I’m still full of warmth and happiness the next afternoon when we finally make our way back to my apartment. As I lock my Bronco, I realize I haven’t exactly prepared him for my eccentric landlady.

“Shit,” I whisper.

“What?” Kane asks.

“I have a landlady. She’s . . . different. To say the least. She doesn’t know much, but she knows I met a guy at the club, so we need a plan for how to introduce you. Who you want me to introduce you as.”

“Use the name we did at the distillery. I used it with enough people that it’s the smartest choice.”

“So you’re going to be Ken Sax to everyone we meet?”

Something dark passes over Kane’s features, and I wonder if he’s thinking about how his stepfather’s actions and his reactions to them stole not just his life from him, but essentially took his entire identity. It must be incredibly hard to never use your real name, so I’m doubly glad he trusted me enough to tell me. He will always be Kane Savage to me, and no one else, regardless of what I need to call him in public.

“For now.”

I want to ask what his answer means, but decide this isn’t the time or the place. As we walk toward the gate that leads from the sidewalk into the courtyard, questions form in my brain.

Is Kane going to try to reclaim his life? His stepfather is dead, but he never said what happened to his dirty DA of a stepuncle or the crooked sheriff.

I’ll save those questions for later.

When we stop in front of the gate and I fish out my keys, I glance over at the small sculpture Kane’s holding that I made this morning for Harriet. It’s a small thank-you for her constant support—not only over the last month, but for as long as I’ve known her.

I think she’s going to like the man and woman I welded together in what is undoubtedly an erotic pose. Anyone else might think this piece is inappropriate to give a seventy-something-year-old woman, but Harriet is special.

Although, now that I think about it, I’m a little terrified what kind of conversation this piece is going to evoke with having Kane there. I’m used to Harriet’s outspoken nature, but Kane . . .

“I really do need to warn you—”

“Temperance? Is that you, darling?” Harriet calls from the courtyard, her voice carrying through the brick pathway leading into it.

And . . . my chance for warnings is over.

“Yes. I brought a friend with me.”

I add that last bit because one of the few times I brought my brother here, Harriet was skinny-dipping in the small splash pool and had to quickly grab a robe after Rafe and I both saw things we’ll never be able to forget. And then we had the body painting she was doing more recently . . . and before both of those times, there was a gentleman friend I once saw way too much of.

“Don’t worry. I’m decent. Mostly.”

With the gate clanging behind us, we walk into the courtyard. Harriet is wearing a lemon-yellow silk caftan, and it’s clear she’s gotten out of the pool recently.

“How was your swim?” I ask.

“Lovely, but not nearly as lovely as this man with you. A gift for me? He’s quite delicious,” Harriet says.

I choke on the spit in my mouth, sputtering, but Kane is way ahead of me.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am, and while Temperance does have a gift for you, I’m not it. She’s the only woman for me.”

Harriet presses a hand to her chest like she might swoon, and I grip my purse tighter because I might too.

“Oh, I like you. Come closer.”

Kane steps toward her, and Harriet shows no shame as she inspects him from head to toe.

“Yes, I approve.” She looks to me. “Temperance, where did you find this fine man? Did you put him on your bucket list? If so, I need to go get a piece of paper and put in an order with the universe, because I’ve not yet had the pleasure of so much muscle and ink and rawr.”

I’m slightly mortified by Harriet’s claw-like motion and lioness roar, but Kane’s laughter booms in the courtyard.

“Thank you, ma’am. I’m sure the universe will be happy to grant your wish.”

“Now, where’s this present you mentioned?” Harriet asks, her gaze landing on the sculpture in Kane’s hands. “Is that it? Did you finally make me one? I’m not above begging shamelessly because I’ve been dying to beg, but didn’t want to pressure you. I should’ve pressured you. If that’s not mine, I will beg.” Harriet’s tone gets more insistent with each word, and I want to kick myself for not making something for her sooner.

I take it from Kane and hold it out to her. “Of course it’s yours. Long overdue, I know.”

She takes it from my hands and holds it like it’s a priceless piece of art, and I hope someday it will be.

“It’s beautiful.” Her tone is hushed as she turns it, inspecting all the small, intricate pieces I welded together to form the bodies. “Absolutely breathtaking. I’ll treasure it, as soon as I get done rubbing it in the face of all my friends that I have a Temperance Ransom original.”

A Temperance Ransom original. That doesn’t sound too bad. Actually, it sounds freaking incredible, and that’s before Harriet keeps talking.

“One of my friends snapped up one of the pieces you sold through Noble Art, and she’s been rubbing it in all of our faces. I wanted to tell you, but you weren’t ready to hear it. Now you are.” She pins me with a wise stare. “Go make some more, because you’re going to make a damned fortune, girl.”

“I will,” I say, blinking back the stray tears burning behind my eyes.

“How did your boss take it when you told her you were quitting?” Harriet’s tone is conversational as she sets the sculpture on the table next to her glass of wine. Her question assumes I’ve done the thing I haven’t quite worked up to doing.

“Uh, I haven’t actually quit yet.”

Beside me, Kane squeezes my hand.

“What are you waiting for?”

“Guts?”

Harriet laughs. “Girl, you’ve got more guts than anyone I’ve ever met. Now, take your man upstairs and try not to break the bed or fall through the floor. But tomorrow, you go tell that boss of yours that she needs to replace you on a permanent basis.”

It might sound like Harriet is giving me orders, but she’s only reinforcing what I already know I need to do next. It’s time. I decided that when I was at Noble Art.

Lord, was that only two days ago? It feels like a lifetime. Maybe because my entire life has changed since then. I’m no longer alone in the world, fighting feelings of guilt, grief, and betrayal.

Now I have the man I love beside me, his promise to never keep secrets from me again, and my brother is somewhere working to end this and get back home to where I can slap him upside the head and then hug him.

Even with the little bit of fear I still have churning in my gut about Rafe hunting down a human trafficker, I feel better than I have in over a month.

All because of the man beside me.

Am I crazy to put so much faith in him so quickly? I refuse to think so. I see the way Kane looks at me. With everyone else, he might hide his truth, but he’s letting it shine with me.

He loves me, and he’s going to keep the promise he made.

There are certain things you just know.

We leave Harriet after twenty minutes of listening to her incredible stories and make our way up to my apartment. I forgot how small it is until Kane is looming over me, filling the tiny space with not only his body but his presence.

I glance at him. “We need a bigger bed, don’t we?”