Rucker McClure had drowned beer and chased women everywhere south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but he couldn't resist heading straight for Mount Pleasant, Alabama, when the town's mayor, ex-Miss Georgia Dinah Sheridan, sent him a baby possum in retaliation for a column that savaged their annual Possum Days celebration! Not a bit subtle where seduction was concerned, Rucker did his best to rough up Dinah's smooth edges, mesmerizing her with burning caresses and a voice that drawled steamy promises. 'Keep your heart open and lips puckered,' he warned her when he left town, but when he returned and began unraveling her mystery, Dinah knew her fate was sealed. If Rucker discovered the scandal that had once cost her everything, she'd lose him-and the life she loved. But if she wouldn't trust him with her secrets, how could he prove he cherished her?