Wrong shuttle. No wallet. One very annoyed bourbon distiller.

I'm supposed to be sixty miles away managing my stepsister's wedding crisis, not stranded at Carter Creek Distillery with a man whose quiet intensity makes my overorganized world spin off its axis.

Beau Carter is all weathered denim and patient eyes, the kind of man who ages whiskey with the care I've never learned to give myself. When a bridge washes out in the storm, I have no choice but to accept his reluctant hospitality.

He sees through my "numbers girl" armor immediately. Sees the woman who fixes everyone else's life but can't figure out her own. The woman who's been invisible for so long she's forgotten what it feels like to be truly seen.

I'm not supposed to fall for his slow smiles and the way bourbon tastes like liquid fire on his lips. Not supposed to discover that his cottage feels more like home than anywhere I've ever lived.

The wedding is still happening without me. My family still needs their emergency contact...

And I'm starting to wonder if being sabotaged was the best thing that ever happened to me. †

† This novel was produced using author-directed AI tools.