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Chapter 1
PROLOGUE
I'm twenty-four years old, standing in the airport with my bridesmaid dress in a garment bag, and I'm about to spend a week at a destination wedding with my ex-boyfriend's father.
Not just any ex. Tyler Reid—the guy who cheated on me junior year of college, broke my heart, and then tried to blame me for his infidelity because I was "too focused on my career."
And not just his father. Nathan Reid. Forty-two. Recently divorced. The man I met exactly once during that relationship—at Tyler's graduation—and couldn't stop thinking about for weeks afterward.
I'd felt guilty about it at the time. Guilty for noticing how attractive he was. Guilty for comparing Tyler unfavorably to his own father. Guilty for the tiny flutter in my stomach when Nathan shook my hand and told me it was nice to finally meet the girl his son wouldn't shut up about.
That was three years ago. Tyler and I broke up two months later. I moved on, dated other people, built my career in marketing. Haven't thought about Tyler in ages.
But I've thought about Nathan more than I should admit.
And now we're both in the wedding party for my best friend Megan's destination wedding in Tuscany. She's marrying Tyler's best friend from college, which is how this nightmare scenario came to be.
One week. Seven days in an Italian villa, thrown together at every meal, every excursion, every wedding event.
Seven days of pretending I don't remember the way Nathan looked at me during that graduation lunch, like he was seeing something in me that his son had completely missed.
Seven days of ignoring the fact that, at forty-two, Nathan Reid is somehow infinitely more attractive than he was three years ago.
Seven days of absolutely, definitely, certainly not acting on whatever this inconvenient attraction is.
I can do this. I'm a professional. I'm mature. I'm twenty-four years old, not some teenager with a crush on her friend's dad.
Ex-boyfriend's dad, I correct myself. Completely different. Slightly less taboo. Still absolutely off-limits.
The boarding announcement for my flight to Rome crackles over the speaker.
Time to find out if I'm as strong as I think I am.
...
About the Author
Scarlett Vaughn
Dr. Scarlett Vaughn has spent over two decades as a psychology professor specializing in human sexuality, teaching courses on desire, taboo, and the forbidden. Her academic research into what draws people to transgressive fantasies led her to write the stories her students whispered about but rarely saw represented with depth and nuance. Writing from her Boston brownstone near the university, Scarlett explores the psychological complexity of forbidden attraction—age gaps, authority dynamics, and step-family scenarios—always with an emphasis on consent, emotional truth, and the healing power of accepting your desires without shame.