She doesn’t have time for love. He’s waiting for her anyway.

Daisy: I’ve held my family together—saving our struggling apple orchard, raising my younger sisters, and protecting the only home we have left after tragedy stole everything else.

Love was never part of the plan. Especially not with Knox—the steady, sinfully handsome cowboy who looks at me like I already belong to him.

But one vulnerable night changes everything. We make rules. Keep our relationship secret.

No complications. No feelings. No falling in love.

Until danger finds my family… and the life I’ve fought so hard to protect starts slipping through my fingers.

Now the only person I can turn to is the man I swore I’d never need.

KNOX: I’ve survived war, loss, and demons that still haunt me—but loving Daisy Wylde has always been the hardest battle.

She thinks she has to carry the world alone. That needing someone makes her weak. So I take what she’ll give me—stolen glances, hidden touches, secret moments where I can pretend she’s mine. For her, I told myself it was enough.

Then someone threatens her home, her family, and their safety.

Despite her rules, I’ll stand guard between her and anything that tries to take her down. And when the dust settles? She’ll finally understand what I’ve known all along—

She was always mine.

Perfect for readers who love:

• Friends to Lovers / Friends-With-Benefits

• Protective Cowboy, Military Veteran Alpha

• Strong Small-Town Heroine

• Romantic Suspense / Secret Relationship

• He Falls First and Hard

• Found Family, Fierce Sister Bonds

Heat: Steamy

Ending: Guaranteed HEA

Series: Interconnected Standalone

Setting: Montana mountain apple orchard and small town

If you love fiercely protective heroes, emotional slow-burn tension, and a cowboy who shows up—even when she tells him not to—one-click now.