“That house has so many memories,” I tried to explain. “And I…”

“Want to make some changes? That’s fine. I think it’s a good idea.”

“I want to make it ours. I don’t want to live in my parents’ house. I want to live in our house.”

Silas’s eyes filled with warm affection. “Our house. I like that. And ZuZu’s. We don’t want her to feel left out.”

“You’d be okay with my sister living with us?”

He frowned. “Of course I would. Where else would she live? She’s family. Would you say no to Camille living with us if we lived in a large farmhouse?”

“Of course not!”

He shot me a told you so look.

“Fine,” I allowed, laying my head on his bare chest. “But she supposedly fixed up the barn apartment for herself. So maybe we need to figure something else out for Dev. I guess he could move into the tiny house.”

Silas’s fingers combed through my hair. “We’ll figure it out. We could also build a new place if you’d prefer that to moving into your parents’ house.”

Daydreaming about a future with Silas was easy. If we hadn’t needed to head to the hospital, I could have spent all morning throwing out ideas with him. Unfortunately, Camille was still lying in a hospital bed, recovering from a gunshot wound. And I knew Silas was itching to get his eyes on her again.

“As fancy as this place is, bet you can’t beat my shower for sheer luxury,” I said, forcing myself off him to start our day.

He simply shot me a knowing look.

And quickly proved me wrong.

The view from his enormous shower was of the entire city, complete with a giant green rectangle that was supposedly Central Park.

“Holy shit,” I breathed, reaching for the wall to keep from feeling dizzy.

Silas’s arms came around me, and I could hear a laugh in his voice. “You won’t fall into the park. The window is solid, I promise.”

“This is why I don’t do much rock climbing,” I admitted. “Not so great with heights.”

He pulled me away from the window wall and held me under one of the jets. “But you taught me how to climb.”

“Pfft. I taught you on the smallest face of Mount Alice. There’s no big drop-off like on Maude. Besides, the climb we did had permanent anchors and a bed of dirt and pine needles at the bottom. The stuff Eden climbs is scary as shit, and sometimes a fall would involve landing on jagged rock. Sometimes she invited me to her competitions, and I couldn’t watch. I’d stand there staring at the ground while pouring sweat and praying.”

Silas busied himself with the shampoo bottle. “If you stay married to me, what will Eden say?”

His question took me by surprise. “I don’t… care? I don’t see how it’s any of her business.” I tried to ease the tension by adding, “Besides, she had her chance.”

I shook my ass in a little impromptu dance maneuver to display what she was missing. Even though it turned the edge of Silas’s lips up, I still sensed tension radiating off him.

“Will you miss being married to a woman? I mean… I can’t give you babies, Way. Not like Eden could.”

I was surprised by his insecurity. “Silas. I don’t want Eden. I don’t want a woman. And I don’t want kids if it means I can’t have you, too. I don’t need any of that. What I need is my husband, the man I’m in love with. Do you understand?”

“You might change your mind.”

I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around him. The feel of his body never failed to light me up all over. “I might,” I admitted. “I know well enough to never say never. But I can tell you this… I can’t imagine that happening. Not with the way I feel right now. I’ve never felt anything like what I feel for you. Not with Eden, and not even in my daydreams.”

I took a breath before continuing. “I’ve thought a lot about that night in Vegas, about why I would have done something so out of character, so unbelievable. And here’s the thing. I remember how I felt when I was with you that night. I felt… I felt seen. Understood. Happy. And I knew even then I didn’t want it to end.”

My words seemed to sink in. His expression softened, and the tension faded from his body. “Same. Being with you is the first time I stopped thinking about work long enough to learn a little more about myself. I saw how valuable you are in Majestic, how loved you are. And I wanted to be part of it. I love watching you interact with your friends and neighbors, and I get pleasure out of seeing their faces light up when they see you coming. You are living this life that…” He paused for a beat. “That’s generous and kind. It’s the way I always wanted to be, but I didn’t know how to do it outside of the corporate structure. I’m great at helping people in business. And I enjoy that. But you’re great at helping people full stop. And I realized that’s more in line with what I want and the kind of life I want to live, the kind of person I want to be.”

Silas and I had spent a lot of time in the past two months getting to know each other, but he’d never been that open with me before.