He's worried she won't stay. She's worried she will.

The last place city girl Cecily Kennedy expected to end up was a cattle ranch. But she needs a job-and refuge from her abusive soon-to-be-ex-husband.

If only her new boss, Austin Wells, would make it clear whether he hates her or wants her. His gaze makes her feel things she hasn't in years. Though getting over her ex by getting under her grumpy boss isn't worth the potential fallout.

Austin's a gruff, no-nonsense rancher who's seriously regretting letting his head cook hire her own help. As far as he's concerned, Cecily won't be sticking around for long. Nobody ever stays. And the wedding ring indent still on her finger makes her more trouble than she's worth.

When Cecily's past catches up with her, Austin discovers that she's already placed a branding iron on his heart. He wants her to stay. But first he needs to keep her safe . . .

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

He broke her heart once before. Can she risk him doing it again?

Five seconds of honesty: Wells Canyon is the last place Blair Hart wants to be.

But her mother's illness leaves her no choice except to return to the hometown-and the traumatic past-she's spent thirteen years hiding from. A run-in with the boy who tore her life to pieces is inevitable in a town like Wells Canyon, but that doesn't mean she's prepared for the way Denver Wells can turn back time with a single smile.

Thirteen years ago Denver's world crashed around him. Since then, he's done everything he can to outrun his demons, until a flash of brown hair knocks him from his saddle. But if he wants her back, he'll need to prove he can be the man Blair needs-the same one she used to love.

With a thousand sticky notes worth of responsibilities, Blair doesn't have the time to sift through their messy history and resolve things with the man who's determined to be in her life. And Denver's going to need more than cowboy charm and five seconds of honesty to convince Blair he's worth a change of heart.

She lives by the rules. He lives to break them.

Cassidy Bowman has strict rules to uphold her good-girl reputation: she doesn't date the Wells Ranch locals, and she definitely doesn't sleep with men she isn't dating. But after a run-in with her ex-boyfriend-and a few too many drinks-she's ready to buck those rules and allow herself one night of recklessness.

On the other hand, local cowboy Chase "Red" Thompson has never met a rule he didn't love breaking. With a long-time crush on Cassidy, he's more than willing to accept her offer of a one-night stand and her one condition: he must agree to never speak of it again.

That is until two pink lines render Cassidy's entire rule book null and void. Cassidy isn't looking for a relationship with the rough-and-tumble cowboy, and Red doesn't need anyone to tell him he's not good enough for the sweetheart of Wells Canyon.

So the two make another agreement-they'll be friends and co-parents, nothing more. But as their carefully designed boundaries begin to blur, Cassidy might just realise that perhaps some rules are worth breaking . .