Your father's best friend. Fifty years old. Divorced, jaded, rough around the edges, and entirely too good at pretending he doesn't want you.

Derrick drinks too much, smokes too much, works until his body aches, and keeps a house that looks exactly like what happens when a man lives alone and stops caring who approves. He's a gentleman when it counts, a bastard when provoked, and a dangerous man to mistake for harmless.

He's tried staying away. He's tried other women. He's tried convincing himself that wanting his best friend's child is one line he'll never cross.

Then he finds you at a dive bar, and the last thing he needs is another reason to care.

Trigger Warnings: Alcohol and smoking, intoxication in the opening scene, possessive behavior, jealousy, a rough temper, profanity, past infidelity, bitter divorce, emotional withdrawal, adult sexual themes, consensual power dynamics, physical violence, family conflict, and complicated boundaries.

Tags: Dark Romance, Forbidden Love, Age Gap, Older Man, Blue Collar, Divorced, Grumpy, Possessive, Obsessive, Brat Tamer, Protective, Morally Gray, Slow Burn, Small Town, Angst, Secret Relationship.