“I love you,” he breathed. “Jesus, June…I love you so fuckin’ much.”
“I know,” I whispered. “I know, Silas. I love you, too.”
For a while, there was nothing but the sound of breath, of pulse, of quiet and beautiful life. His heartbeat thudded against my back, slowing only after a few minutes…
…then it felt like it was okay to speak.
“It ain’t gonna actually work, right?” he said. “Not until you’re off the pill.”
I hummed. “That’s kind of the idea…but it was still fun, huh?”
He propped himself on his elbow as he finally pulled out, and I felt the warm heat of our mingled arousal on my inner thighs. His eyes fluttered at the sensation, and I knew we weren’t nearly done yet.
“That’s good,” he said.
My confidence faltered. “Because…you don’t?—”
“I do,” he said with a soft laugh, his hand cupping my cheek as he gazed into my eyes. “But I wanna marry you first.”
“You’re serious?” I asked, but my voice was already breaking—because I knew he was. Of course he was.
“As a heart attack,” he said gently. “You’re it for me, June. Have been since the day I first laid eyes on you.”
I blinked hard, swallowing past the lump in my throat. I’d spent so many years preparing for the kind of love that would feel like work—like a sacrifice, like a duty to God. But this…?
This was joy. This wasrest. This was the thing I’d never dared ask for, not out loud.
I pressed my forehead to his. “You don’t have to ask me right now,” I whispered.
“I know,” he murmured. “But I want you to know I’m notplayin’. I meant it back there in that nursery. I want a life with you. A whole damn life.”
“You already have me,” I said.
“I want the papers to prove it,” he said with a soft laugh. “And I want everybody in town to know. I want to saywifewhen I talk about you.”
I was smiling so hard it hurt. “You want to throw a church wedding in Willow Grove?”
“I want whatever makes you glow like this,” he said. “And maybe we don’t wait long.”
“Fall wedding?” I teased.
“Too far,” he said. “I was thinkin’ end of summer.”
I laughed into his mouth as he kissed me again—long and deep and stupid with love. We melted into the sheets, sweaty and tangled, and somewhere in the hallway, the wind rattled the windows again. But this time, it sounded like a blessing.
“Silas?” I whispered, eyes closed, lips brushing his chest.
“Yeah, baby?”
“We can tell people soon. But not yet.”
“Why not?”
I thought about it, wanting to make sure he knew I wasn’t embarrassed…but because I knew it would be a spectacle. What I settled on was, “I want it to be just ours for a little while longer.”
He smiled against my temple. “Ours,” he echoed. “Yeah. That sounds about right.”
CHAPTER 24
