He was my high school crush. Now he’s pretending to be my boyfriend—and I’m pretending I’m not falling for him. When Hoyt McNamara stepped in to rescue me from a drunk with grabby hands, pretending to be my boyfriend, I knew two things: One, I still hadn’t outgrown the way I felt about him. Two, it was a terrible idea to let him get involved. But Hoyt didn’t just step in—he stayed. He offered to keep up the ruse, to shield me from the island rumor mill and the threats creeping closer to my door. Then he became my landlord, and suddenly there was no escaping the man I’d spent half my life trying not to want. The fires started small. Easy to brush off as accidents. Until they weren’t accidents anymore. Until someone started pointing fingers at me. Until it was clear I was the real target. Hoyt says he’ll keep me safe. But the closer the danger gets, the harder it is to protect my heart from the one man who could burn it down for good.

I drowned when I was sixteen. My brother's best friend brought me back, but nothing was the same. I can't remember what happened. My parents dragged me away from my island home in the name of keeping me safe, and thrust me into hell instead. I came back to Hatterwick to rebuild my life and—hopefully—my memory. Now a new inheritance threatens to expose those long buried secrets, and someone will stop at nothing to ensure I never remember what really happened that fateful night. The only thing standing between me and whoever wants to hurt me is a marriage of protection with the boy who saved me—now a man grown and determined to keep me safe at all costs. But what began as protection turns into more. Because he's the key to unlocking what hides in the shadows of my mind, which will either save or damn us both.

The last person I expect—or want—to take shelter with as a hurricane bears down on Hatterwick Island is Daniel LaRue—the man who broke my heart barely three months ago. I’m not looking for distractions. The clinic’s been targeted by thieves. The island’s locked down tight against the storm. And Daniel—hot Coast Guardsman, bad decision, walking heartbreak—is the last thing I need complicating my life again. Coming back to the Outer Banks after med school was supposed to be a fresh start. For a while, I thought maybe I’d bring him with me. Until he accepted a promotion across the country without even telling me. It turned out he was more of a situationship than anything real. Except now he’s standing on my doorstep, insisting he’s here for me—and refusing to leave when everything in me screams to slam the door in his face. Stranded together, we have no choice but to face the storm—and the feelings I thought I'd buried. But as the hours tick by, it’s clear Daniel isn’t telling me everything. And on Hatterwick Island, secrets always come with a price.

For ten years, I've perfected the art of ignoring Ford Donoghue whenever he comes home on leave. You can't completely avoid anyone on Hatterwick Island, but I've made it work. Until his daughter shows up. She's thirteen, scared, and looking for the father she's never met. And suddenly I'm the one making the call I swore I'd never make, pulling Ford away from his Navy post and into my carefully constructed life. But something about her story doesn't add up, and when a body washes up on our quiet beach, the whole island starts to unravel. Now a teenage girl is counting on me, a murderer walks freely among us, and the only person I can trust is the former best friend who broke my heart a decade ago. And the people threatening everything I love? They're counting on the fact that Ford and I are too broken to work together. They don't know how wrong they are. In this small tourist town, old wounds run deep and deadly secrets hide in plain sight. And this time, running away isn't an option—for any of us.

I like things orderly. Controlled. Easy to explain. For the past three years, I’ve kept the O’Connell Fishing Company running like a machine—filing systems, schedules, digitized records. I don’t do chaos. I don’t do complications. And I definitely don’t do Corbin O’Connell. He’s supposed to be here temporarily, stepping in while his dad recovers from surgery. But now he’s everywhere—at the office, in my house, in my space—and I can’t seem to remember why I ever thought I was over him. He’s not the same guy I had a crush on in high school. And I’m not the girl who used to trip over her own feet when he smiled at me. I’ve worked hard to build this life. But after the break-in—and the attack—Corbin insists he’s not leaving my side. Not until we know who’s behind it. He says he’s here to protect me. The problem is, the closer he gets, the harder it is to protect myself—from him.

I built my life on my belief in justice. Until the day the system proved me wrong. Now I’m back on Hatterwick Island with nothing left—no career, no credibility, and no illusions about the law I once trusted. The only thing heavier than the guilt I carry is knowing I once turned my back on a man who didn’t deserve it. Rios Carrera. Twelve years ago, my cousin disappeared, and he was the last one to see her alive. I believed the whispers that he was responsible. I made him the villain of the story—and he has every reason to hate me for it. But when a graduate student vanishes and the police insist she left of her own accord, Rios is the only one willing to look deeper. What starts as a search for the truth drags us into something darker than either of us imagined. Reluctant allies become something far more dangerous. Because the closer we get to uncovering what’s been buried on this island for decades, the more I realize justice isn’t black and white…and the man I once condemned may be the only one I can trust with my life—and my heart.