The Forever Cowboy by Jody Hedlund

After running away from her wedding and hiding for months, Violet Berkley is back home in the high country of Colorado. Her father’s gambling debt has caught up to him, and he wants Violet and her sister to help him pay it off by working as dancing girls in a saloon. Rather than face such degradation, Violet seeks out the one man she hopes might be willing to help her.

Sterling Noble doesn’t want anything to do with Violet after being jilted at the altar by her. He doesn’t want to see her, be near her, or even speak to her. But when she shows up on his doorstep in desperate straits, he’s too kind—and maybe still too in love with her—to do anything but protect her.

Violet knows she doesn’t deserve another chance with Sterling, but she wants to prove she’s a new woman. But has she really changed, or are the insecurities still there? Sterling tries hard to resist his old feelings for Violet because his broken heart can’t take another beating. But as the danger closes in, he’s afraid he’ll lose her all over again.