Page 48

My jaw clenches at the message. Gabe always has a way of bringing up shit that should stay in the past. It’s as if he lacks the sense of what’s appropriate and what isn’t. He’s lucky I know him so well and know that he doesn’t mean any harm when he says stuff like that.

Ford

Seriously dude!?

Burkley

ELLIS, SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Adler

Yeah bro, that was kind of low.

Ellis

OMG, IT WAS A JOKE!

Ford

Not a funny one.

I take a deep cleansing breath, glad to see my friends having my back.

Ellis

Okay, I’m sorry! We all good now? Hayes?

Me

Yeah, we good.

Ellis

Nice. See you assholes who can’t take a joke at one.

Me

Later.

I set my phone back down on the counter and take the stairs to the second level. Entering one of the bedrooms where I hid all the supplies for tonight, I begin placing everything. When I’m done with my setup, I head back downstairs and grab my phone, checking the time. 11:45 a.m.

Good, time to get ready and put surprise number two into action.

The one that might kill me.

CECILIA

Emma’s being weird.

She’s been hanging around my office more than usual, claiming she just misses me and wants to spend time with me on my birthday.

Yet every time she’s in here, she keeps looking out the glass wall like she’s waiting for something or hiding from someone.

Right now, she’s once again sitting on my desk, angled toward the door, observing I don’t know what.

“Who are we hiding from?” I question, looking around her and through the glass wall.

She turns quickly to me with an expression that can only be described as getting caught. “What?”

“You keep looking around like you’re waiting for something.” I study her a bit more closely.

“What? No. I’m just making sure I don’t get caught lying around by Amanda,” she says with a shrug, then examines her nails. But I don’t miss the way her eyes peek out of my office every few seconds .

“Since when do you care if Amanda catches you doing anything but your job?” I laugh, then shake my head. Whatever, she won’t tell me, so I won’t push.

I turn back to my computer and research venues for a new project with a client who has very peculiar tastes. Five minutes later, Steve strolls by my office, and they swap impish looks before he continues down the hall. Okay, what the hell is going on?!

“Is Jerry from HR bothering you again?” It’s the only thing I can come up with that would maybe get them to act so strangely.

“Oh no, Jerry’s been a peach ever since I told him I was dating someone. He was a little bummed and still looks at me with longing, but he’ll get over it,” she tells me with the flap of her hand.

“And how are things with Tommy? I feel like I hardly see you outside of work now that you have a boyfriend and I’m well, married.” As I speak the words, I look down at my wedding band.

I never imagined my life would take such a turn, such a wonderful, extraordinary turn. But I’m not complaining, my life has been perfect ever since Silas appeared in it.

Em sighs with a smile. “It’s been going well.

I really like him, and my parents are ecstatic.

I swear, since your wedding, they started planning ours!

And the worst part is, Tommy doesn’t even mind.

I don’t know how I feel about that.” She stares into space, eyes filled with horror.

Emma Mackenzie isn’t one to settle down easily, so marriage is a huge step that I think she may not be ready for.

“I can imagine, maybe let them know you aren’t at that stage yet. I mean, you don’t even live together yet. Maybe start there.”

“Oh, Tommy has hinted that living together would make things easier with his schedule, but I’m gonna wait it out a bit longer, it’s still so new.”

Just then, a disturbance occurs in the hall with boisterous laughter that can be heard from the receptionist’s desk. Employees start emerging from their offices and cubicles, clapping and cheering. What the hell?

Emma puts on a megawatt smile, gleaming with excitement as she hurriedly jumps to her feet. Grabbing my hand, she pulls me with her to the door. “Oh! It’s starting, hurry!”

“What’s starting?... OH… GOD...”

The moment I see the spectacle before me, my eyes nearly pop out of my head. At the front of our office floor, four men dressed in huge red costumes stand in line, one behind the other, and behind them seems to be someone in a suit.

Oh, a poor fool is about to get the embarrassment of their life .

Then I hear it. That laugh, I know that laugh. Oh no... no, no, no... I’m the poor fool!

