Maria’s business is blossoming and life is awesome, why ruin it by taking unnecessary risks? Maria's hardworking, loyal but more than anything, extremely risk adverse.When she needs a date for a gala and the brand-new chef offers to fake date her, she figured, this is the best idea. After all, it’s fake dating, what could possibly go wrong?And what about his cute kid? Between the two of them, they have Maria questioning everything... moreMaria’s business is blossoming and life is awesome, why ruin it by taking unnecessary risks? Maria's hardworking, loyal but more than anything, extremely risk adverse.When she needs a date for a gala and the brand-new chef offers to fake date her, she figured, this is the best idea. After all, it’s fake dating, what could possibly go wrong?And what about his cute kid? Between the two of them, they have Maria questioning everything. It doesn’t take long before Maria realizes she might be missing more than she thought. Will Maria throw caution to the wind and take her biggest risk yet?This fake-dating, single-dad, romcom is "sweet with heat" — the sex is implied, the swearing is real, and the shenanigans are laugh-out-loud funny. This story originally appeared in the anthology "Like father, like daughter." less