"Love will take you down faster than any bullet. You cry tonight. Tomorrow, you bury it."

Jolene had her life planned out. Nursing school. Husband. House with a picket fence. She had all her boxes checked until her life flips upside down. Turns out, O'Reilly's Pub is the perfect place for a freshly unemployed, divorced woman who currently lives in her parent's old house to get stood up on her first attempt at dating again. She's giving up on love and that ridiculous dating app. However, that doesn't change the fact that she needs a date to her best friend's gala.

The last thing Paul wants to do is attend a gala with his first love, parading around as her fake boyfriend. With the memory of her heartbroken face still haunting him, even years later, he agrees to go, hoping this will make up for the pain he caused her.

The plan? Go to the gala, make her ex-husband hate himself, then let her go. But that plan blows up the minute he believes Jolene has a stalker. Paul will have to put his guilt behind him if he's going to keep her safe. He won't lose another person he cares about. Especially not the woman he never wanted to leave in the first place.