Back to Him Trilogy Book Two: Before Him **First Draft**

Before Him is an emotional slow-burn about love that arrives too fast, loyalty forged under pressure, and the feelings that take root when you least expect them.

Evie Stanley is used to being the steady one. A brilliant engineer at Sloane Enterprises and a successful fantasy author, she balances high-stakes work with deep loyalty to the people she loves. When she begins dating Aaron Denton, a charismatic contractor eager for marriage and children, the relationship feels safe, passionate, and inevitable. With her thirties approaching and fertility concerns looming, Evie agrees to move forward quickly, believing that love should feel like commitment.

What starts as devotion becomes pressure. Her boundaries are dismissed, her hesitations reframed as obstacles, and when Aaron lies to her outright, the foundation she trusted begins to fracture.

At the same time, Aaron's best friend, Beau, enters Evie's life under devastating circumstances. A decorated soldier injured in a targeted attack, Beau is quiet, guarded, and deeply affected by trauma. As Evie supports him through his recovery, she finds herself forming an unexpected connection, one built on patience, empathy, and mutual respect. What begins as concern grows into something unspoken but undeniable.

Torn between the man she is trying to build a life with and the feelings she never meant to have, Evie must confront a difficult truth: love should not require shrinking yourself to fit someone else's plans.

Before Him is a story about recognizing red flags, honouring emotional truth, and understanding that sometimes the right love is the one you were never supposed to notice yet.