Two best friends. One secret chili recipe. The truth comes out when their fake relationship cooks up more feelings than they expected.On the cusp of turning forty, Lexi Turner is finally single and happy. She has the perfect job working at Sage Valley Ranch and spends her free time hanging out with her best friend, James. Life is peaceful and carefree until her ex pays an unexpected visit to the ranch … with his new, much younger girlfriend in tow.Head cook James Scott is ready to settle down now that he’s thirty. He’s been smitten with the gift shop manager since she started working at the ranch a year ago, but he’s been biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to tell her how he feels. When Lexi asks him to be her pretend boyfriend to prove to her ex that she’s moved on, he jumps at the chance to show her love still exists.The lines of friendship blur as Lexi and James play out their real emotions in their fake relationship.

I’ve always had a thing for older men...It all started with Macon, my tennis instructor. I’ve liked him for years, but of course, he never saw me as anything other than a shy, nerdy wallflower. But I’ve grown up. I’ve got curves in all the right places. And I’ve even ditched my glasses. So when he moves back to my neighborhood and I find out he needs a babysitter, I volunteer myself. And then one day I stay a little later, and I find out that I’m not imagining the way he’s looking at me. He wants me as bad as I want him. It’s like a dream come true. Only we can’t. He has a reputation to uphold, a daughter to take care of. Our small town likes to talk, and this would be one juicy story. I can’t ruin that for them. And I, well I’ve got my future. I have college and the rest of my life, as everyone keeps reminding me. There’s no place for me with a man who has a family.But it’s everything I want, and I don’t know how long I can hold out…