My stomach does a flip. "Okay."
"Where do you live?"
I give him my address, the little house on Magnolia Street that used to be my parents', now just mine. He nods once, committing it to memory with the same focus he probably used for mission briefings.
"See you Friday, Iris Whitfield."
He turns to leave, and panic flutters in my chest. This can't be it. This can't be the whole conversation.
"Silas?"
He stops, looks back. Waiting.
"I'm glad I bid on you," I say, and the sincerity in my voice surprises even me.
Something in his expression softens. Just barely, just enough.
"Yeah," he says, voice rough. "Me too."
Then he's gone, disappearing into the crowd with the same purposeful efficiency he used to find me.
I stand there, staring after him, my heart racing like I've just run a marathon.
"Holy shit," Nora breathes beside me.
I turn to look at her. "What?"
"That man just claimed you."
"He did not—"
"Iris. He walked through a crowd of people like they didn't exist, looked at you like you're the answer to a question he's been asking his whole life, and told you—not asked, told you—that he's picking you up Friday. That's claiming behavior."
Heat floods my cheeks. "You're being dramatic."
"I'm being observant. And as your best friend, I'm obligated to tell you that you're in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"The best kind." She grins. "The falling-hard-and-fast kind. The kind where you're going to spend the next three days obsessing over Friday. The kind where—"
"Okay, okay, I get it." I press my hands to my hot cheeks. "Oh God, Nora. What did I just do?"
"You bid on the hottest, most intense bachelor in Lovesbury. You won him. And now you're spending a weekend in a secluded cabin with a man who looks like he knows exactly what to do with a woman." She squeezes my arm. "This is amazing."
"This is terrifying."
"Also amazing."
I look back toward where Silas disappeared, but he's long gone. Still, the memory of his eyes on me, the way he said my name, the absolute certainty in his voice when he said he'd pick me up, it's all seared into my brain.
"I don't even know him," I say quietly.
"You will. That's the whole point of the weekend, right? Getting to know each other?"
"Right. Getting to know each other. In a cabin. Alone." My voice climbs higher with each word.
Nora laughs. "Come on. Let's get out of here before you have a full panic attack. First, emergency waffles at The Waffle Den, then back to my place for the summit. We need to plan your outfits."
