Crocus Valley

I fled minutes before my wedding when I learned my fiancé had been paid to marry me. Ten years, too many crappy exes, and one drunken decision later, I'm now his boss. A night out with a friend turned into shots and duping an old ex of mine into taking a job at my budding horse rescue. The last time Ansen Barron saw me, I was fishtailing away from our wedding with his dog. When he arrives, I expect him to reverse right back down my driveway after he learns I'm his boss.

After a sudden, bad breakup, I land in a small town in the middle of nowhere, cut off from all my accounts and resources. I have a stalled dancing career, a mom in long-term care, and no money. Then I meet Alcott "Cody" Knight. The type of guy I've learned to steer clear of—driven, rigid, and devastating in a suit. Only he also has two adorable kids, and he needs a nanny for the summer.

I might be single, but I'm not ready to mingle. I should've stayed home from the street dance. My feet are barely surviving the two-step and my dance partners are looking for dates while I'm only interested in forgetting the man I was once married to. The night's about to end with bruised toes and a rain storm when the guy who swept me off my feet years ago cuts in right before the downpour starts. Wilder Knight has always been the best dance partner I've ever had. Just not the best husband.

I didn't mean to give my hot neighbor a full peep show when my puppy locks me outside in nothing but a towel. Yet Austen Knight pretends he didn't see everything and offers me an interior design job—help him renovate the farmhouse I've adored since I was a kid. I'm a single mom trying to run a business in a small town. I can't be alone with Austen day in and day out without igniting rumors that could hurt the career I've worked so hard for. But I need the money, and he's leaving after the house is done and goes on the market.

My aunt is determined to see to the terms of the inheritance. If I don't get married, I'll have to find somewhere I can afford with two kids and a lot of debt—and do it without losing my brand new job. When she confronts me on the moveout deadline, I try to buy time. I blurt out a name. I tell her I'm engaged to Eliot Knight. Eliot's my boss's brother, and he's been around the vet clinic where I work. He's hot. He's charming. He's who I'd pick if I had to marry someone at a moment's notice. But he wasn't supposed to hear me. He wasn't supposed to get dragged into my mess.