The Masks We Wear — Claerie Kavanaugh

The Getaway was never on Chloe Scott's map-until the night she needed to disappear.Under the relentless glare of Chicago politics, the mayor's daughter survives by smiling on cue and never letting anyone close enough to leave a mark. But one panic-stricken winter evening drives Chloe forty miles west to a dim suburban bar whose neon sign promises exactly what she craves: escape.Lou Mitchell built The Getaway in the small town of Fairfield just outside of Chicago as a safe haven. After her mother vanished and left fraud in Lou's name, trust became a liability she couldn't afford. She pours drinks, keeps secrets, and never risks her heart-until a stranger orders tea instead of tequila and exhales like she's finally safe.What begins as stolen Thursday nights soon ignites into stolen kisses. Then a leaked photo exposes Chloe's identity and shoves both women under headlines that can ruin them. To keep seeing Lou, Chloe strikes a bargain with her cousin-feed him bar gossip, or face life under a full-time security detail. When the story explodes, to salvage the only place they've ever felt genuine, Chloe must risk the one thing her world never allows: honesty. And Lou has to bet everything she has that Chloe's love isn't just another con.A short, sapphic hidden identity romance.