The Brooding Protector: A Forced Proximity Secret Millionaire Romance (Southern Heat Book 1) by Stephie Rose

The text threatening to destroy my life arrives as I'm ordering coffee in Nashville's airport.Tyler's message is simple. Answer me, or everyone finds out tonight. My vindictive ex-agent is threatening to claim he wrote my bestselling novels—a lie that could destroy my career and my identity as S.J. Steele. So I run to a small town in Tennessee.I don't expect the brooding bookstore owner with calloused hands and piercing green eyes who offers shelter without questions. Roderick Brooks quotes poetry while rebuilding broken things, and when his rough fingertips brush mine over coffee, I know I'm in deeper trouble than Tyler could ever cause.The man whose heated gaze ignites fire under my skin is hiding something that could shatter us both. His modest bookstore? Built with a secret fortune. His careful control? Masking demons—and desires that burn hotter every time he's near.When Tyler tracks me down, Roderick's protective instincts turn primal and possessive. He'll risk everything to keep me safe. But I've been burned by lies before.One of us will break first. The question is whether it'll be from the secrets we're keeping—or the heat we can't resist.Content Note: Contains steamy scenes and themes of addiction recovery. Guaranteed HEA.