She needed to win him at the bachelor auction to save her friend...but she didn't plan on falling in love. Cora Rooney desperately needs to win the representative from The Refuge at the veterans' charity auction...it's literally a matter of life or death. Of course, as is so often the case for the ex-orphan, nothing goes according to plan, and Cora loses her bid. Yet, she still finds herself in a diner with Bryson Clark, telling him about her best friend, who she suspects has been kidnapped and held against her will. After exhausting all other options, Cora's convinced Pipe and his former military friends are her last chance to rescue Lara. Bryson "Pipe" Clark had no desire to participate in a bachelor auction. Hell, most women run in the other direction when they see him coming. Why in the world would anyone spend good money for a night in his company? Still, he lets himself be talked into supporting a good cause, and as it turns out, the auction is the start of a mystery he's now determined to unravel. Mostly because of the woman he's strangely attracted to from her very first bid. Finding Lara Osler is the easy part. Determining if she fled DC with her boyfriend of her own free will-and breaking her out of his estate if she didn't-isn't quite so cut and dried. Along the way, Pipe finds there's much more to Cora than meets the eye...kind of like him. Falling in love wasn't part of the plan, but Pipe's not going to let anyone or anything get in his way of making Cora his own and rescuing her friend...not even a serial killer hiding in the wings, waiting to strike.