Page 40 of Soaring and Steadfast

“I’ll do the laundry,” he offered, shrugging. “You can do the dishes. We’d be partners. I’d take half of everything.”

“But my job…”

“Get one here if you want,” he said simply. “Or don’t. Just be happy. With me.”

She sucked in a sharp breath.

“You’re serious.”

“As a heart attack.”

He wasn’t pressuring her. He wasn’t expecting an answer right now. He just needed her to know that the door was open, and that he was offering her something real.

“I’m throwing it out there and giving you options,” he said carefully, gauging every shift in her expression. “If now isn’t the right time, I get it. But the offer stands. If you ever want to choose a different path, I’d be right here.”

“Marriage?”

His jaw tightened.

“I won’t touch you without it.” His voice was firm, but there was an unmistakable softness in his eyes. “I respect you too much to fool around with you without giving you my name.”

A long silence stretched between them.

She looked at him like she didn’t know what to do with him, like he was something foreign and terrifying and maybe, just maybe, exactlywhat she wanted.

“We barely know each other,” she whispered.

A slow smile curved his lips.

“I’m willing to bet I know more about you than most people.” His voice dropped lower, teasing, intimate. “Stephanie saw to that. I really should thank her for connecting us… but not yet.”

“Oh?”

“I never said I was a good person,” he chuckled. “Let her stew for a bit…”

And then,miraculously, Lila laughed.

It was soft, breathy,perfect. And then, she moved into his arms, tucking herself against his chest like she belonged there.

Louis inhaled sharply, breathing her in, memorizing the way she felt against him, the warmth of her body, the faint scent of salt in her hair. He closed his eyes for a brief second, letting himself sink into the moment.

“We’ll always have carrot cake,” he murmured against her hair, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I want us to always have a reason to celebrate. Could be a sunrise with you beside me—and cake. Could be winning the lottery—and cake.”

She was laughing softly now, holding onto him like she wasn’t quite ready to let go.

“You’re crazy, you know that?”

“Only about you,” he promised, his fingers brushing tenderly through her hair. “Only ever about you.”

Her laughter faded, and when she looked up at him, there was something different in her gaze. Something hesitant. Somethingterrified.

“I need to think about this,” she whispered like she was afraid of what he’d say.

His chest squeezed, but he forced himself to nod, to be patient.

“Of course,” he breathed, and he saw it then—the relief in her eyes. The quiet, unspokenthank you.

She needed space. She needed time. And if she needed a thousand years, he would wait.

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