“There are places that sell champagne, you know,” Daphne said flatly but Addie snorted. Silas jumped out of the way and Daphne pulled her knees up to her chest so Addie could get to the wine fridge.
“No place closer than this and I wanted to see if last night went as well as I was hoping.” She pulled out four bottles and set them next to Daphne. Addie winked at Silas over her shoulder on her way to the double doors by the wide built-in refrigerator. She opened them and Silas’s eyes grew huge when he saw the pantry. It was as big as Silas’s bedroom and had an island with a sink. The many shelves were sparsely filled with dry goods and Silas spotted more cases of wine. Addie returned with what appeared to be an insulated wine tote and unzipped it. “Will you be joining us for movies Sunday night? I believe the coffee shop closes at 5:00.” She asked Silas.
“I…?” He looked to Daphne and shrugged. She gave Addie a peevish look.
“I haven’t asked him yet because it’s only Friday. Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“This is for work. We’re celebrating because Silas has tamed the office’s dragon.”
“Hey!” Daphne swatted her sister’s shoulder and Addie laughed.
“You’re just cranky with us but you’re a beast with yourself. We’re also celebrating because you pulled the hottie from the coffee shop.”
“I know I deserve this but you’re still a jerk,” Daphne said. She crossed her arms over her chest but she let Addie kiss her on the cheek. “We’ll talk about Sunday night and I’ll let you know.”
“Excellent,” Addie replied and turned to Silas. “I hope you can make it. Sutton needs someone to commiserate with when we’re both being dragons.”
“Well…” Silas blushed as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I do like dragons.”
“Ha!” Daphne laughed and clapped a hand over her mouth. “It really was fate.”
“Do you think so?” Silas asked, even though he knew it was. But he wanted to hear her say it so he knew that they were both getting swept away together. She smiled at Silas as she took his hand.
“You are perfect for me in every way and you’ve been right under my nose for years but I would have kept you at arms’ length if it weren’t for the club.” Daphne looked at her sister and mouthed an apology. “I got a little low after you moved in with Sutton and I tried to use work as a coping mechanism but I broke my coping mechanism,” she said. Addie and Silas both whimpered in sympathy. He had the rest of the day and all night to comfort Daphne so Silas let Addie go first.
“I know we’ve been obnoxious and I’ve been a little oblivious. I’ll do better,” Addie said but Daphne shushed her.
“No. I want you to be obnoxious and oblivious. You deserve to be happy and Sutton’s exactly what you need. I had to work that out by myself,” she stated simply. Addie shushed her back and gave Daphne’s hand a squeeze.
“You know better. I’ll always help you and you’ll always come first. But I’m glad you’ve got Silas now. He’ll take good care of you.”
With that, Addie left them. Silas gathered Addie in his arms and helped her off the counter.
“I thought I’d seduce you here in the kitchen but I think you should take me upstairs and show me the bedroom. I want you to sit on my face again and see if you have another breakthrough,” he said silkily as he offered his arm. Daphne took it and was thoughtful as she directed him to a set of stairs that climbed the exposed brick wall on the left-hand side of the room.
“You should add muse to your résumé, your track record speaks for itself,” she said. Silas offered her a regal bow of his head.
“True, but I’m afraid I’m not a freelance muse anymore. My heart belongs to you now, your highness, and I’m yours to command.”
“I do like the sound of that,” Daphne said and led Silas upstairs so he could worship her properly.