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But he didn’t. He dug in with his tasks instead, and suddenly Tarley was walking past the stables dressed in a dark dress and looking as pretty as a painting. He’d slapped soap and water where it needed to go, changed into his nicest clothes, and hurried toward the mercantile where they’d agreed to meet.

Working with Trevis had been an education about all things in Sevens, providing Lachlan could sift through the kid’s extraneous information. One point included the importance of the Fareview family. Lachlan hadn’t really understood until he caught up with Tarley and discreetly followed her down the street, admiring the view. She stopped and spoke to a host of people along the way. With each one, she smiled politely. In every interaction, the people she interacted with were enamored, which he understood completely.

Tarley Fareview was beautiful and smart and poised. And she was equally tough and stubborn and opinionated. His insides surged as he observed her, not only knowing her as he did now, but also knowing she was his. That possessive awareness twisted his gut with the memories of kissing her, of being between her thighs and hearing her come apart under him. This frustrating, beautiful, independent woman was dragging him into a different version of himself, and he couldn’t say he hated it. But it just made him uncomfortable. And worried. What if she changed her mind?

But then, tonight was about telling her family, and she hadn’t sent him back to the inn after the showdown with Dr. Rufus. At present, they were walking down a shadowy lane toward her family’s home. Though, Lachlan was still seething after seeing Rufus’s hands on her, hearing his vile words, and he frowned and glanced at Tarley, sure that despite her calm demeanor, she must have been affected by the interaction. He had been.

“How are you?” he asked, breaking the silence. “After Rufus.”

She looked at him, then back ahead. “I’m fine.”

“Are you?” he asked and looked at her sideways. “I’m not sure I am.”

She glanced at him. He adjusted the packages he carried for her.

Tarley stopped him and took some. “I was worried. But now I’m not.” She offered a slight smile. “He seemed to get your message.”

Lachlan leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek, lingering for a moment. He wasn’t sure Rufus had gotten it. There was something odd about the man.

“I’m glad you were there,” she said quietly.

Lachlan pulled back to look at her face, then grinned. “That sounded like it was hard to say.”

She smiled then, her face tilted down to hide it.

Lachlan hooked a finger under her chin and coaxed her gaze up to his. “Don’t hide your smile, Princess. It’s too beautiful and does things to my insides.”

She blushed and turned away, resuming their walk down the lane.

“So what should I expect?” he asked, changing the subject. He needed to, based on the direction of his thoughts.

“Chaos.”

“That sounds pleasant.”

She snickered. “My family is… something. The truth is, I don’t know how it will be. None of us have ever brought anyone home.”

“Ever?”

“Lach, you’ve been in Sevens for weeks now. Can you imagine me bringing someone home?”

He hung up on the way she’d said his name. A nickname, and it made his insides sputter and his brain stall, replacing it with the sound of her coming. He cleared his throat. “Right. I guess not. That makes me excessively happy.”

She glanced at him, then stared straight ahead once more.

Lachlan had grown up in a palace among royals and nobles. He’d been to court and watched the interplay and politicking. He might have hated it, but he could engage with the best of them. And Tarley, common woman from this tiny village of Sevens at the northernmost settlement of Kaloma, would have fit into the palace with her affect as much as anyone he’d ever met. She was going to make a perfect queen, and the realization filled him with pride.

“Excessively?”

“You have no idea.” He grinned. “How often do you take this journey from the inn?”

“Usually once a week.”

He frowned at the thought of her walking this alone. “By yourself?”

“Sometimes.”

He swallowed. The Whitling Woods were beautiful, but they were also terrifying. The gnarled tree trunks grew in tight profusion, their covered branches, stretching out to cast dark shadows over everything.