When a small-town cowboy falls for a big-city girl, lifestyle differences are the least of their troubles.

As a teenager, Kit Beaumont was homeless in San Francisco, living on the streets with her mom and sister. Now she's the head chef of an exclusive Los Angeles hotel, but she turns her back on her success to work as a cook on a cattle ranch in the Arizona desert. While trying not to relive old mistakes and her past grief, she holds on tightly to her secrets.

Rancher Carter McLeod knows highly rated chefs don't take positions like preparing meals for a bunch of cowboys without a good reason. A reason he doesn't know. His challenge is to keep from falling for the cute blond while he waits for the day she returns to a life where she hobnobbed with celebrities instead of dirt-covered ranch hands.

Kit has no intention of jumping into a relationship with any man, much less her new boss, but she couldn't have cooked up anything more enticing than Carter.

As feared, this cowboy romance comes to a scorching end when her hidden past comes striding back into her life. And now Carter may never trust her again.