The woman gets me hard, hot, bothered, and she is dangerous in the most delicious way. I swear to God, I’d pull her behind a bush and take her right here and now, but Greta interrupts a divinely perfect moment.

“Get a room, you crazy kids,” she hollers, walking past us with feigned shock. “The children could see.”

Hazel steps from me and looks around. “Where are the kids?” she asks.

Greta just laughs. “No kids. They’re at my late husband’s sister’s house tonight. I was just teasing.”

Hazel nods, pressing her fingertips to her lips, and I can tell she is visibly flustered.

Good, I like knowing I did that to her. I damn well know she is doing the same exact thing to me.

“Come on you two. Maggie is gonna have a fit if we don’t show.”

“Understood,” I tell her, slipping my hand around Hazel’s waist. There’s no way in hell I’m letting go of her now.

The three of us walk toward Maggie’s house and Greta starts chatting up Hazel. The whole time, the words we exchanged before our kiss are ringing in my ears.

She wants a happy ending.

Damn, it makes me crazy. I want that for her too but I also know it's what my sister wanted. And then her husband Luke died. And there was nothing about that ending other than sorrow.

“So, what brought you to Linesworth?” Greta asks Hazel as we push open the backyard gate to Maggie’s house.

“I needed a new start,” Hazel says. “And I had a happy memory here as a kid, and I always wanted to return.”

“And the candy cart, did you run that before you moved?”

“No, I built it right before I moved over from Seattle.”

My sister’s eyes go wide. “You built that?”

Hazel laughs. “Well, with the help of the local home improvement store, yes. I am a DIY kind of girl.”

“Impressive,” Greta says. “I can’t even unclog my own toilet without calling for help. Let alone build something.”

Hazel smiles softly. “If you don’t have anyone to call you kind of have to do it on your own.”

Greta’s eyes soften, realizing what Hazel is saying. She has no one and I don’t know what has happened to get Hazel to where she is right now, but I am more and more grateful she landed here.

“Well, now you’re here in Linesworth where everyone helps everyone.”

Greta squeezes Hazel’s arm before telling her she’s gonna go say hi to a few people.

Coming up behind her, I push away her hair, lean in and whisper in her ear. “You okay?”

She turns, and my arms effortlessly wrap around her waist. “With you here, yeah.”

And I know I hardly know this woman but it also feels like I’ve known her forever. Like she fits with me, and I want to know every last thing about her.

I’ve never been like this before. Never falling head over heart, but Hazel isn’t like anyone else.

She is sweet as fuck and breaking through my hard candy shell.

An hour later it’s time to make our retreat but it’s hard to leave because the women Maggie invited are exceptionally forward tonight. It’s like seeing me with a date has brought out the competition. And I hate that for me, but especially for Hazel. She doesn’t need to deal with this bullshit.

Hazel is just finishing her lemonade when the woman who owns the yoga studio in town grabs my elbow.

“Clive, I’ve got to talk to you, we’re doing the Man Candy Calendar again this year to raise money for the fire department and we wanted to know if you wanted a month.”

“That’ll be a hard pass,” I say, looking over at Hazel who widens her eyes and I know she’s got opinions about this. Hell, so do I.

“Oh, Clive, you’ve got to. Charlie agreed. Maybe you could do a page with him?”

I snort. “You think I’m gonna agree to strip to my tighty-whities alongside my oldest friend? Fat chance.”

“Oh, come on, Clive, please,” Yoga-lady begs.

Hazel laughs good-naturedly. “It’s for a good cause though, Clive,” she says, holding back a laugh. “Think of all the money you could raise if you’d take off your shirt.”

I shake my head and smirk at my date. She’s being so naughty.

“It’s not gonna happen,” I say with a smile, before grabbing Hazel by the waist and squeezing her to me. “You really want me to strip down for all the women of this town?” I growl in her ear.

She giggles, shaking her head. “I suppose not. However, I wouldn’t mind seeing you strip down just for me.”

Her words tell me everything I need to know. I need to get my woman out of this party and into a bed. Stat.

“It’s time to go, Sugar Plum,” I say taking her hand in mine, gripping it tightly, not wanting to waste time on long goodbyes with my sisters.

On our way out, I tell Charlie I’ll see him tomorrow, knowing he hardly hears me. He’s got some woman I’ve never seen before hanging on his arm.

Unfortunately, Maggie intercepts Hazel on our way out.

