Degree of Love

Noah Becker promises nothing but trouble. That’s what my mom told me when I was still a kid—how I kicked a bench in church and giggled at the games he invented. That’s what the townspeople said when his father died and the Becker brothers went off the rails. And that’s what I thought that day when I was walking to the distillery where he worked, to buy a wedding gift for my fiancé. Noah is a troublemaker. A disgusting, crude rebel. But no matter how much I try to convince myself, I can’t avoid running into Noah in our small southern town. And the more often I see him, the more he drives me crazy—because he notices what everyone else doesn’t: the real me. The one I’m not allowed to be. I’m Ruby Grace Barnett, the mayor’s daughter. Soon I’ll be a politician’s wife, just like my parents dreamed. Soon I’ll fulfill my family duty, exactly as I’ve always planned. For now, though, the boy everyone warned me about is making me doubt my decisions—like whether I even want to get married.
People said Noah Becker brings trouble. Too bad I didn’t listen.