Marley Masters runs a successful chain of bikini barista stands, secretly supports her elderly neighbor, Alice, and has rid her life of bad boys.

She even deflected the advances of her new neighbor Joe, the ex-con. Okay. Lie. The lawbreaker is irresistible and relentless.

Hard as Marley tries to fight the attraction and protect her battered heart, Joe proves time and time again that he's playing for keeps.

***

Joseph Kaine struggled his entire life to ditch the family curse. Finally, after a stint in prison, he's ready to walk the straight and narrow.

Marley, his new neighbor, seems the perfect way to fill his lonely days. But that feisty woman is a magnet for trouble, and Joe is nothing if not a man who'll fight to keep his ladies safe.

Can he shake the Kaine legacy, or will an average Joe have to call on his inner thug and play dirty?