The last thing Rosalie Tomkin wants is another man trying to control her life. Her abusive jailbird father and her ne'er-do-well brother have cured her of that. Not even the wealthy visitor staying in her beleaguered mother's boarding house can tempt her. She plans to leave Boulder Creek as soon as she can scrape together the funds to do so, and when she does, she won't ever look back. Michael Randolph is in a high-stakes competition for the family business and intends to beat his half-brother, no matter what. So when an innocent encounter with Rosalie threatens to cost him everything he hopes to achieve, he's willing to pay the price demanded by her no-good father-even if it means marrying a damsel in distress. Strangers placed in an impossible position, Michael and Rosalie can agree on one thing: neither of them wants to stay together any longer than they must. What they don't know is that fate might have a better future in store for them than either could imagine.