In the Line of Duty

Cole Sullivan made a battlefield promise to his best friend to take care of his little sister, but that vow, given to a dying man, has pushed the woman he's wanted for years even farther from reach. Gemma Mathews has crushed hard on the darkly handsome, far-to-serious explosives expert since she was a teen, but the sting of his rejection is as fresh as if it happened yesterday.

Tallulah Duncan is excited about her brother's upcoming wedding in Louisiana, but what she's not looking forward to is facing the man who will undoubtedly be waiting for her. Years ago she and an old boyfriend made a pact. The next time she comes home, if she's still single, they'll get engaged. He's a nice guy, but Tallulah doesn't love him - or the idea of being an undertaker's wife. And the smokin' hot guy next to her on the plane is a loud-and-clear reminder that her biological clock is on the fritz.

As lifeguard Jenny Anderson keeps one eye on the rambunctious kids at the community pool, she can't help but keep the other one trained on the gorgeous, tattooed hottie peeling his shirt off near the lounge chairs. And she isn't the only woman at the pool drooling. Right about the time her gaze drops to check for a wedding ring - which, from bitter experience, she knows doesn't mean squat - one of those kids plows into her from behind. Sending her in an ungraceful belly flop right into the deep end.

Since his last relationship blew up in his face, bomb expert Brad Crosby has lost his appetite for "permanent". But his kid brother's best friend? Now there's a curvy morsel he could wrap his lips around. For years Brad has been the star of Madison Graham's fantasies. If only she were the kind of put-together girl he prefers, not a pastry chef whose makeup consists of a dusting of powdered sugar on her nose.

Ex-military security specialist Luke Phillips would like nothing more than to walk away from his latest job, especially when he realizes the upscale market owner is the daughter of the man responsible for his year spent in juvie.

Skylar Redmond's Sky Bar is regularly wall-to-wall hot soldiers. Yet she is alone - and getting tired of it. Forget about finding a man who'll rock her world in the bedroom. She'll settle for a guy who's stable, kind, and compassionate. Too bad that guy still sees her as the pigtailed girl from their youth, not the strong woman she is today. But maybe, with a little help, that'll change.

They made one beautiful mistake. The consequences could haunt them for life. From the moment the Nelson brothers took a lonely young girl from the wrong side of the tracks under their wing, Rachel Andrews loved them both with all her heart. But it was James who won her hand. Now widowed, she's trying to pick up the pieces for her daughter's sake as well as her own, but once again loneliness is her closest friend - until James's brother comes back to town.