So, before you judge me too harshly for what I’m about to tell you, I think it’s important to lead with the disclaimer that this is not like me. At all.

If somebody Googled "cautious, responsible, people-pleasing eldest daughter", a picture would probably come up of me baking twenty-four loaves of banana bread for all the neighbors in our building after my roommate flooded the bathroom.

So, as you can see, I am not the kind of person to catch feelings for my ex’s tech-billionaire father after spending three days stranded at his house over Christmas.

Nor am I the type to keep in touch with him after I go home, keeping up the façade of friendship when the unspoken “if only things were different” hangs over our heads.

Now, it’s Valentine’s Day, and Julian Ballard is on my doorstep.

It shouldn’t change anything. After all, cautious, responsible, people-pleasing girls do not fall in love with their ex-girlfriend’s father.