Chance Encounter: Gage and Melanie — Christine Kersey

After a string of bad luck with men, Melanie Hopkins has sworn off dating to focus on her job and her three-year-old daughter. Moving to Emerald Falls to live with her sister, she's ready to make a fresh start. Gage Bennett has never had much luck with women. As a teenager he wasn't exactly a Romeo, but now that he's all grown up, he's worked hard to transform himself. Now a successful business owner, when the car he accidentally hits in the grocery store parking lot turns out to belong to Melanie Hopkins, the dream girl from his youth, he decides to parlay this chance encounter into an opportunity to finally get to know her. Too bad she's not interested. But he hasn't gotten where he is by being timid. Will his persistence pay off, or will it put him in the friend-zone for good?