He laid a hand over his heart. “My hope is you accept the bond between us one day. But if you don’t, you will have to stop tending the land. You’ll keep your piece of property and still live within the boundaries of my territory, but you won’t be able to come onto Keep land without the bond starting up again.”
“I am not a cruel person, Rowan. And that sounds cruel. Losing your friendship will break my heart, but if I don’t accept the bond and choose to live here…” Tears filled my eyes. “I wouldn’t do that to you. I can’t say whether I’ll accept or not. I feel it here, every time you’re close and sometimes when you’re not.” I touched that space in my chest where Rowan lived. “But I’m not ready. We know there’s something between us, something good, but what happened before—” I cut myself off and took a moment to gather my thoughts.
“Caelan broke my heart a little at a time until the pieces lay in a mixed-up pile. I still haven’t figured out where all the pieces goyet.” To soften my words, I reached out and took his hand. “The work is slow, but it’s happening.”
He scooted his chair closer and touched my cheek. “You’re doing the work. That’s all that matters.” Rowan tapped his knee. “Let’s do this,” he said suddenly. “Agree to stay in the cottage for six months. I’ll see about renovating to add a large, screened porch and another room for your plants.” I opened my mouth to argue, but Rowan shook his head.
“The cottage is for Keep use. A screened-in porch is always popular with shifters, and an extra room can be turned into whatever a new tenant might want. Six months, Evie. Let’s see where we are then. By then, things should be resolved with the spell, and you will have had time to deal with Caelan.”
His offer was a good one. Much could happen in six months, and the extra time would allow me to figure out what was going on with this insane tug I kept feeling toward him. If this was a fae bond or something else…six months was enough time to make a plan.
His thumb traced the back of my palm, sending heat down my spine. Every time he touched me, I wanted to straddle his lap and run my fingers through his hair and?—
Rowan’s eyebrow rose. “Evie?”
I cleared my throat and pulled away. “Six?” I asked, my voice a little too high-pitched.
A slow grin spread over his face. “Six months.”
I could do six months. “Agreed.”
He held out his hand. “Shake on it?”
“Are we businessmen making a backroom deal?”
Rowan waited. With a loud sigh, I shook his hand.
“Good. I’ll send Harry over tomorrow.”
“Harry?”
“The architect. He’ll sketch out the new areas for you.”
“I’d like to do something for you.”
Rowan shook his head and stood. “You breathed life back into the Keep, Evie. You’ve given my shifters gifts beyond their wildest dreams. The least I can do is make your living quarters a little more suited to your magic.” He leaned over and tucked a piece of stray hair behind my ear. “One p.m. You. Me. A warm fireplace and a rug.”
With a wink, he turned and walked away.
Chapter
Five
ROWAN
Six months was the first thing I could think of, and I blurted it out like a desperate teenager begging a girl to go to the prom. I should have asked her for a year. Or five. Or forever.
Half a year was not a long time to convince a woman she should choose you. Our bond was still there, still strong, still incomplete, but something between us had changed.
In my favor, if the change in her scent when I touched her was any indication.
I had to do this slowly but thoroughly. Caelan tap danced all over her boundaries and pushed her when he should have let her choose to come to him. I would not make the same mistake. We were two different men. Two different creatures swam in our veins. I’d woo her thoroughly.
I’d already started. Taking care of her was easy, though I had to be careful how I went about things. Evie dealt in trades, services, or money. She wouldn’t accept anything for free or if she thought someone was going too far out of their way, so I couldn’t give her anything, even if I really wanted to.
As far as building a house on my land, I would sign hundreds of acres over if she wanted them. But she wasn’t wrong aboutthe bond. If she owned property within my territory and rejected the bond, things would be extremely difficult. We wouldn’t be able to see each other anymore, and her touch on my land would slowly fade.
Six months would make or break us.
