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His demeanor makes me uneasy, which leads me to step closer to Silas. He picks up right away on my emotions and lifts our still interlocked fingers. He passes them in front of me and settles his arm around my shoulders, resting our hands over my collarbone with my back to his chest.

I’m not sure how this was supposed to make me feel better, because now I’m face to face with the angry man, and his attention is now fully on me.

From this close, I need to crane my neck back to look at him since he’s almost as tall as Silas with the same build.

But their expressions couldn’t be more different.

Where Silas is all smiles and charm, this man seems cold and broody.

His pale gray eyes stay fixated on me, but he’s not checking me out.

No, he’s assessing me. His jaw is clean-shaven, with a small indent in his chin, high cheekbones, and long dark lashes.

His hair is cut short at the sides and finger length on the top, and it just serves to make him look more severe.

He crosses his arms over his chest and widens his stance, making him look even bigger. Silas chuckles, lowering his lips to my ear, his warm breath fanning across my neck and making goosebumps rise in its place.

“Don’t be intimidated by this one. He might look like a big angry lion, but I promise you, he’s really just a soft teddy bear.” He looks back up to his friend with a wide smirk. “Everything’s fine. I’m here now, and I brought the best peace offering with me.” He winks as I look back at him.

“I can see that.” My eyes turn back to the man’s voice, his hand is now outstretched in my direction. “Clay Burkley, it’s nice to meet you, Cecilia. I’m sorry for the rude introduction, but this one has been causing me problems all day.”

I untangle my hand from Silas’s and take Clay’s cautiously.

His hard eyes soften, lips forming into a small smile, and despite its size, I can tell it’s genuine, which serves to ease my discomfort.

I offer him a bigger one in return. “It’s nice to meet you, too.

I’m sorry for the trouble we’ve caused, but we’re here to help now. ”

“Good, let’s go then.” Clay drops my hand and turns around, walking to the door as Silas and I follow him in.

My breath is stolen the moment I step inside. If I thought the outside was spectacular, the inside is what dreams are made of. The grand foyer has a large staircase right in the center, taking up most of the view.

Clay leads us to the right of it and into a massive entertainment room.

On one side there are multiple couches set out for big gatherings and a huge TV lining the wall, while on the other there are gaming tables of every kind.

This must be where their team often hangs out.

It’s like a rich version of a bachelor pad.

In the middle of it all sits a beautiful blonde facing us, so deeply focused on untangling little black plastic spiders from fake cobwebs that she hasn’t taken notice of our arrival.

Clay walks up to her side and lowers to his haunches, then pets her hair once and kisses her cheek. “Baby, look who I brought in.”

Her head lifts as she looks up, first at Silas with disappointment, then to me. Her eyes light up as they widen, her expression changing from gloomy to joyful in a flash. She stands abruptly, undoing all her progress to walk quickly my way.

She stands before me holding her hands together.

“Is this her?” she asks Silas as he nods.

“Oh, she’s beautiful. I totally understand now why you looked like a lost puppy yesterday.

” She looks back at me and offers a dazzling smile.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so excited to finally meet you.

You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this day. I’m Morgan, by the way.”

Her voice is delicate and soft, sounding pure and innocent.

Her arms reach out as she pulls me into a hug.

She’s a bit taller than me, but not as tall as Emma.

I’d say close to five foot six, while Emma measures up to five foot eight.

Morgan smells good, like fresh strawberries.

She pulls back, keeping her hands on my arms as she studies me.

“Cecilia. It’s lovely to meet you,” I say with a shy smile.

“I’m so glad you’re here. It’s about time we add another woman to this big family, and I can tell we’re going to get along perfectly.

Sy tells me you’re an event planner? I’m in interior design, almost the same field.

Well, not exactly, but you know what I mean.

We both have a creative eye when it comes to decor.

” She spits the words out so quickly I get whiplash.

All I can do is stare at her with wide eyes.

