Heart Junction, South Dakota, 1913 Stephanie Porter wants to be the new school principal. Dr. Aaron Wesley, whose romantic attentions Stephanie has repeatedly rebuffed, has been placed in charge of finding the new principal for the Heart Junction School. Uh-oh... Fortunately, Aaron doesn't hold a grudge, but Stephanie doesn't want to give in to the handsome man's attentions just to win the job of her dreams. After all, she does have principles--and she doesn't like physicians, even charming, attractive ones. Circumstances force Aaron and Stephanie to work together, and Stephanie begins to wonder if she may have been wrong about a lot of things, including her opinion of Aaron. Just when she believes she's about to get everything she's always wanted, a revelation about her past throws her life into chaos and places her future in the hands of a man she still doesn't trust. Excerpt Setup: Aaron is late. Stephanie goes to search for him. When she was about two miles outside of town, Stephanie saw Aaron's horse tethered to a lone elm tree standing near Longfellow Creek. She steered her rig off the road and angled it toward Aaron's horse. When she'd pulled up to the tree, she dismounted the buggy. She secured the horse and rig to the tree and went to find Aaron. She found him thirty yards from the large elm. He was sitting on the bank of the creek not far from a cottonwood tree which was about half the size of the large elm. Her skirt and shoes made rustling and crunching sounds as she moved through the tall prairie grass, but Aaron did not stir. When she stood next to him, he did not look up at her. "Aaron?" He said nothing as he continued to look at the flowing water in the creek. "Aaron, you're late. You were supposed to pick me up over an hour ago." He stared at the creek as though he had no idea she was speaking to him. She hunched down next to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. At last he looked at her. His eyes were darker than she'd ever seen them. The intensity she saw in his gaze was indefinable. It seemed to come from a dark force...anger, mistrust or perhaps pain of the heart. "Aaron, what is wrong?" She'd never seen him looking so dark and foreboding. He stared at her and took off his hat. He laid it next to him on the creek bank. Slowly he moved his hand toward her until he touched her hair. His sapphire eyes locked on hers, and his gaze began to draw her inside of him. Her breath caught as he thrust his fingers into her neatly arranged hair. He roughly pulled her close to him and captured her lips with his. He kissed her fiercely, so intensely she could barely breathe. Stephanie found herself caught up in his passion. Within seconds she was kissing him as ardently as he was kissing her.