I turn quickly in search of an exit, but Emma is quicker. She spins me back, facing the front and grips onto my biceps. “Oh no, young lady. Don’t you even think about it. This is all for you.”

That’s what I’m afraid of! I look to my left and see Steve with his phone aimed my way, filming the whole charade. Oh, he’s going to pay for that later. I offer him a glare when the music begins.

An instrumental version of ‘L-O-V-E’ by Nat King Cole starts, and the men begin marching my way.

A giant red ‘L’ shaped costume starts to dance as he sings the first sentence of the song that goes with his letter.

It’s then I realize the person in the costume is Clay, and I burst into giggles.

He must be dying of humiliation right now.

He steps aside to the right once he’s done with his number, and Greyson steps up dressed as an ‘O’. Then he too begins to dance and sing the line belonging to ‘O’ .

At the end of his turn, Greyson goes to the left and Gabriel comes into view as ‘V’. He chants the next line, then slides to the right, joining Clay.

Next comes Noah wearing ‘E’, he shakes his head slightly while smiling but performs his duties anyway, then twirls off to the left with Greyson.

Finally, my husband comes into view in a crisp navy-blue suit, singing to me the rest of the verse. He takes my hand in his and brings me into a dance, placing his other hand on my lower back while I settle mine on his shoulder.

He continues to chant into my ear, then spins me out, twirls me back into his arms, and finishes by dipping me as he sings the last sentence.

Their voices are all a bit out of tune, which only makes it funnier. Clearly, none of them are singers. But I love all the effort Silas goes through simply to show the love he has for me.

I’m giggling as he kisses my lips and pulls me back up with him. Behind him, I see Clay passing him a bouquet of roses, which he then hands off to me. “Happy birthday, Minnie.”

This time I kiss him with all the passion in the world while cheers around us explode. This man really is something else.

“I can’t believe you did that! I swear, I feel like I’m red from head to toe.” I cover my face with one hand, the other holding my flowers while he palms my waist.

“You are,” he says with a chuckle, then rubs his nose against mine. “But you look adorable.”

“How did you even get the guys to agree to do this? I can imagine Gabe and Noah were easy to convince, but Greyson? Clay!?” Laughter once again takes over as I look past my husband to his friends. Greyson looks bored, whereas Clay looks like he’s about ready to rip off the costume and burn it.

“Don’t worry about it.” Silas smiles, then turns his gaze to Steve. “Hey, Steve. You got all that?”

“Yup, already sent it to you.”

“You were in on this!?” I ask Steve in complete shock.

He lifts his hands in the air. “Hey! Don’t get mad at me, so was Emma.”

I turn to her as she shrugs. “Totally worth it.”

“You are all unbelievable.” I shake my head and lean it against Silas’s chest.

Amanda suddenly appears a couple of feet away and smiles with warmth in her eyes.

“As much as I don’t want to break up the happy couple and all these festivities, I don’t pay you all to just stand around all day.

” She claps her hands together. “Boys, I’ll have to ask you to leave so my employees can get back to their tasks.

But thank you for the... delightful entertainment.

” She eyes up the men in costumes, suppressing a giggle, and goes back to her office.

“All right, we’ll get going, but I hope the rest of your day goes well, and I can’t wait for you to get home.

I have more surprises waiting for you. I love you, baby.

” Silas delivers a possessive kiss to my lips, then beams down at me before releasing my sides and walking away with four giant letters.

“I love you too!” I shout back as he enters the elevator and winks.

The rest of the day passes in a blur, with my mind completely excited and focused on getting home to my man.

After work, I drive Emma back to her condo in my new baby, to which she makes it very clear how jealous she is.

Even if that makes no sense since she’s rich and could just buy her own.

Then I head in the direction of my house—where my husband awaits me.

When I finally make it to the driveway, Silas stands outside, stopping me from parking in the garage. I put the car in park, turn off the engine, and climb out. It’s then I notice all the blinds are pulled down in the house, giving us no view of the inside.

