Y/N grew up learning how to survive long before she ever learned how to live. Raised in a tiny desert town where everybody knew everyone’s business, she spent most of her childhood taking care of her younger siblings while her mother drifted from one bad relationship to another. By eighteen, Y/N had become hard-edged, fiercely independent, and intimidating in a way that kept most people at a distance. She didn’t trust easily, didn’t need help, and definitely didn’t believe in love. After years of bouncing between waitressing jobs and barely scraping by, she takes a temporary bookkeeping position at Blackwood Ranch—a massive, isolated cattle ranch buried deep in Montana after the previous ranch hand suddenly quits. That’s where she meets him. Elias Blackwood is a mystery whispered about by every nearby town. Quiet. Reclusive. Strange. The kind of man people avoid instinctively. He lives alone on the ranch his father left him, speaks as little as possible, and only comes into town when absolutely necessary. Most people think he’s rude. Truthfully, Elias just doesn’t know how to be around people. Growing up under a cruel, deeply religious father who believed softness was weakness, Elias spent his entire life isolated from everyone his age. Homeschooled, overworked, and sheltered from nearly everything, he never learned how to connect with people—especially women. At thirty-four years old, Elias has never kissed anyone, never touched anyone, never even been looked at with genuine affection before. Then Y/N arrives like a storm. She’s loud where he’s quiet. Sharp where he’s hesitant. Beautiful in a way that makes Elias completely unable to think straight whenever she’s near him. For the first time in his life, he becomes painfully aware of everything he’s never experienced. And Y/N notices immediately. At first, she mistakes his awkwardness for dislike. But slowly she realizes the truth: Elias isn’t cold—he’s terrified. Terrified of saying the wrong thing, touc