He should be her enemy. She’s out of his reach. But being together feels too right to be a one-time thing.

After her last heartbreak, Lauren Markland swears her horse, her dog, her goats, and her California ranch are all she needs. Until late one lonely night, she does something stupid and rescues a slaughter-bound pregnant mare from a shady internet auction. When a smirking cowboy pulls his trailer into her dusty barnyard to deliver her new horse, it’s no surprise she hates everything about the man.

He’s late, for one thing. He calls her ma’am, for another. The clincher? He works for the kill pen. Annoyingly, his slow drawl and strong arms make her want his gentle, calloused hands on her, erasing the bad memories her ex left her with.

Matthew Grady is about to lose everything: the land that’s been in his family for generations, his home, his cattle, and his plans. Desperate for cash to save the place, he takes a side hustle working for an underhanded horse dealer. The last thing he expects the job to involve is confronting a baseball-bat wielding horse lady with kicking curves.

He's got zero business indulging the fantasies the bossy redhead ignites. As tempting as Lauren is in her skinny jeans, he belongs back in Texas, where he’s got his duty to fulfill and paying work lined up.

But when a panicked phone call has him flipping a U-turn and hightailing it back to Lauren, their attraction sizzles. It shouldn’t matter if neither of them can see their way to a future together: that’s what one-night stands are for. But when a fling starts to feel like forever, can either of them afford to risk their dreams or their hearts?