One drunken night. One mistake neither of them can forget. Hailey never meant to make out with her boyfriend's best friend-but from that moment on, Frank Castle wants her. Now, whenever Hailey, Derek, and Frank are together, her phone lights up with secret texts. Some seductive. Some jealous. Some daring her to finally leave Derek. Hailey knows she should stay away from Frank. Too bad she's already falling for him. How long can they keep crossing the line before someone gets hurt?

Mara never planned on letting Frank Castle get close. He's stubborn, dangerous, infuriatingly persistent-and far too accustomed to solving every problem with force. Mara refuses to become another problem he can simply fix. So when Frank starts calling, she declines. When he texts, she ignores him. When he pushes, she pushes back harder. But Frank Castle has never been good at walking away. What begins as irritation slowly becomes something neither of them expected. Lingering looks last a little too long. Arguments carry an edge that feels dangerously close to desire. His protectiveness becomes personal. Her carefully built walls begin to crack. Frank knows how to fight wars, hunt monsters, and survive things that should have killed him. Mara is different. She can't be chased down, intimidated, or won over with persistence alone. If Frank wants her, he'll have to learn something far more difficult than fighting- how to wait for her to choose him. A gritty, emotional slow-burn romance about two stubborn people, impossible boundaries, buried feelings, and a man discovering that the one battle he desperately wants to win is the one he can't force.

Twenty-two-year-old Lennon "Leni" Hayes comes home from college expecting a quiet summer-not to find her dad's best friend, Frank Castle, living across the hall. At thirty-eight, Frank is arrogant, protective, ridiculously attractive, and completely off limits. They've always known how to get under each other's skin, but their usual arguments quickly turn into lingering stares, jealous moments, late-night encounters, and tension neither can ignore. Frank knows crossing the line with his best friend's daughter is a terrible idea. Leni just wants to see how far she can push him before he finally breaks.