For Ph.D. candidate Patience Sinclair, leaving the ivy-covered campus of Boston University for the wide, open spaces of Texas means a chance to stop looking over her shoulder at every turn. Traveling incognito with the Triple C Rodeo will help her finish her dissertation on the American West while hiding in plain sight. But she can't hide from Dallas Kingman. The champion rider makes it clear that he's watching her ... and he likes what he sees. But everything about Dallas, from his country drawl to his rgged Texas charm, is unfamiliar to Patience. And if there's anything she understands with chilling clarity, it's what it costs to fall for the wrong man.

As Dallas and Patience make their way through the heart of the southwest, a series of mysterious accidents turns the rodeo into a nightmare of fear and suspicion. Someone's absession has turned deadly, and Patience has moved closer to danger than she ever could have imagined ...