About to take the bar exam after ending a five-year marriage that derailed her career plans and her life, Kate Kingston craves independence and a vacation. Somewhere warm with sea breezes, sunshine, sand, and none of the scary threats against her that have been showing up in her dad's office. Barefoot Bay is the perfect place for some serenity while she studies and puts her life back together. But when she meets the brooding wall of muscle her father hired to protect her, Kate feels her hard-won independence slipping away as fast as her resolve to avoid men who wield power over her.
Mixed martial arts trainer Alec Petrov has been on the run for a long time. Guarding a feisty attorney-to-be while pretending to be her husband is not a bad way to live off the grid, hidden from the Russian mobster who is hunting Alec with deadly intent. But Kate brings out a tender side Alec doesn't understand or believe he deserves, and he soon realizes that keeping them both safe is only half the challenge. Keeping his hands off her and his attraction under control will be every bit as difficult in the close quarters of an exclusive resort.
When their make-believe honeymoon in paradise turns sensual, complicated, and dangerous, Alec and Kate realize it's not just their lives that are in jeopardy, it's their hearts. And they'll have to fight to the end to save each other...and their love.
