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“I’ve never seen it before.”

“I know.”

“It looks…”

I couldn’t find the word.

The flakes thickened, catching the lights from the city until the whole world beyond the glass shimmered.

“It’s magical.”

“Give it twelve hours. You’ll have a couple of feet of the stuff and hear every New Yorker in the city bitching about it.”

I laughed.

“Living room lights off,” Lachlan said.

A soft chime sounded, and the room went dark, leaving only the glow from the city beyond the windows.

I stepped closer to the glass, completely mesmerized.

Without the reflection from the room, the snow seemed to surround us. For one ridiculous second, I could believe we were inside one of the snow globes I’d been given when I was little.

Lachlan moved behind me and wrapped both arms around my waist.

I leaned back against him automatically.

“This isn’t New York,” I whispered.

“No?”

“You brought me to some sort of fairy-tale kingdom.”

His quiet laugh rumbled against my back.

“Ireland has castles. Manhattan mostly has overpriced real estate.”

I turned in his arms.

“Well, this feels a lot more like a castle than an apartment.”

His hands settled on my hips.

“It’s your home for as long as you want it to be. Everything here is yours to use. Food, clothes, rooms, whatever you need. You don’t need to ask permission.”

Of everything he’d just offered me, those were the words that mattered most. No one had ever said them to me about anything.

I slid my arms around his waist and rested my cheek against him.

“As long as I’m in your arms, I’ll be at home anywhere.”

Lachlan went still for a moment before one hand slid into my hair.

“Careful, Mouse.”

“Why?”

“You keep saying things like that, and I’m going to start getting ideas.”