Two months ago, Carter made the decision to cut ties with Shayla Kline, a woman who he nursed back to health. A woman - the only woman - he'd ever fallen in love with. A woman whom he later found out was his brother, Jacob's ex-fiancé. It was bad enough that Jacob had committed suicide, leaving a note written specifically for Carter to take care of Shayla. It was even worse when Carter felt himself longing to be with her. Deciding to be loyal to his brother and not his heart, he goes on to live his life without her but soon finds that his very soul aches for her closeness.

Shayla is convinced that Carter doesn't love her. And there is no way she can force herself to stay where she's not wanted, even after he makes a pop up visit to her job and takes her out to dinner. Having had enough of his mind games, she decides to leave Charlotte and move to Norfolk, Virginia where she has a new job lined up and ready to make a fresh start. With the help of her intelligent, debonair boss, Donovan Sharper, she just might have enough distractions to take her mind off Carter.

Carter worries constantly about Shayla being away. He knows if he's going to win her back, he has to tell her about how he really feels for her. Still, he doesn't have the courage to reveal that Jacob was his brother. He knows that sooner or later he would have to tell her, but he loves her too much to break her heart yet again. That is until his secret begins to eat away at him and makes him feel so horribly guilty, he can hardly function. Now he knows he must tell her about Jacob. The problem is, he doesn't know if she'll forgive him for keeping this secret.