Even If It Hurts" (subtitle: Tempting Mr. Hale - Book Two).
They let each other go once.
They survived the heartbreak.
They built new lives.
They learned to breathe without the other's oxygen.
But nothing-not time, not distance, not "moving on"-could erase the way they loved.
And when fate brings Sable Knox back into Roman Hale's world after years apart, the truth hits them both like a punch:
They never stopped wanting each other.
Not for a single day.
⸻
She chose a life of stability.
Marriage. Career. A quiet, predictable world she fought hard to build.
Sable doesn't cheat.
She doesn't lie.
She doesn't break vows.
But when she sees Roman again-older, stronger, sharper, more devastating than the man she left-her entire chest aches with a truth she never healed from:
He was the love she ran from, not the love she forgot.
And seeing him now feels like every wound she buried has learned how to breathe again.
⸻
He chose to be good.
Roman let her walk away.
Let her choose the life she said she needed.
Let her go so his daughter wouldn't lose them both.
But the moment he sees Sable across that crowded room-glowing, curvy, confident, wearing another man's ring-he realizes something terrifying:
He is still in love with her.
Hopelessly.
Entirely.
And years too late.
⸻
They promised themselves they'd never cross that line again.
But chemistry this deep doesn't fade.
History this heavy doesn't disappear.
Love this strong doesn't die just because it hurts.
So when their worlds collide-friends, families, secrets, past mistakes, new lives-they fight it.
They try.
They break.
And then they give in.
Because some people are not meant to be forgotten.
Some love stories don't end.
They just wait.
And Sable and Roman's?
It was never over.
Not even when it should've been.