title: Open Wounds
author: Maco, Molly
description: Dean left everything he knew behind, the day he buried his wife and daughter due to his law enforcement career. The pain of losing his family is still too much guilt for him to bear. After years in a bottle, and living a life he once thought was only for losers, he is now one of them until a rancher befriended him, giving him a job and purpose once again. Now, as the lead man on a massive Colorado ranch, he lives a quiet, ordinary existence still trying to silence the ghosts of the past. When his employer starts to exhibit failing health and requires surgery, the nurse hired to help will shake up everything. Is there hope that his damaged heart might actually start to beat once again after all these years?Lexi is smart, sassy, and determined to be the best nurse, having finally fished her degree. She was the primary caregiver during her mother's extended terminal illness and is looking for a new change. Moving halfway across the country for a six-month contract, she is hoping to pay down student loans with a huge salary, as well as catch her breath for whatever comes next. She had not expected to find a broken, gorgeous ex-police officer in charge of the ranch. The attraction is nearly instant for her, but the guarded man doesn't seem like he wants anything to do with her. Soon she is relishing her days working with rehabbing Rex, despite his predilection for pigs and other farm animals. Does this contract have any chance of becoming more than temporary? She sure is beginning to hope that turns out to be the case.