I thought I could outrun my past by hiding in my hometown. But danger followed me… and the only thing standing in its way is the fiercely protective sheriff who’s always had my heart.

Sophie
I came back to Lush Hollow to disappear.

In Seattle, I saw something I was never supposed to see. A dangerous man. A back-alley deal. A threat that made one thing very clear—if I wanted to stay alive, I needed to run.

So I came home. I worked at Roz’s, served drinks, forced smiles, and pretended everything was fine. I also pretended not to notice Logan King, the steady, unmovable sheriff whose gaze followed me every time he walked in.

Logan has always made me feel too much. Too safe. Too seen. Too tempted to let down the walls I built to survive.

But when my past finally tracks me to Lush Hollow, the mountain is no longer a sanctuary.

And Logan isn’t just going to protect me.

He’s going to prove I don’t have to face the danger—or my feelings for him—alone.

Logan
I’ve been trained to stay calm, stay focused, and keep my feelings locked down.

Then Sophie came back to Lush Hollow.

Every night, I watch her work behind the bar with a practiced smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. She thinks no one notices the way she scans the room, the way she tenses when the door opens, the way fear flickers across her face before she buries it.

I notice everything.

And when an out-of-state rental car starts watching her, my restraint snaps.

A Seattle crime boss thinks he can come into my town and threaten the woman I’ve wanted for years.

He’s wrong.

I’ll protect Sophie. I’ll take him down. And when the danger is over, I’m done pretending she isn’t mine.