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“You don’t find walking through these woods frightening?”

“Why? Do you?”

“Yes.” Lachlan was confident enough to admit fear. He figured it was foolish to pretend otherwise. “Do you think less of me for it?”

She glanced down at her feet, a smile touching her lips. “Not at all.”

“Surprised?” he asked, happy she did.

Her arm brushed his. “I haven’t met many men willing to admit being afraid of something.”

“Maybe they’re hesitant to appear weak.”

“Do you see it as a weakness?” she asked.

He turned to her, following the line of her jaw with his eyes, then the slope of her neck, wanting more than anything to press a kiss there, but also knowing that doing so would mean foregoing their conversation. That felt far more important in the scheme of their future. “I don’t, but there are many who might. What’s more important to me is if you do.”

She turned her head to look at him again. “I don’t.”

“And why is that?”

“I think even the bravest of us feels afraid. It isn’t being afraid that’s weakness, it’s how we behave in the face of fear.”

Lachlan couldn’t respond at first, her words resonating deep within him. “Spoken like a sage,” he finally said.

They continued walking, silence weaving between them. Lachlan could almost hear her thinking, his own thoughts so loud between his ears.

“Are you afraid of tonight?” she asked.

“Terrified.” He grinned.

“Be serious.”

“I am. Goodness, your father and brother could squish me and then use me for fertilizer in these woods.” He shuddered theatrically.

She stifled a grin. “Mattias isn’t home.”

“I doubt your father is less effective on his own. He’s a giant.”

She smiled openly at him, her face brightening.

Lachlan stopped, drawing her to a stop. “I love it when you smile.”

Her smile faltered, but he could see it wasn’t because she had lost her joy. Her eyes flicked to his mouth. “Would you like to hear what I am truly afraid of, Tarley?”

She nodded.

“I find myself afraid of how I feel,” he said, hoping this risk would be worth it.

She swallowed. “Feel? What are you feeling?”

“So much all at once.”

She nodded, and that made him hopeful.

“And I can’t seem to grab hold of any one to assign it a name.”

“Why does that make you afraid?” she eventually asked after they’d resumed their walk.