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I shake my head, smiling. “You make it sound like an obvious conclusion.”

“No. I’m saying she’d be an idiot not to want you invested in it.” His hands slide from my waist to my hips. “People are already driving up here because they want you specifically. You’ve been talking about things you’d change there since I met you.”

“I have not.”

“You absolutely have.”

“I’ve made observations.”

“You redesigned half the front room in your head three weeks ago.”

“It needs better lighting.”

“And now you might actually get to fix it.”

I laugh. “Maybe.”

He asks about the things I care about without needing me to explain why they matter. Whether I’d have more say over the artists we bring in. Whether I could expand the custom work I’ve been trying to build. Whether I’d want to change the shop name someday.

“No,” I say immediately. “I like Black Fern.”

“Me too.”

“You don’t get a vote.”

“I’m emotionally invested.”

I glance at him. “That’s not how ownership works.”

For the next twenty minutes, it’s exactly what I wanted.

He listens while I tell him everything I know, which admittedly isn’t much yet. We open a bottle of wine, I make him look at the rough list of ideas I’ve been saving on my phone for months, and he keeps finding reasons I should do it.

Not once does he make it about himself.

Until he asks, “Would being a partner make it harder for you to get away?”

The question is reasonable enough that I don’t think anything of it.

“Probably sometimes. Depends on what the agreement looks like.”

He nods and takes a drink. “But you’d still have some flexibility?”

“I assume so.”

“I was just thinking about the tour. If there’s a stretch where you could come out for a few days.”

I set my glass down. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“Yeah.” He glances toward the counter where his phone is sitting. “There’s a three-day break after Denver. Depending on travel, that one might work. Or later, there’s almost a week between Toronto and Chicago, although I don’t know yet if they’ll use that for promo.”

I watch him unlock his phone.

“Zander.”

He looks up. “What?”

“Can we not schedule my theoretical vacation from the business I don’t own yet?”