“It’s for soaking,” I said. “Two people, ideally.”
He turned to cock his eyebrow at me. “You plannin’ to let me in there sometime?”
“Nah, it’s really just a hot tub for me and Delilah’s wine nights.”
“Again, I can’t tell if you’re joking.”
“You’ll find out,” I said, stepping close enough to pull him toward me again. “If you behave.”
He gave me that look—that slow, wry, smirkingSilaslook—like he was picturing very specific kinds of misbehavior. His hand slid from the rim of the tub to my hip.
“You gonna make me beg for bath privileges now?”
“You’ll earn them, I’m sure,” I said, rising onto my toes to kiss the corner of his mouth. “Now come on. I saved the best for last.”
I pulled him down the hall once more, not shooting for the main bedroom—but for the extra. It was still completely empty, no more than a single box in the corner because I hadn’t had anywhere else to stash it.
But this room…it hadpromise.
We leaned against opposite sides of the doorway, Silas looking inside, me watching him. His eyes darted around like he was looking for a trick when I flicked on the light, seeing only the box. “And this is…?”
“The nursery,” I shrugged.
Silas went still.
He didn’t look at me right away…just let the words settle, let the possibilities take up space. I’d set it out loud, named it.
And I was more nervous than I’d been in years.
“The light in here is good in the morning,” I said, wanting to fill the silence. “There’s room for a crib. I thought the chair might go in the corner, if I can find a decent one…and I’ve already got my eye on some wallpaper with a cute sun and moon pattern.”
Still nothing from him.
So I turned…and the look on his face made my heart skip a beat.
It was the same look he’d given me when we were desperate for each other in his bedroom just before the snake bit me…the same look he’d had when we got back from Loretta’s house and he carried me to the sanctuary to christen the altar.
The look he’d had the first time I ever saw him, standing on the porch of the old Ward house, realizing he’d seen the future.
“You…” he began, but shook his head. “You’re really thinkin’ about it.”
“Aren’t you?” I asked.
He was quiet too long. I doubted for a second if I’d said the right thing, if I was about to watch my future collapse. Silas…he’d been through a lot, maybe he didn’t want to have kids?—
Then his hands came around my waist, pulling me in.
“You askin’ me if I’ve thought about knockin’ you up, June?”
I didn’t answer—I couldn’t. Not with the way he was looking at me…like handing him the key to our house had unlocked something he didn’t even know he was allowed to want.
“Because I have,” he said, voice low and rough. “Every time I’ve been inside you, I’ve thought about it.”
My knees damn near buckled.
He kept getting closer, crowding me gently back againstthe doorframe, one hand on my waist, the other sliding down to curve around my ass.
“You think I haven’t imagined it?” he went on. “You with that glow in your cheeks…a baby with your freckles and those big blue eyes?”
