Police detective Carson Beckett had skirted the altar as smoothly as a sly criminal avoided handcuffs. Now the time had come to settle down and fulfill his ailing mother's wish – and he was halfway there with an unofficial promise to wed his childhood sweetheart. But first he had to repay an old family debt to the last of the Chandler heirs. When his search led him to the gray-eyed, mesmerizing Kit Chandler, his usual logic deserted him. Instinctively, he changed from benefactor to protector when Kit became the target of someone else's wrath. And when tension turned to passion, Carson realized he was in deep. He would get to the altar, but with whom?