Only the desert would know...

Dr. Malcolm Reid goes out on his seismology expeditions alone, and he likes it that way. The fewer warm bodies he's responsible for bringing home alive, the better.

When the mentorship of a geology grad student is thrust upon him just as he's leaving for Mexico's Baja peninsula, he resigns himself to eight weeks of keeping her safe—from ATV-riding cattle rustlers, from a weather-worn mountain lion roaming the hills, and most of all from her accident-prone self.

Jenna Polaski has needed the canyon-sized chip on her shoulder to get ahead in the old boys' education hierarchy. Now, needing samples to finish her thesis, she has no choice but to serve as the professor's pack mule. And wonder if his limp is connected to rumors surrounding a long-ago incident that killed one of her predecessors.

Malcolm keeps a sharp eye out as they penetrate deep into the wilderness. But the one danger he forgets to watch for is the one that captures them both—an undeniable attraction that shatters all the rules.

Warning: Contains a gruff college professor with a cloudy past, and a determined grad student who isn't afraid to get her hands—or the rest of her body—a little dirty. Some parts may leave you sweaty—keep a bandana handy.