Real.
Undeniably mine in this moment, and the ache in my chest tells me I want more than that.
More than a night.
More than this flicker of time carved out from a storm.
I want to keep her.
All of her.
But I don’t let myself hope.
Not yet.
I’ve already tanked one engagement and learned the hard way that women don’t always stay.
The ones who came after? They were placeholders.
Forgettable.
Dust compared to this.
But Willow?
Willow feels like more.
And that scares the shit out of me in a way nothing ever has.
Because for the first time in a long goddamn while, I’m not just hungry for her body.
I’m hungry for everything.
And that? That’s a dangerous thing for a man like me to feel.
Especially when I already know—I’ll never want anyone else. Not for the rest of my life.
I just have to figure out how to keep her here. Safe. With me.
But we have time.
Four weeks.
CHAPTER 28
WILLOW
Morning comes, and for the first time in I don’t even know how long, I’ve actually slept through the night.
No jolts awake.
No bad dreams.
No mental tally of what I might’ve done wrong.
Just blissful, restful sleep.
And now,quiet.
