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“I can’t say this isn’t strange,” Julian says, his tone getting even lighter, tempting me with thoughts that it might all be okay. “But Lauren has always known what she wants. I can tell – with both of you – you’d be far less happy if you didn’t get to be together. And since it’s for life…forever, there’s no danger of it becoming untenable.”
He uses business language,untenable, but we both know what he means.
“If I was a different forty-one-year-old CEO….”
“Exactly,” Julian says. “I’d have to worry about you hiring escorts and sleeping around. All the nefarious stuff. All the nastiness. But I know you. That’s the thing—the positive way to look at this. A father spends so much time trying to get to know his daughter’s fiancé, but Ialreadyknow who you are. I know you’d never hurt her. And that’s what I told Lauren. I told her….”
A smile spreads across my face. I’m unsure if he realizes, but he called me Lauren’s fiancé.
“You’ve got my blessing. I can’t go on like this. I want you in my life. I want Lauren in my life. And I want you both happy. I had to think it through, be as critical and objective as I could, and I can’t see a problem.”
“We went behind your back,” I tell him. “Don’t let me off easy. I’ve got a lot to make up for.”
“The ski trip is on you, then?” he says, and I can hear the joking smile in his voice.
It makes mine wider. Even Buster opens his mouth, letting his tongue hang out.
“You want to go on the trip?” I ask.
“I was thinking of bringing Jimmy, Tessa, and Lauren,” he says. “Jimmy can miss a couple of days of school. What do you think?”
“I think you’re the best friend a man could ask for,” I say, voice heavy with emotion. “And I’m going to do everything to let you know I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to do anything,” he says. “Except be good to Lauren. And be my friend.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Lauren
I wonder if I’ve made a mistake coming right to his apartment building.
But I couldn’t wait to see him, not after Dad sat me down and asked – very seriously – if I wanted to do this and if I was certain I loved him.
When I told Dad the truth, that being apart from Silas makes my soul ache, Dad smiled and told me he was giving us his blessing.
It’s evening, but maybe Silas is at work. I asked for him at the front desk, and the guy called up, but there was no response. I’m hoping he popped out to the store or something.
Buster barks from across the street, appearing to be grinning at me.
My heart whelms as the happy dog starts running toward me, Silas at his side, jogging with the leash wrapped around his fist. He’s wearing a baggy shirt and jeans, his muscles bulging through the material, his smile wide as he reaches me.
He pulls me into his arms, bringing his lips to mine, kissing me urgently as Buster yaps and runs circles around us, wrapping us in the leash.
As our lips meet again, we laugh, my man and me, and the friction causes us to burn with pleasure and the need for each other.
“Easy, boy,” Silas says, laughing as he ends the kiss and disentangles us from the leash.
He takes my hand, holding it tightly.
“I just spoke to Julian,” he says.
“I know. He told me he was calling. He said it was okay. He said he wants us to be happy. He even told me he’s looking forward to meeting his grandchildren.”
Silas’ eyebrows shoot us. “He really said that?”
“He’s all in,” I say passionately, squeezing my man’s hands. “And then I got all excited, and these silly ideas were going around my head…but you have to remember, I’ve never done it before.”
“I love you,” he says, surging close, kissing me on the edge of the mouth. “I love that I have to kiss you here, not fully on the lips, or I’ll lose control. I love how flustered and nervous you get, and I love your confidence to rise to the challenge. I love how brave you were when we jumped out of that plane.”
