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“If?” Callie frowned. “Is there a chance you won’t finish?”
“Not once we get started. But like I said, before I sign on the dotted line and buy the place, I need your stamp of approval.”
A fist of pressure swelled under her sternum. “So if I said I hated it, you wouldn’t buy it? Even though it’s beautiful, and by the time it opened it would make you a lot of money?”
“Callie. I have money. More than I have a right to, honestly. This project isn’t about cash value to me. It’s a dream I’ve had for a while, one I want to make a reality, but more importantly, one I find myself needing to share with you.” Bending low, he brushed his lips over hers, teasing her with the whisper-soft kiss. “If you don’t like it, it’s not an issue. There are other properties—”
“No.” Her mouth tingled. “No, this is it.”
“We haven’t seen all of it yet.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She gazed up at him, completely smitten. “It’s your dream, Evander. Your vision. It’s pretty obvious that you know this is the right choice, the right place, to make that vision come alive. I’m not sure my two cents are really necessary, but here they are anyway.”
Pressing her hand to his heart, she inhaled slowly. “This is a wonderful place. It’ll be appealing no matter the season. The sky is so open and the view is amazing. There’s nonoise, no anxiety, no pressure to be anyone but who I am. I think that would be a good selling point for a lot of people, especially those in high-powered, demanding jobs. I know it won’t be as quiet with more people around, but you won’t lose this peace.”
“Is that a yes?”
“You’d be an idiot to let it go.”
Fingers cupped her cheek warmly. “An idiot, I’m not. There are a few things I don’t intend to let go.” When she blinked at him, he grinned. “I promised Shona I’d put a ring on this finger before I fucked a baby into you. Asking you to marry me at this point seems like an exercise in spooking you, but whether it takes a month or a decade, you’ll be mine.”
From anyone else, that might sound too much like a threat. An obsessive, stalkerish threat. The kind that made a woman look constantly over her shoulder, open her mail with caution, buy a two-hundred-pound pitbull-mastiff mix as a guard dog.
From Evander, however…the soft purr of those words made her heart quiver and melt. There were no red flags flapping madly in her face at the mention of marriage and kids; only the nervous flutter of her own doubts as she wondered how soon was too soon.
While her brain struggled to summon an appropriate response and forward it to her mouth, Elias cleared his throat. “I hate to interrupt, but we need to wrap this up. We don’t want to get snowed in here with no supplies.”
Evander growled under his breath. “You’re right. So, we’re in agreement then? All of us,” he added with a pointed stare at his friend. “This is it. This is what our future holds.”
“Home sweet home,” Elias replied, deadpan.
Callie stood on her tiptoes and kissed Evander’s cheek. “Go buy your dream.”
“Well, okay.” Grinning, he turned his face so her mouth found his, deepening the kiss. “Get in the truck with Eli, sweetness. I’ll make the offer, then we’ll go.”
Her brow furrowed. “But didn’t you drive?”
“A driver dropped me off earlier so I could ride back with you.”
Okay, that was sweet. “What if we hadn’t come?”
“I guess I’d be hiking my way back in a snowstorm.”
Elias scoffed. “In that suit and your ten-thousand-dollar big-shot shoes, you’d be hiking nowhere. We, however, would be defrosting a human popsicle and praying you keep all your digits.”
Glancing down at himself, Evander scowled. “You more than anyone know how much I fucking hate this goddamn suit.”
“You’ll hate it more once the snow starts falling.”
“Harbinger of fucking doom,” Evander muttered, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. When she shivered, he nudged her toward Elias. “In the truck, Callie. I don’t want you catching a chill.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
The smile he flashed over his shoulder as he walked away was luminous.
“Come on, little miss. Better to wait where it’s warm.”
She barely resisted stomping her foot. “You ratted me out.”
