Syl Gordon just wants the perfect career and she thinks she's found it. What could be easier than collecting plant specimens, even if she has to be a little deceptive about it? The jewel-eyed chancellor at The Simjul Research Institute seems to have fully accepted her less than truthful reason for being there. Now all she has to do is stay out of the way of temptation, and find her target specimen.

Jarek Mariltar has dealt with competitors anxious to learn more about his research, and friends anxious to find him a mate, but he has never before encountered anyone like Syl. He knows the accident-prone, fashion-conscious female is a fraud. He just can't figure out who might have sent her. And he must protect the rare plant specimen from her amateur attempts to retrieve it at all costs.

Someone is manipulating them, but neither has a clue. They know they shouldn't be spending so much time together, but they can't seem to help themselves, nor can they refute their growing feelings for one another despite a relationship rooted in deception.