I didn’t go to the Valentine’s Bachelor Auction to be bought. So when she bids on me, I shut it down and decide she’s mine instead.
Davin
I live quiet for a reason. After the fire, solitude is safer.
Then I see her in town, talking about her shop, carrying too much on her own, and I enter the auction knowing exactly who I’m there for.
When Tilly bids on me, it isn’t flirtation. It’s need. Practical. Exhausted. She wants help moving a heavy antique before her grand opening.
Another woman outbids her. I shut the auction down anyway.
The storm closes the roads, and bringing her to my cabin isn’t a favor. It’s the smart choice. I feed her. I warm her curves. I take the weight from her hands and watch her finally let herself rest.
She thinks she hired muscle.
I’m not interested in temporary. And once she’s snowed in, close enough that I can feel her give in inch by inch, I decide I’m done pretending this is casual.
Tilly
I don’t go to the bachelor auction for romance. I go because I’m burned out, my vintage shop opening is days away, and I need help moving something heavy.
Then Davin ignores a higher bid, shuts the auction down, and chooses me.
At his cabin, the storm traps us together, and everything shifts. He doesn’t rush. He doesn’t push. He just handles things: meals, warmth, the quiet panic I didn’t realize I was carrying.
His hands are big and steady, worshipful when they touch my curves like they’re something precious. His dominance is calm, grounding, and makes it impossible to remember why I ever thought I had to do it alone.
Davin isn’t interested in being my employee.
He wants to be the man who carries the weight with me, and makes it clear that for the next forty-eight hours, the only thing I need to handle is him.