One reckless night in a dark room leaves Bristol tangled with a stranger she cannot stop thinking about.
When the lights come on, she finds Anson staring back—her best friend's older brother, her sister's widower, and a single dad furious at the mistake.
They are stuck together anyway, planning the fall festival at the family ranch, where he stays a silent, grumpy workaholic who eats the meals she cooks and repairs her house without more than a grunt.
Side by side through romantic hayrides and haunted-house decorating, the memory of that night refuses to fade, and a moment of weakness turns into matching confessions.
They settle on a secret friends-with-benefits deal that expires at midnight on Halloween, convinced they can work it out of their systems before anyone learns the truth.
Bristol is not ready for the secrets the arrangement exposes, for the way this man makes her feel, or for a house that proves far more haunted than either of them expected.
