Off-Limits Firefighter

I threw myself at the firefighter I'm the boss of. He turned me down.

I know. I KNOW. Say it slower, and it gets worse.

I came home with one rule: don't get involved with anyone who works for me.

Especially not the cocky firefighter grinning at me like my whole life didn't just detonate.

He's too much-and he refuses to let me hide behind my clipboard.

A bird sends me flying off a ladder-he catches me.

The town whispers behind my back-he shuts them up.

My walls go up-he stays.

And that's the problem.

Because I wasn't supposed to feel anything ever again.

Not after I caught my husband with his assistant.

Not after I swore off men and came home to the town I couldn't wait to escape.

But this boy I knew a lifetime ago grew up.

And right when I fall for him, my ex shows up, begging me to come home.

Swearing the firefighter will get sick of me-just like he did.

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After catching her husband cheating, Emily leaves Boston and returns to her small hometown of Oak Haven, taking a job managing Hayes Workout Corner and swearing she'll never depend on a man again. There she reconnects with Jeremiah Vance - a charming, flirty firefighter with a growing TikTok following, who works part-time at the gym and has quietly loved her since high school. He's everything she's trying to avoid: off-limits, irresistible, and technically her employee. As their slow-burn romance heats up, Emily has to decide whether to risk her guarded heart on a real second chance at love.

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Tropes

• Small-town romance
• Friends to lovers
• Boss/employee (forbidden, off-limits)
• Grumpy heroine × sunshine hero
• He fell first (long-time secret crush)
• Second chance / starting over after divorce
• Found family