Chapter 1

My shift had just ended.

A stunning young woman I had seen earlier that day stopped me in my tracks and poured her heart out to me.

I was just a line cook, covered in grease and barely making ends meet. I thought it was some kind of sick joke.

To my surprise, she began waiting for me outside the diner every single day.

"Liam, if you don't say yes, I'm not leaving tonight!"

I stared at her in utter disbelief.

"Aren't you with someone? Aren't you still nursing a newborn?"

Her name was Chloe, and like her name, she always carried a faint, delicate scent.

Because of my job in the kitchen, my nose was sharper than most.

Even over the heavy aroma of fried food and seasoned grease drifting from the diner, I could still pick up the distinct trace of breast milk mingled with her floral perfume.

She wore a tight graphic tee that hugged every curve of her body. The cartoon bear printed across her chest was stretched completely out of shape.

Try as I might, I couldn't tear my eyes away from her chest.

Chloe was drop-dead gorgeous. Even though she had recently given birth, she had a slim, elegant face with smooth contours, large eyes, and petite lips.

She was nothing like those fake girls filtered to death on TikTok. Chloe was real—a living, breathing bombshell standing right in front of me.

I was just a line cook, constantly covered in sweat and grime. Standing this close to her, I felt like I was going to ruin her pristine look.

Besides, a woman that pretty had to have a man who guarded her with his life.

As tempting as she was, I didn't want any trouble.

Bringing up her baby was my polite way of scaring her off so she’d stop lurking around my job.

Her cheeks flushed crimson, but instead of backing away, she leaned in closer.

"Liam, there is no man."

Her eyes welled up with tears. Seeing such a gorgeous woman cry broke my heart instantly.

We were still standing right in front of the diner entrance, and everyone was getting off work.

If my coworkers saw us like this, rumors would start spreading like wildfire.

I grabbed her arm gently and led her to a quiet boba shop down the block so we could sit down.

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

The tears spilled over her eyelashes.

She told me she had made a terrible mistake in the past, moving in with a toxic boyfriend and ending up pregnant.

The baby was born premature and fragile. After just a few days in the neonatal ICU, the doctors couldn't save him.

Watching her sob so hard she could barely breathe, I felt a pang of pity and bought her a warm milk tea.

"What about the boyfriend?"

Chloe wiped her tears, her voice hardening with venom.

"The minute he saw how much the hospital bills were piling up, he packed his bags and bailed. Left me to deal with it all by myself."

"Now I have nothing left. My landlord kicked me out, and I don't even have a place to sleep tonight."

Her story was truly heartbreaking.

Chloe looked up, her gaze timid and pleading. She asked if I could help her out.

I hesitated. I couldn't wrap my head around why she had picked me.

I came from a dead-end town and had stayed single well into my thirties because I was dead broke.

It wasn't until I moved to the city to work at my uncle Robert's diner that things started looking up.

Business was booming, and my pay had slowly climbed along with it.

Still, I was just a line cook in a small diner. There was a hard ceiling on what I could make.

I pinched pennies every day, hoarding my savings. Even so, it was barely enough to cover a modest future.

I genuinely didn't have the cash to play the Good Samaritan.

Reading the doubt on my face, Chloe blushed and whispered, "Liam, it's okay. I like you, and that's why I want to be with you."

She said she didn't need a label or fancy dates. She promised to cook, clean, and do all my laundry.

All she wanted was a roof over her head and a warm meal, like two lonely souls holding each other up.

She even promised that the day I met someone else, she would pack her bags and disappear without a fuss.

Chloe was breathtaking, and she seemed more than willing to pull her weight.

A gorgeous woman to warm my bed without demanding any strings attached?

It was a dream come true for a guy like me. I was completely sold.

I reached out and took her soft, delicate hand in mine.

"All right. Let's head home."