“Did you have fun?” Maggie asks, her white sangria sloshing.

“It was great. Thanks again for the invite,” Hazel says.

“I’m so glad. We need to be friends. Especially since you’re in the business of sweets, just like me. Oh, did you meet Carla? You have to.” She reaches for Hazel’s hand.

I raise a brow. “Actually we’re gonna go, Maggie.” Hazel nods in agreement. Good, she wants out of here too.

“But Hazel has to network,” Maggie pushes. “Especially since once the rainy season starts she’ll need connections so she can keep selling her stuff in other shops in town.”

“Not tonight, she doesn’t.”

“Fine.” Maggie rolls her eyes, knowing not to push me. “But you’ll come back, right, Hazel?”

“Totally,” Hazel agrees, then, without another word, she reaches for my hand, silently asking me to take her away from the crowds, the inside jokes, and the booze. I noticed she didn’t drink anything but club soda for the last hour.

Walking away from the party is easy for both of us it seems, and the knowledge relaxes me for the first time since we stepped foot at Maggie’s. I couldn’t concentrate on anything besides Hazel and all I wanted to do was kiss her again.

We slowly walk back to her house, and I ask what she thought of the night.

“It was good. Your sisters sure are nice.”

I laugh. “Opinionated, bossy, obnoxious. Those are the words I’d use.”

“They aren’t so bad. Besides, you guys are really lucky to have one another.”

“You don’t have anyone?”

She shakes her head. “It’s fine by me. Everyone I’ve ever relied on has let me down.”

“Which is why you’re a DIYer?”

She laughs. “Something like that.”

When we get to her house, she takes out her key. “Will you come in?”

I nod. “I live in my sister’s guest house. If we went there everyone would know our business.”

She nods in understanding and we step inside her small studio space. She shuts the door, locks it too.

“Home sweet home,” she says, reaching to turn on a lamp on a side table.

“You just moved in last week, right?”

“Yep.” I watch Hazel straighten a throw blanket on the end of her queen-sized bed.

“You got it set up pretty fast.”

“I wanted it to feel like home.” Hazel smiles. “What does your place look like?”

I explain how there are still unhung pictures, three years later. How I’ve never bought proper curtains and just have sheets tacked to the windows to keep out the sun.

“You are such a guy.”

“This is true.” I step toward her, thinking about her lips—our kiss. Needing it again. “But I don’t want to be here forever. I’m looking at property, to build a place of my own.”

“That sounds wonderful. And you’d build a house all on your own?”

“For the most part. I’d call in guys to help with some of it, but I’ve worked outside all my life, kind of preparing for this. I moved into Greta’s place after Luke died. She had a rough go for quite a while. Needed someone to take Lucy to school and potty-train Milo. She spent a lot of time in bed. Years, practically. And it was an honor to help out. But now the kids are getting older, and I think she’s finally in a lot better place.”

“She’s lucky to have you. To go through hard patches with family supporting you? That’s amazing.”

“And you?” I ask. “You picture yourself here for a while?”

She tilts her head to the side as if embarrassed. “I’d like to get a place of my own someday, too.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Property?”

“Not for a house—for a shop. You know how Maggie mentioned earlier the rainy season? It’s been my biggest concern with this business plan. Rain and snow don’t work well for outdoor candy carts.”

“Makes sense. And there are always a few available storefronts on Main Street.”

“I know.” Her face brightens, looking up at me. “And one day, when I save enough, I’ll have one of my own.”

I push a strand of hair from her eyes. “I like the dreams you have. The fact you moved here, all on your own, starting something out of nothing. A lot of people wouldn’t be that brave.”

Her eyelids close and I know my words are what she needed to hear tonight.

“It’s our one wild and precious life,” she whispers. “Mary Oliver wrote that.”

My heart just about cracks at those words—they are fucking beautiful—just like Hazel. I can’t hold back anymore, and I don’t want to.

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Good,” she says. And I cup her face with my hands, and I draw her to me. My mouth presses against hers, her lips are blossom soft and taste like nectar—sweet and subtle and soothing. Her lips don’t ravish me. They promise comfort and security. Her lips are not the kind you forget. Her kisses are the sort that stay with a man forever.

Her lips part and my tongue finds hers. She whimpers against me, her body as needy as mine. I pull away from her sugary-sweet lips and look into her eyes. “You want wild and precious?”

She nods, her lips swollen and so fucking beautiful.

“Then tonight, let me give that to you.”