She’s smiling so brightly I can tell she means every word leaving her mouth.

Her skin still holds a small tan despite it being October, probably from a recent vacation.

Her lips are painted a light-pink tint, and her eyes are crystal blue with beautiful lashes fanning above them as she blinks.

She wears small pearl earrings and necklace, a soft baby pink V-neck long sleeve shirt, and gray yoga pants the same color as her husband’s eyes.

“All right, enough chit-chatting. How about we get some work done, and you girls can gossip later,” Clay declares as he places his hands on her hips from behind.

She claps her hands together. “Yes! Let’s get this place spooky.”

For the next two hours, we’re fully absorbed in Halloween decorations with Morgan giving us task after task, using the boys’ height to her advantage. We aren’t nearly done, but the place is already coming together in a spine-tingling Halloween wonderland.

Morgan and I, or Morg as she told me to call her, have been talking from the moment the boys got to their first requested job. She’s extremely kind and friendly, making me feel welcome. Like I’ve always belonged.

“You know, Sy is completely infatuated with you. He keeps looking back here.”

I turn to glance at the guys who are in the process of setting up a coffin that opens automatically when you get too close. They seem deep in concentration as they try to figure out how to get the coffin to stay upright.

“I wouldn’t say he’s infatuated. It seems a little much for just three days.” I shrug, trying to hide how much I hope she’s right. Those butterflies flutter in my belly like they always do where Silas is concerned.

“Trust me, he is. You should have seen him yesterday when he came over after sending your gift. I had never seen him like that before. If you haven’t noticed yet, Silas is a pretty confident guy.

But when it comes to you, it’s like he doesn’t know what to do with himself.

” She’s watching me attentively, paying attention to my reaction.

“And I think he’s not the only one who’s affected. ”

I turn back to my task, placing spiders of all sizes through the webs that we’ve hung along the front porch railings with a smile and a blush.

By the time we’ve placed everything outside and are finishing up inside, it’s well past six and my stomach has started rumbling quietly.

Silas comes up behind me as I stare out at their beautiful backyard, wrapping his arms around me.

He presses a kiss to the top of my head before resting his chin against it.

I place my hands over his arms. It’s only been three days, but it already feels so natural, like we’ve been together for years.

“I’m sorry this isn’t the date you were expecting. But I think we’re about done. So, I’ll sneak us out of here, and we can go eat somewhere nice alone,” he tells me in a low voice.

“It’s okay, I’ve had a great time. I didn’t get the chance to talk with Clay much, but Morgan’s amazing,” I answer truthfully. I really have been enjoying myself.

Morgan and I have been talking and laughing all afternoon, we even had a few glasses of wine along the way. Which resulted in us slowing down and the men having to pick up our slack. It was a good day. I’m glad Silas’s plans changed.

We turn around, still in each other’s arms, just as Clay and Morgan come our way, Clay speaking up first. “Why don’t you both join us for dinner? You must be starving after all the work we’ve done. And finding a place to eat at this time on a Saturday night won’t be easy. ”

“I don’t know, man. I promised my girl we’d have some one-on-one time,” Silas answers before I can accept the offer.

I want to get to know the Burkleys a little more. Growing up with just my grandmother was nice, but I’ve always envied big family gatherings. There might only be four of us, but I’ve always enjoyed being around other people.

“Oh, please stay. I have a lasagna ready in the fridge that just needs to be popped in the oven. It’ll be my thank you for helping out today,” Morgan says with pleading eyes directed at me. She knows she’s already won me over.

“We’d love to,” I tell them, smiling broadly.

“Are you sure?” Silas whispers, although everyone can still hear.

“Yes, I want to stay. If that’s okay with you?” I look up at him with questioning eyes.

He stares at me for a while, going over every one of my facial features. I offer him a smile, hoping he can see how much I meant my words.

Finally, he gives a quick nod and turns back to Morgan and Clay. “Well then, I guess we’re staying,” he says.