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He wants me exactly as I am, standing strong in my own skin, doing my thing, messy and mouthy and absolutely mine.

After we made love earlier tonight, the fast, desperate, world-shattering kind of love he’s got me addicted to, Kian didn’t just kiss me goodbye before work.

He gave me a surprise.

One that I’m still not over.

He led me to the kitchen with that mischievous little smirk on his face, and there, waiting on the windowsill, was a small wooden crate.

Inside were tiny ceramic pots, each one holding a different herb seedling—basil, thyme, dill, rosemary, lavender.

They smelled like sunshine and green things. Like promises for the future.

And beside them?

A tub of goat cheese so fresh it still wore the morning dew.

“What’s all this?” I’d asked, wide-eyed and breathless.

Kian rubbed the back of his neck, that shy smile tugging at his lips. Like he was nervous to give me something so thoughtful it made my chest ache.

“Well, you know how those sandwiches we had with Gramps knocked my socks off?”

“Yeah?”

“And then you told me you made the cheese blend yourself?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Well, I’ve been talking to Jed and Max.”

He’d paused, and I could see it then. How much this mattered to him.

“We think, that is, maybe you should develop a line of flavored goat cheese. You know, use herbs from the farm, put your name on it, and sell it through Dolly’s Dairy Products. Max’s lawyers are drawing up paperwork. You don’t have to sign anything. But, I mean, if you want it, If you want to build something here, with us, um, with me?—”

I swear my heart stopped mid-beat.

Because it wasn’t just a business proposal.

It was a future.

A place. A purpose. A promise.

For the first time, Kian seemed to believe it was possible, too. Even with the Rut hanging over his head.

And I want that future. I want all of it.

So naturally, I did the only reasonable thing a girl could do.

I jumped him.

Right there in the kitchen.

Pinned him against the counter, tugged his shirt up just so I could touch his hot skin, and I kissed him like he just offered me the keys to forever—because he kind of had.

We didn’t get far, though.

Not with me on shift tonight at the bar.