Single mother Kyra Kokinos spends her days waiting furniture, her nights focusing on her real estate license, and every spare moment with her precocious six-year-old daughter, Ruby—particularly when Ruby received’t stop pestering their grumpy next-door neighbor. At first glance, Dax Bishop appears like the kind of gruff, solitary man who’d be unlikely to provide a cup of sugar, let alone a marriage proposal. But that’s exactly what occurs when Ruby requirements life-saving surgery.

Dax showed up in East Beach a year ago, fresh from a painful divorce and looking for a place where he will make furniture and avoid people. All of a sudden his life is definitely invaded by an inquisitive munchkin in sparkly cowboy shoes—and her frazzled, too-tempting mother. Therefore he presents a practical plan: his insurance will help Ruby, and they are able to divorce—zero strings attached. But shortly Kyra and Dax find their engagement of comfort is easy in name only. As their attraction deepens, a physique from the past reappears, supplying a way out.

May Kyra and Dax let go so easily—or has love become a preexisting condition?