.

The woman with him responds by taking the moment further than he expects. She pulls him into a situation he did not see coming, and the pretense that follows is a fake dating arrangement. A man who has built his life around avoiding attachment now has to act like he is in one.

This is a standalone contemporary romance told in the first person by the hero, in a frank, cocky voice with crude humour. The language is explicit, and the tone leans toward the playful and the flirtatious. The central question is how long a man who guards his heart so carefully can keep pretending before the feelings turn real.