Patricia K. Card

Only one thing could pull Reid Armstrong away from a vacation he's earned with every muscle in his finely honed body: learning that his former fiancée has disappeared on a top-secret science expedition in the middle of nowhere. Second chances don't come often in Reid's business, and he needs to prove his worth to Cara Layne or die trying.

Derek Alexander is a retired Marine, ex-cop, and the top investigator in his field. Melissa Jones is a small-town girl trying to escape her troubled past.When the two intersect in a bar in Arizona, their sexual chemistry is off the charts. But what is revealed during their "one week stand" only complicates matters-because she'll do everything in her power to get away from the past, but he'll do everything he can to hold her. Contains mature themes.