Welcome to Mountain Meadow, Virginia, where love is worth waiting for... The town bad girl is back, and this time, Erin Richardson is in need of protection. Years ago, her youthful crush on handsome older man Sam Barnes nearly led to scandal. Now she's on the run from an entirely different kind of trouble: a criminal intent on eliminating his witnesses-including Erin. As the local sheriff, Sam's duty-bound to provide a safe haven. Though tongues will surely wag once Erin is sharing a house with the sexy lawman.... Erin is still too young, too vulnerable, and too irresistibly beautiful. But when Sam lays eyes on her again, all he wants to do is shelter her in his arms. It won't be easy keeping her out of harm's way. But it'll be even harder keeping the woman he never forgot out of his bed-and his heart...