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If anyone asked Luca how he got through his morning work, he couldn’t begin to tell them. His mind had definitely not been on work. Rather, it had stayed cemented to the incredible night he’d had with Noe.

Some part of him had been enthralled, no question. By the wee hours of dawn, Luca had laughed at himself for ever doubting his ability to desire a man. Clearly, it wasn’t the obstacle he’d thought it was.

Luca fully intended to hunt Noe down for lunch. He’d realized Sho was right—Noe had all the attributes Luca wanted in a husband. Plus they got along rather well together; they had from the first day. Not to mention being very physically compatible. Really, what was there to think about?

Of course, his friend would despair of him making a logical decision instead of letting his heart guide him on marriage, but, well, Luca had seen people make wholly emotional decisions when getting married. Roughly half of those marriages hadn’t ended well. To Luca, deciding who your marriage partner should be was more of a fifty-fifty thing. Fifty percent logic, fifty percent emotion.

Emotionally speaking, Noe was a fun, easygoing man whom Luca very much enjoyed spending time with. Plus the sex was hot enough to scorch metal.

Logically speaking, Noe had the intelligence, steady personality, and work experience Luca needed.

Besides, he had experienced intimacy with Noe and wanted more. It had been mind-blowing—arguably the best sex he’d ever experienced. Luca’s last reservations about having a husband had disappeared because of it.

See? He’d absolutely thought this through.

Upon waking, he’d pondered if he was actually gay. Thinking about it, Luca had decided it didn’t bother him one way or another. Little twinges of indoctrination had popped up with the thought: Maybe he wasn’t gay. Maybe he was trying to convince himself he was. But even if Noe was the only man he’d have these feelings for, it was all right with him. It didn’t matter why he felt this way; he did, and that was what truly mattered.

Now, Luca felt confident in proposing to Noe. He just had to find the right timing for it and make sure Noe was on the same page. He had a rough plan for approaching the topic today during their lunch date.

Or, at least, he’d enact his plan assuming the storm didn’t arrive first.

Luca stood at his office window, peering out, and he frankly didn’t like what he saw. Clouds rolled in, pitching and moving about like an inky smear against the sky, completely obscuring the wan winter sun. It looked like midnight out there and not ten in the morning. It smelled of a mother storm, too—the thick ozone of a storm building but not yet unleashed.

A whirling dervish in a thick coat blew into his office, spotted him, and let out a relieved huff. “General O’ Broín,” Sakura greeted. “Papa says the storm’s coming in fast and no work today. Chichi says it’s probably an ice storm.”

“Fuck.” Luca rubbed his forehead and resigned himself to at least one day lost, probably three. They’d been bloody lucky during the war to only have a few of the famous ice storms while fighting because this area was prone to them. With a mix of ocean, storms, and powerful winds, the ice storms up here could freeze an entire town. The ice wasn’t pretty, either. It would often develop in sweeping icicles going sideways, which was hazardous if you slipped the wrong way.

“Message received,” he told her. “Now, go promptly home.”

“I can run a message on the way?” she offered.

She genuinely was a good kid. His friends had gotten damn lucky to meet her and were smart enough to adopt her.

Thinking, he asked, “Does Foreman Abe know?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t want to send her to the southernmost worksite, as that was well out of her way, but she seemed determined to help, too. Oh. Right. He had something she could do.

“Run to the police station and tell them we’re shutting the site down. If they see anyone later today, they’re likely not workers.”

What with the thefts they’d had of material and tools, it was a wise precaution to take, and she knew it. She flashed him a thumbs-up before whirling off again, running with the unchecked gait only children could seem to manage.

Which meant it was time for him to get to work as well.

After shrugging his coat back on, he pulled on his fur-lined hat and gloves before venturing outside. It was colder than a tyrant’s heart out here, the wind already brutal, and Luca had to admit that Brahms’s call to shut things down was the right one to make. Yes, they wanted the fortress built quickly, but no one could work safely out here in this weather. It was madness to try.

In his limited Shiirein—he was studying, promise, but languages couldn’t be learned overnight—he called out to workers as he passed them. “We’re shutting down for today! Pack things up, go home . ”

No one argued. Most gave him relieved smiles and a prompt “Yes, sir!” before doing as bid.

Seeing as he was the one closest to the southern worksite, Luca jogged down there and found a few people working. He sent them home, locked up the tools, and then jogged back. All the while, he kept a head count of how many people he’d sent home. He didn’t want anyone missed.

The wind somehow got fiercer, his ears almost ringing with it, and it encouraged him to pick up the pace. He did a second sweep of the main worksite and found two stragglers who struggled to get a tarp over the blacksmithing tools. He helped hold the tarp down while they staked it into the ground and then sent them on their way.

Okay, clear here. What about the northern site?

That was the Brahmses’ domain more than his, but Luca headed there anyway. He’d been at this nearly two hours and the storm was imminent. He could feel it in his bones—literally—the wind slicing through his thick coat with icy cuts that hit right in the marrow.

Onsen, he promised himself over and over. The second he finished out here, he was heading straight back to the ryokan and dunking his body in the onsen. He would only come out for food, too. The only sane way to weather an ice storm was to stay in a nice, hot bath, and where the hell was Noe?

It wasn’t until the thought intruded that he realized what he was actually doing was looking for Noe. Yes, he’d cleared worksites as he went, but Noe was his main concern. Where was Noe? Why had he not seen any sign of him?

Luca’s worry ratcheted up a notch when he reached the northern worksite and saw absolutely no one there. Well, of course Brahms would have cleared his area of people by now, but it didn’t solve the mystery.

