“Okay.” I glance at him curiously. “I was under the impression you make a good salary.”
“Oh, I do. And I’m pretty frugal. The thing is, Daniil wants us all to buy into the company. It’s four hundred grand. I have about seven fifty in retirement accounts and investments. So, if I pull four hundred, that’s half of my net worth. And the rest would all be in my retirement account, meaning I’d have nothing to contribute if we decide to buy a house or have a baby or whatever.”
“But you’d still be making a salary, right?”
“Oh, yeah. A good one. Two fifty plus bonuses depending on how the company does for the year.”
“I make about the same. Mine is different because I work for myself so I pay my own taxes and health insurance, but I do well. I don’t think money is something we need to worry about.”
“I just don’t want to be in a position where we have a couple of kids, realize we need more room, and I don’t have anything to contribute to the down payment on a bigger house.”
I pause and playfully bat my eyelashes at him. “Are you asking me to make a baby with you, Mr. Grimshaw?”
He chuckles. “No. I’m just thinking ahead.”
I sober. “Do you want kids? Someday?”
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was in the cards for me. I’m thirty-eight. Thirty-nine later this year. I thought my time had come and gone.”
“I’m only twenty-eight, and I’ll be twenty-nine later this year as well. But I think I have a few years before I have to worry about my age. As long as you’re open to the idea.”
“I am.”
“And you realize that being with me means you’ll always have to deal with my dad and the Demons.”
“They don’t scare me.”
“They should.”
“I have no plans to harm or abuse you in any way. If we’re together, my goal in life would be to make you as happy as you make me. What is there to be afraid of?”
“You’re making it really hard not to fall in love with you,” I say after a bit.
“Why are you resisting? That seems like a foregone conclusion.”
I slowly put my fork down and gaze at him in confusion.
“Are you saying…you’re in love with me?”
His eyes meet mine. “I can’t think of anything else to call it. What else would these feelings be? I’ve never felt like this about anyone else. You called me yours, Allora—and I am.”
My mouth is open and I probably look ridiculous, but I’m momentarily flabbergasted.
I love hearing him say that but I can already imagine what people will say.
It’s too soon.
We’re dealing with a crisis—our feelings will change once the danger is over.
If any of my friends were in my situation, those are the things I would say.
Except this is Landon.
This is my life.
My relationship.
The man I’ve already fallen in love with.
