“I want to show you something.”
I take off down the road. It’s only a short ride before I turn into the new garage’s driveway.
“We can park it in here.”
I tap my phone screen, and the bay on the far right opens. I drive inside.
“Holy crap, is it done?”
“Yep, John just left. He handed it over to me. This is the first car that I’m parking inside.”
“This is amazing,” she says as she gets out of the car and looks around, trying to take it all in at once. “It’s so shiny and new, Wolfe. I absolutely love it.”
“I do, too. Come upstairs.”
I take her hand and lead her up to the apartment, and she continues to smile.
“You already had it furnished?”
“I worked with a decorator. She did it,” I reply. “I honestly didn’t really care about the color scheme. I told her I just wanted it to be comfortable.”
“It’s like butter,” she says and drags her hand over the marble countertop. “This kitchen is what dreams are made of. And look at this view!”
She wanders to the balcony and pulls open the French doors.
“Oh, Wolfe, you can have your coffee out here or a beer after a long day. You can even hear the ocean.”
I walk up behind her, wrap my arms around her, and hug her tightly.
“It’s a great spot,” I agree as she turns in my arms and looks up at me with suddenly worried eyes. “What is it?”
“Are you moving in here?” she asks.
“Do you want me to?”
She frowns and looks at my chest. “It’s a beautiful apartment. You spent a billion dollars on it, and the plan was always for you to live up here while you built another house.”
“It wasn’t quite a billion dollars, and yes, that was the plan.”
“It’ll be very comfortable for you,” she says and looks around again. “I haven’t seen the bathroom, but I bet it’s beautiful.”
“It even has a steam shower,” I inform her.
She doesn’t smile.
“Awesome.”
I lead her back inside, close the French doors, and take her hand so I can sit on the couch with her.
“We need to talk about this, sweetheart. Yeah, in the beginning, the plan was to live up here until I built something else. But I think quite a lot has changed in the past month.”
“You lost so much,” she murmurs. “And you were so angry in the beginning. And you should be hurt. Is all of this really enough for you?”
I sigh, and look around the loft, and then back to Luna. “It hasn’t been easy. And there are moments that I’m still really pissed off that I lost something that I love so much. And I do love to drive, Luna. But I’m not giving up cars altogether. With this place and the garage in town, I’ll be working with automobiles every day for the foreseeable future. Having that, while also having you and my friends is pretty great.”
Hope springs in those gorgeous brown eyes. “Yeah, it is great. And I’m so relieved that you’re healing, Wolfe. That despite the headaches, you’re moving forward with your life and setting up roots here in this community. And I love having you with me at the lighthouse, don’t get me wrong. But this place is spectacular and brand-new. It would be a waste to let it just sit here.”
“Are you saying you want to move up here? Your house is bigger, but if you want to, we can live here.”
She frowns. “I’m confused.”
“There’s nothing confusing about this. I want to be wherever you are, Luna. So, if we’re at your amazing lighthouse, that’s great. If we’re in this smaller but newer apartment, that works for me, too. As long as I’m with you, I’m home.”
“Well.” She swallows hard and pushes her hands through her hair. “That was swoony.”
“It’s the truth. So, the question is, do you want me to move out?”
“I’d rather be with you, too,” she says. “I just thought you might not want to live at my place. It’s older. And, yeah, it’s pretty and historical, but it’s not fancy.”
“Have I complained?”
“Not even once,” she confirms.
“Having money doesn’t mean I need fancy.”
She raises a brow and looks around at my posh new garage, and I have to laugh.
“Okay, point taken. But this involves cars—and, yes, that means fancy. Hell, our properties together are big enough that we could build a new house just about anywhere. Or we can stay in your house. The beauty of this whole situation is…we have loads of options.”
“I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that.” She lets out a long breath as if she’s immensely relieved.
“Have you been worrying about this?”
I tug her to me and cuddle her close.
“Kind of. Yeah, okay, I have been. Because I knew they were getting close to finishing this, and I like having you around.”