Veterinarian Hunter Beckett just got roped into his nightmare: a bachelor auction to raise funds for a local charity. While he’s a hottie, most in town see him as a curmudgeon, a man who manages to be cranky, even after he’s saved your dog’s life. But when women start bidding on him like crazy—one aggressive hairdresser in particular—Hunter’s in need of a savior and finds it in the form of Kit, his veterinary resident. It’s a mercy purchase, but one that puts him in a bind: Kit wants something in return.

Kit Cowie’s come all the way out to the boonies because of her love of large animal medicine, and because Hunter needs a new resident—badly. But now that she’s got the job, she finds that Hunter is only holding her back, making her give shots to puppies while he’s off doing what she’d really love: fixing broken bones and saving horses’ lives. Now that she’s rescued him from the auction, Kit hopes she can leverage this to get more access in the office. What she didn’t expect is for Hunter to follow the rules of the bachelor auction—or for their date go so wonderfully right, ending with a sizzling kiss.

But Hunter is sure that the kiss was a mistake and believes they should keep things professional between them. However, the more time he spends with Kit, the more his emotions beg him to see this relationship to passionate fruition, even though he knows Kit is only here for a rotation until her position at her own family’s vet clinic goes into effect and she’s gone forever.

As the two get more involved, they face the real possibility that their growing love could lay waste to their reputations or become something far more precious.