“What are we doing outside? And why are all the curtains closed?”

“You’ll see later, first we’re going to have dinner.” He takes my hand and tugs. “Come.”

I follow him around the side of the house, where he unlatches the tall gate that gives us access to our backyard. After taking a few more steps, the rest of the yard finally comes into view.

In the distance, I see that the wooden round gazebo Silas had built for me for when I come out to read is now lit with fairy lights, and a blanket has been set on the floor. A big wicker picnic basket rests above with pillows placed all around.

Oh, my heart.

This is what I love about Silas. He has all the money that people dream of, he could easily just buy me expensive jewelry or whisk me away to any place in the world. Yet all his gifts are always so thoughtful, even when they cost pennies.

Money has never been an important factor in my life, and even though I’m really happy about my car and the house we now have, I’m glad Silas understands it’s not a necessity for me. That I would rather experience these small little moments instead of big luxurious ones.

“Wait, where’s Milo?” I look around the yard, then to the backdoor, and notice those blinds have been closed, too. What is he hiding?

“He’s with Clay and Morgan for the evening. We’ll go pick him up later,” he says, kissing my temple.

We sit down over the blanket, and Silas proceeds to open the basket and take out a bottle of wine and wine glasses. Pouring us each a glass, he then withdraws platters of delicious food.

We spend almost three hours outside, enjoying the moment.

Talking about my work and the projects I have coming up in the next few weeks, things we plan to add to the backyard—like a fire pit and seating.

As well as other things that we’d like to do before summer is over and he starts training camp once more.

When we’re done and ready to head in, Silas packs up the picnic basket and takes my hand, walking us to the patio door. But before entering, he deposits the basket on the deck and picks me up bridal style.

“Woah! What’s this for?” I ask with a giggle.

“Just want to bring my beautiful wife inside the way she deserves.” He brings his lips to mine and my heart melts even more. At this point, my heart never makes it back to a solid organ, because the moment he pulls the door open and pushes the curtain aside, it ceases to exist entirely.

Thousands of white candles decorate the floor, along shelves, on countertops, even the stairs are covered in them.

Everywhere I turn, there are candles glowing in the dark, only a small walkway into the living room with an empty circle in the middle is without.

Soft music plays on the sound system while he walks me to the deserted patch.

“Silas... how did you do all of this? How long have they been burning? We’ve been out there for hours!” I look up to him in awe, so many thoughts running through my mind .

“Don’t worry, baby. They’re all fake flames. I wouldn’t risk burning down our house. I did it all this morning, took me longer than I thought,” he says with a chuckle as he sets me down on the ground.

“Baby, you really didn’t have to do all of this for me. You know the only thing I wanted for my birthday and every other day of my life is you.” I wrap my arms around his neck while he lowers his head, resting forehead to forehead.

Ever since Silas and I started dating, I’ve taken the habit of wearing really tall heels to help with our height difference. I love wrapping my arms around my man like this, but without my heels, it’s nearly impossible.

He circles my waist, pulling me close as we sway to the low music. In this instant, our wedding day comes to mind, mainly our wedding vows. Him promising to hold me forever, and me vowing to always fall more and more in love with him.

He has no idea how easy he makes it for me to keep my promise, because there’s no way I could stop this feeling from growing, from eating me whole.

I no longer live for myself. I no longer breathe for me.

Everything I do, everything I feel, is all for Silas.

My heart no longer beats on its own but rather drums to the rhythm of his.

I have no idea how I got so lucky, what I did right in my life to deserve a man like this.

A man so thoughtful and caring, so loving and devoted.

Men like Silas don’t exist, they’re what we read about in books, what we wish we could have in a real partner.

They’re made from a woman’s deepest fantasies and desires.

And yet, here he is, making every one of my days more wonderful than the last. There are no words in the dictionary to describe what this man makes me feel, love simply doesn’t hold a big enough meaning anymore. It’s so much more.

It’s the most beautiful thing in the world, and yet the most dangerous.

“It’s you and me forever, right, Silas?”

“Forever you and me.”