Mattie McFearson , a respectable young widow, fought to close down Jake's saloon and house of ill repute. Tired of her meddling, Jake drove her millenary shop out of business, leaving her penniless and homeless.

Then the stage arrived, dumping five orphaned nieces and nephews on his doorstep. Up to his neck in diapers and mayhem, Jake offers Mattie a job caring for them. Mattie accepts, on two conditions: They must wed, for the children's sake, and they will be husband and wife in name only. She fully intends to resist her handsome husband's charms , but soon discovers the rules of love were meant to be broken.