They had a lot in common, yet they were bitter rivals from the start. Cal Stewart and Mary Nell Barrigan were two Tacoma-based engineers competing for the same contract. Each needed desperately to win it. Mary Nell had put her sister through nursing school and was barely making ends meet. Cal felt equally responsible for his partner, who had been tragically crippled in an accident. To top it off, they both distrusted their romantic instincts. Determined to remain apart, they refused to see that by antagonizing each other they were only tempting fate.