For a long time now, I’ve despised Weston Shaw. He’d been someone I’d admired, taking my favorite football team, the Colorado Mustangs, to the Super Bowl. But that all turned upside down after one night that had nothing to do with me. We share one undeniable connection: his son, Caleb. Unfortunately, the circumstances behind that have never been my story to tell. But now, the truth is out, and I’m left to deal with the consequences. I’m living under the same roof as Weston, and each day, I discover a side of him I never expected.

Football star. Single dad. And once, a long time ago, mine. I’ve spent the better part of a decade forgetting Ford Ellis. If he had just stayed away from Montana, I might have erased the memory of his striking blue eyes and rugged smile forever. Avoiding him was easy when the only place I saw his face was on ESPN—and a remote control could fix that problem.

I’ve been in love with Bridger Blackwell for as long as I can remember. He’s a smoke show, kind, and gives the best hugs in the world. But best of all? He’s everything my sorry excuse for a father wasn’t. Now, I’m back in Bitterroot Valley, living across the street from Bridger and his adorable daughter. It doesn’t take long for all those old feelings to come rushing back, and every cell in my body knows that I belong with them. That they’re mine. Bridger’s arms are where I feel safest. They feel like home. I’m growing to depend on him, to truly love him and his daughter.

One letter changed my life. One night with him might change my forever. Inheriting a beach house in a small town you've never heard of is less than ideal. Falling for the broody bar owner who hates me because he wants the house? Even worse. I came to Carrington Cove for one reason: to renovate the home I knew nothing about, sell it, and get back to my life in D.C. and my multi-million dollar business. There was nothing on the agenda about falling for Dallas, the sexy former Marine who chastises me about my manners and withholds how to fend off the murderous geese on my property.

Demi Crawford was Magnolia Falls royalty. I was the boxer from the wrong side of the tracks. She was the epitome of everything good, while I was broody and rebellious. We couldn’t be more different. Her family was enemy number one which made her guilty by association. I despised her before I even knew her. It was easier that way. But now she’d moved in next door to me, and she was everywhere I turned. I couldn’t avoid her no matter how hard I tried. She was beautiful and honest and sweet. Everything I knew I shouldn’t want. Shouldn’t need.