Broody bad boy Ryan LeDoux is hotter than a Houston sidewalk in July. And I'm pretty sure he hates my guts.

My overprotective mother hates that I even know his name. Any association with him might tarnish my reputation! He's definitely not the kind of guy she keeps setting me up with in her ongoing effort to prevent her past from becoming my future. She doesn't talk about it, but I'm pretty sure my father was a bad boy too. But I've never met him.

I've resigned myself to being some guy's trophy wife. And really, it's the smart thing to do. The safe thing.

But before that happens, I want just one night with someone who makes me feel something. Someone who will kiss me like I've seen my friends' husbands kiss them when they think no one will notice and who can't keep his hands off me-someone like Ryan. But not Ryan for obvious reasons.

Fate is funny sometimes, though. A work assignment puts me on a collision course with Mr. LeDoux. One-on-one, I discover he's not who I thought he was. And he doesn't hate me at all.

A fact that becomes painfully obvious when I finally work up the courage to approach him about that one night and he shoots me down. Not because he's not interested, but because one night wouldn't be enough.

And he doesn't think he's good enough for me.

Can I find the courage to live life on my own terms and go after what I really want?