Determined to make everyone believe she could stick with something, Heather McGuire spent her last dollar on a down payment to an old ranch and a bus ticket. The weight of the curse is pressing on her shoulders, making her realize how heavy the world is, especially when the thought of becoming just a normal human being scared her daily. Maybe, just maybe, enough work and some blisters on her hands would take her mind off her doomed future. Who knows? Living without magic could be okay. What was she thinking? It would never be okay. With a past smeared in false mud, Lane Emmett wants nothing more than to clear his name and regain his rightful place in the state he called home. If he couldn't gain employment at the Lazy P, his chances to become an upstanding citizen once again were slim. No one else would take him in, and the beautiful woman who took over the ranch didn't have a reason to trust him. It might all be a mistake, but he just couldn't leave, he couldn't quit. He no longer had a selfish need to prove himself to those who knew him—he saw a need in Heather that he wanted to fulfill. A need that only a man could satisfy. He just hoped he was that man. She needed him just as much as he needed her, but for different reasons. Which reason would choose their future?