Dermot Harding is ten years older than me.
A family friend. An employee on my father’s ranch.
But I’ve loved him as long as I can remember.
At eighteen, I kissed him and he pushed me away. He said I was too young.
The army took him from me for three long years, but now he’s back at Gold Rush Ranch—looking at me like he’s never looked at me before. Letting his hands linger longer than they should. Offering to help me train the racehorse I’ve always dreamed of owning.
I say that I’ve moved on, but our chemistry? It’s electric. It’s overpowering. And soon all our reasons for staying away from each other fall away, along with our clothes.
He says he’s too old and too broken for someone like me. He says we can never work. But his body tells another story.
I put my pride on the line for him once before.
Am I a fool to risk it again?

Keeping things professional with my employees has never been an issue. Until she waltzed onto my property.
Billie is talented. She's mouthy. And she's so damn tempting. I can't stop thinking about all the ways I could take her down a peg.
I can't stop thinking about her, period.
We clash from the moment we meet. And in a small town, on an even smaller farm, it’s hard to keep your distance. It’s even harder to keep that friction from turning to fire.
But keeping my distance? That might be the biggest struggle of all. Because Billie is the whole package, whip-smart with a body I fantasize about when I’m alone, and quite possibly the only woman who can save this business—and me.
She drives me crazy. In every sense of the word. Every smart-mouthed little comment—every game we play—I end up wanting more. Wanting her closer. With me. Under me.
I try not to let her get to me, but the more time we spend together the more I crave her. Her lips. Her trust. Her heart.
I want it all.
But at what cost?
Because suddenly I don’t just want to win races, I want to win the girl.I want it all.
But at what cost?
Because suddenly I don’t just want to win races, I want to win the girl.