Where was Noe?

A voice, half cut off by the wind, came to his ear. “—not sure if—can try.”

Wait, that sounded like Noe. Was that from the docks nearby?

Luca hoofed it in that direction because either way, it sounded like someone needed help, and everyone needed to be out of this horrible wind before the storm hit. The sooner the better. The very second he came off the hill and onto the docks, he spotted not only Noe but two other Shiirein men, all of them struggling to haul a rowboat onto shore.

The hell?

Lengthening his stride, Luca called to them, “Belay that and get inside!”

Noe’s head popped up, and he stopped pulling on the rope to explain, half yelling to be heard over the wind, “We have to get them in or lose them!”

Had they lost rowboats because of these storms before? Damn, then he could only help. These boats were a vital part of not only construction but business out here.

Grumbling, Luca immediately pitched in, grabbing the other boat still tied out at the dock and quickly hauling it in by the rope. Noe joined him in getting the rowboat completely out of the water, one of the Shiirein fisherman—at least, he was dressed like one—directing them on where to dry dock them.

Without a word between them, he and Noe dove for the other rowboat, working in tandem to pull it free of the water and then carry it the short fifteen feet to dry dock it.

Luca only asked one question. “All six?”

“Yes,” Noe said, looking flushed from the exertion but incredibly cold, too. Shivers kept racking him from head to toe.

They were halfway done, and Luca knew without asking that Noe wouldn’t leave until the job was done. He wasn’t the kind of man who left people in the lurch or things half finished. Which meant the fastest way to get him out of here—and in an onsen—was to finish. Arguing would just slow them down.

Luca dove back into it, and the two fishermen got the last two rowboats out of the water and docked before he could finish the one he had in hand.

One of the fishermen approached and gave a quick bow. “Thank you so much, both of you. When the storm’s clear, I’ll buy you a round.”

Luca would take him up on his friendly gesture. “I’ll hold you to it. For now, let’s get home.”

“Yes, yes, good idea.”

Noe’s shivering was more obvious now, and he should have been running for the ryokan but instead was using Luca for a wind shield. Which was rather cute. Why was that cute?

It was like the heavens were waiting on them to finish pulling the rowboats out because the clouds unleashed in that moment. The rain was almost small hail, it hit so hard, and quickly soaked them to the skin.

“My room?” Noe asked him desperately.

His was far closer than Luca’s. Not to mention, Luca still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Noe. It took no thought on his part.

“Fine, go!”

The stones under their feet were slick, so they couldn’t run without risking a bad fall, but they half jogged the distance. Luca kept a careful eye on the other man, knowing he was chilled to the bone and willing to catch and carry him if it came to it. Noe kept his feet, though.

Luca couldn’t help but realize how emotionally attached to Noe he was. To search for him without even realizing it was a powerful indicator. They’d also worked very well together in a pinch. He’d always wanted that dynamic in a spouse—to be a good team with them, to work alongside in harmony. Noe had just shown him they were definitely good together.

It validated his earlier thoughts. He undoubtedly had found his person.

The ryokan finally came into sight, and Luca felt like an angelic chorus broke out in song. Finally, the promise of heat and food would shortly be fulfilled.

They got through the door in record time, but the foyer area was still cold. Nothing more than a sliding door made of bamboo and paper separated them from the outside, and it was only warmer in here because of the gods awful wind being blocked.

Luca immediately toed off his boots and stuck them in a cubby, pushing his feet into guest slippers, then realized Noe struggled to get the laces undone on his boots with his half-frozen fingers.

He lightly knocked the slender fingers aside and pulled Noe’s foot up to rest on his knee.

“I can manage—” Noe protested.

“Let me. Your fingers are practically frozen together.”

Noe subsided, but he seemed strangely bashful? He couldn’t manage to look Luca in the eye, at least. Luca examined Noe’s expression while he wrangled a boot off. Was he being shy after spending the night together?

The flap of a skirt alerted him to someone incoming, and he lifted his head to see the boss of the inn heading toward them with something steaming in her hands. Towels?

“I feared you’d get caught in it,” she fussed, all while wrapping hot towels around their necks. “Here, this will help warm you until you can get into the bath.”

“Are there private baths left?” Luca asked her.

“Yes, a few.”

Good. For this, he wanted privacy.

Noe looked at him askance, like he wasn’t sure why Luca had asked to begin with. Luca favored him with a pointed, quirked eyebrow. You know damn well I’m going in with you was what Luca’s face said.

Noe flushed all over again and cleared his throat. He wore a pleased smile, too.

The boss didn’t seem to realize what their exchange had meant and continued talking. “I put an extra blanket in your room, and we have the kitchens going with stew.”

“Can you bring in an extra futon, Okami-san?” Noe requested of her. “I have a guest for tonight.”

“Of course! I’ll bring one in immediately. For now, into the bath, quickly. You don’t want to catch a chill.”

She was right on that.

Luca got Noe’s second boot off and put it in the cubby along with the other one. That had been harder than it should have been because the laces were half frozen. Noe would have needed to call for help if Luca hadn’t been there, as he didn’t see him managing with his half-frozen state.

Now that Luca had made the decision to propose, he was antsy to act on it. He wanted the proposal out there sooner rather than later, but he wasn’t sure if Noe would be on board with it so quickly after dating. Luca just knew he was very excited to have him. Not to mention relieved. Determined. As well as several other emotions.

Getting Noe warm and comfortable was priority, of course, but Luca didn’t think he’d be able to sit on a proposal for long.