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This can’t be real.

I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a teenager and now, it’s finally here.

And I didn’t even fucking know it was happening?

“It’s yours, baby,” he says again, a soft smile on his face as he watches me try to process this. “Calvin only put one stipulation in the sale and that is that we keep the name. Apparently, he’s very attached to it but other than that, you can do whatever you want with the place.”

My mind spins.

I shake my head.

“No,” I whisper. “We should keep the name. It’s a Baton Rouge staple at this point.”

Dalton places his hands on my shoulders and spin me back toward the bakery. “Not we, Lennon. You. This place is yours.”

I stare up at the place I’ve worked for the last year and a half and I can’t believe that it’s mine. I can change the table layout, put different music over the speakers, redo the menu. I’ve always wanted to bake and decorate cakes for special events. I can add that service now, too, without convincing Calvin.

It’s all mine.

“I can’t believe you did this,” I whisper, shaking my head as I wipe away a stray tear that rolls down my cheek. “Why would you do this?”

“Because,” he says, stepping up next to me and grabbing my hand. “It’s your dream, Lennon, and I consider it my personal mission to make all your dreams come true.”

“Dalton.” A soft sob bubbles out of me. I look up at him and he has that soft, easy smile on his face as he gestures towards the front door.

“Let’s go check out your place, babe.”

Yes.

I very much want to do that.

Nodding, I begin marching toward the door, pulling him along behind me. He laughs as I fumble with the key, struggling to get it in the lock with my shaking hand. But finally, I manage.

We step inside and although everything looks exactly the same as it did when I was working yesterday, it’s also different. As I stop in the middle of the room, I drop his hand and suck in a breath.

This is mine.

And it’s all because of this beautiful man.

I start turning back to him when I spot something sitting on the counter and stop, tilting my head to the side. There is a cut just like Dalton’s lying on the counter with “Property of Rooster” patches sewn on the back. Next to the cut, is a large oval diamond ring.

I suck in a breath.

“Dalton?” I ask, turning to him. He’s standing halfway between me and the door with that smile still on his face. One hand is shoved in the pocket of his jeans and he looks so at peace that it takes me by surprise.

I remember the first time I saw him in here, that air of danger that radiated from him, and he can still pull that out at a moment’s notice but there is nothing I love more than seeing the man I love so damn happy that he forgets to scan the room for a moment.

“So,” he says, closing the distance between us and taking my hand. “I know we said one day at a time but here’s the thing… I’ve decided that I want all your days, for the rest of my life. What do you think about that?”

I bite the inside of my cheek as more tears build in my eyes and a smile stretches across my face. “I’d like that.”

“Lennon Gwendolyn Scott,” he whispers, picking the ring up from the counter and holding it out in between us. “What do you say we get married, baby?”

Something between a sob and a laugh spills out of me as I nod, holding my hand out to him. “I say, hell yes.”

He slides the ring on my finger and grabs the cut from the counter, before opening it for me. My heart hammers in my chest as I turn and slip the cut on. Dalton and I have talked about this before. I know what it means, the significance of it. It’s just as important, if not more important to the MC, as the ring.

He’s claiming me.