Heavy Machinery & Heavy Hearts. Built to Fall

She's spent ten years secretly loving her brother's best friend. He's spent ten years pretending he doesn't love her back. Tessa O'Connor is fearless at fifty stories above Chicago. A fiercely independent commercial roofer with calloused hands, a sharp mouth, and a dream of building her own company, she refuses to let anyone tell her what she can or cannot do. Wyatt Hayes has built his life around one thing: control.
As a master tower crane operator, he trusts rules, precision, and safety. Five years ago, he watched a rigger fall to his death, and ever since, he has kept everyone and everything at a carefully controlled distance. Then Tess gets evicted. With nowhere else to go, she moves into Wyatt's immaculate apartment and straight into the one temptation he has spent years trying to resist. His best friend's little sister.
His new roommate. The woman he has never stopped wanting. Living together comes with rules: no distractions, no crossing boundaries, no complications. But rules become difficult to follow when every argument crackles with attraction. On the construction site, their radio battles become legendary. At home, late-night conversations and stolen glances slowly break down Wyatt's carefully built walls. And when he helps Tess fight for the future of her roofing company, she discovers the protective, tender man hiding beneath his gruff exterior.
One stormy Chicago night, they finally give in. What begins as one forbidden kiss becomes a secret relationship neither of them is prepared to lose. But Wyatt's past is waiting for them. When a terrifying accident triggers the trauma he has spent years burying, his fear of losing Tess threatens to destroy everything they have built. Then a violent storm traps Tess high above the city, forcing Wyatt to face the nightmare he has spent years running from.
Tess refuses to give up her career. Wyatt must decide whether fear will control the rest of his life. Because loving Tess means accepting that she will always reach for the edge. And if Wyatt wants a future with her, he has to learn that love isn't about eliminating every danger it's about trusting the person beside you. Heavy Machinery & Heavy Hearts is a steamy contemporary workplace romance featuring brother's best friend, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, roommates, secret relationship, protective hero, and a blue-collar heroine determined to build her own empire.