“I still love you. Always, Victor E.” Grace’s blood turned to ice the second the spotlight found the sign. Later, in the shadowed hotel hallway, Adrian’s voice dropped low and rough. “You’re my client. I shouldn’t touch you… but one more second of you looking at me like that and I will.” Grace’s breath hitched. “Then stop looking at me like you already own me, Adrian Cole.” %%%%%% Country superstar Grace Carter thought her high-school heartbreak was ancient history until the only man who ever truly owned her body and soul walks back into her life as her 24/7 bodyguard. Adrian Cole is no longer the rebellious boy from the wrong side of the tracks; he’s a billionaire protector with hard muscles, sharper instincts, and a gaze that still sets Grace on fire. One charged glance, one accidental brush of skin, and ten years of unfinished business explode into raw, forbidden heat. While a dangerous stalker closes in, Grace and Adrian must fight both the threat and the scorching chemistry neither can deny. Second-chance romance, high-stakes danger, and scorching tension collide in a story that will leave you breathless. Will Grace risk her carefully rebuilt life for the only man who ever made her feel truly safe… and truly wild? Can Adrian protect Grace’s body without claiming her heart all over again?

“Are you sure you want this…with me?” Will asked, knowing others would be forever changed. “I’ve never been more sure of anything. I want you,” Sarah answered. Later, at King’s Creek, a mother bear and cub cornered Sarah in the water until Will’s slingshot stones struck true. “Get down, Sarah!” he shouted. Afterward he carved the West African symbol into the stump and declared, “Me Ware Wo I shall marry you.” Sarah replied, “Me Ware Wo, Will,” and their first kiss sealed the vow. ••••••• In the rugged Colorado high country of 1939, seventeen-year-old Sarah Ellis and nineteen-year-old William “Will” Harston grow from lifelong friends into something deeper amid farm hardships, family bonds, and a deadly bear encounter that forces their hearts into the open. Their secret promise “Me Ware Wo” binds them as poverty, drought, and the shadow of coming war test every loyalty. A heartbreaking watermelon memory and the quiet strength of parents Anne and Edward Ellis ground a story of first love, quiet courage, and the cost of choosing each other. Unique for its raw mountain setting, authentic coming-of-age intensity, and a symbol of commitment carved into living wood, this tale asks: What would you risk for the one who saves you? Can a childhood vow survive the storms ahead?