I hate Jack Spear with the passion of a thousand white hot suns. I have never been more embarrassed than the day my former bodyguard rejected me four years ago.

I was so certain that he felt the same things for me that I felt for him. I'd wanted him to be my first, my only, my...everything. Instead, he pushed me away and left our ranch, never to be seen or heard from again.

Now, he's back, to protect me one last time as a favor to my father.

But I'm not the same shy young girl I used to be, and I can absolutely take of myself. I'm prepared to tell Jack that I don't need a bodyguard and send him on his way. I'm not prepared for him to surprise me at my door with a kiss hot enough to melt all my hurt and anger.

It seems like my romantic dreams are finally coming true, until the man whose obsession with my family has haunted my entire life turns up in my backyard, transforming our dream into a nightmare.