Ally Roche has loved only one man her entire life, her childhood best friend turned lover. But when she turned down his proposal one summer before he went back to college, he disappeared from her life, leaving her empty and alone. Detective Jesse Richards is back in town and avoiding Ally like the plague...until she walks into the station and reports a murder and then promptly faints at his feet. Faced with the knowledge the killer knows who she is, Jesse has no choice but to protect the woman he's always loved. And maybe, just maybe, he can protect his heart as well.