Simmer

Simmer (verb): to stew gently below or just at the boiling point; to be in a state of incipient development  

My life was always at a simmer… only stewing, never going anywhere. I was left to fend for myself when it came to affection or love, so I learned to go without.  

I refused to let them see how broken and lonely I was; it was much easier to hide behind a false reality. I didn't want anyone's pity. I didn't need it. Pity wouldn't put food on the table or keep a roof over our heads. That was all me.  

Now, I have a second chance at a dream long forgotten. It demands hard work and sacrifice - with absolutely no distractions. A recipe I already know all too well, raising a daughter on my own.  

Drew Kostas is everything I've ever wanted but couldn't let myself have. He's younger, gorgeous, charming - and relentless. He sees beyond the hardened shell I've built to protect myself, coaxing out a softer me I don't recognize. It doesn't matter how I melt in his presence when the heat between us threatens to boil over.  

That's the thing about heat. When it rises, everyone gets burned.  

Especially when they're foolish enough to fall in love.

Stephanie Rose is a bad@ss New Yorker, a wife, a mother, and lover of all things chocolate. Most days you'll find her trying to avoid standing on discarded LEGO or deciding which book to read next. Her debut novel, Always You, released in 2015 and since then she's written several more—some of which will never see completion—and has ideas for hundred to come.