The Wild Card

He buried a fake-girlfriend clause in a roommate agreement. She signed it without reading.

What could possibly go wrong?

FBI agent Crew Jensen thrives on control. His rigid routines keep his anxiety and OCD in check: no chaos, no distractions, and definitely no relationships.

Until his boss threatens to transfer him to Alaska.

Desperate to prove he has "roots," Crew makes a wildly unhinged decision: he slips a fake-girlfriend clause into his roommate contract, hoping his next applicant won't read it carefully.

Emmie Marshall signs on page seventeen without blinking.

Emmie is everything Crew is not—warm, messy, impossibly chatty—and currently racing a cookbook deadline that could make or break her career. She needs stability. He needs a convincing relationship. It's a simple, mutually beneficial arrangement.

Fake dates. Public hand-holding. Mandatory cuddling sessions (her counter-demand—he's just so touch-starved and grumpy).

The more they pretend, the harder it becomes to remember where the contract ends and real feelings begin.

Because she makes the counting in his head stop. He makes her feel like she doesn't have to try so hard.

Suddenly, the arrangement that was supposed to be temporary feels dangerously real.

A grumpy, touch-starved hero, a sunshine heroine who won’t take no for an answer, forced proximity, roommates-to-lovers, fake dating that feels way too real, and one very judgmental cat. Perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey and Elsie Silver.