Her Reluctant Protector by Annie Carlisle

Inheriting a bed-and-breakfast should be simple. Fix the wallpaper, charm the guests, start fresh. But when Kari arrives in Copper Hollow, she also inherits a stalker situation—complete with cryptic notes and a relocated garden gnome.
Enter Liam: Halo Protective Group’s most methodical operative, sent to assess the threat and disappear. He gives it two days, tops. Instead, the entire town assumes he’s Kari’s boyfriend, and his boss suggests he lean into it.

Professional cover story? Sure. Sharing the only livable suite in the B&B? Manageable. One bed with a rapidly collapsing pillow wall? Problematic.
Kari is sunshine in overalls, narrating her renovation plans to the house and feeding half the town. Liam is allergic to small talk, feelings, and anywhere that isn’t a tactical operation. Copper Hollow adopts him anyway—complete with a standing coffee order, unsolicited advice, and a mandatory couples’ competition at the Honey Festival.
He’s supposed to maintain professional distance. He’s failing spectacularly.

Because somewhere between fixing her sticky drawer and pretending to be her boyfriend, Liam stops pretending. The threat might be fake, but what he’s feeling? Dangerously real.

The job was supposed to be temporary. Falling for her definitely wasn’t part of the assignment.