Annie looked at him standing there in his pyjamas, looking vulnerable in a way she rarely saw. And she thought about the flowers. The note. The way he'd walked through a boundary spell that should have killed him. The way he'd held her without asking for anything in return.
She thought about how he'd never lied to her. Not once. He'd always been exactly who he was-dangerous, ruthless, protective to the point of violence. And she'd chosen him anyway. He never pretended -he said things exactly the way they are-this was him.
"I don't know," Annie whispered. "I don't know how to do this."
"Neither do I," Killian admitted. "But I know I don't want you walking away every time it gets hard."
Annie stood there for a long moment, her arms wrapped around herself, her mind racing.
Th
