“Italreadyset?”
“Yeah, otherwise we could wave at Neil,” hejoked.
“It’s amazing that we were able to send a man all the way up there,”shesaid.
“My dad always said anything’s possible if you focus and work hardatit.”
She sensed his presence when he came up behind her. When he gently pulled her into an embrace, she relaxed against him. He pressed his lips to hertemple.
“Thank you for staying,”hesaid.
“I couldn’t run. The bus isn’tfixed.”
“You could have run,”hesaid.
“Yeah. But then I wouldn’t have been able to see this incredible viewwithyou.”
He chuckled. Without letting go, he circled to face her. In the faint candlelight, she could hardly make out his features, but she didn’t need to see him to know that he wanted tokissher.
“Why are we here?” she askedsoftly.
“Because I can’t stand being away from you,”hesaid.
“But...why?”
“From the moment I met you, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. You’re beautiful and brave and hardworking. I’ve been looking for someone like you mywholelife.”
“You’re not that old,”shesaid.
“Daisy.” He cupped her cheeks in his hands. “I don’t want you to leave. I think I’ll diewithoutyou.”
“But there are so many other women out there,” she said. “Women who will be happy to live on a farm and give you lots of children. I can’t stay in one place. I haven’t even begun to explore the world. I’ve only been through a few states and I want to see them all. I want to go to Alaska and Hawaii. I want to see the Everglades and New York. I hear there’s a big music festival happening out there in August. Meadow and I talked aboutgoing.”
“I know I can’t give you everything you want. I know that,” he said. “But I can give you one thing you can’t find by running from one place toanother.”
“What?”
“Love and family and a home. Don’t you want to settle down and live in a house with a husband and kids?” heasked.
“Maybe, but not until I’ve been to everyplace I want to see,”shesaid.
“We could go on camping trips in the summer. We could travel to all of the statestogether.”
“I can’t,” she whispered. “I’m not cut out to be afarmer’swife.”
“But… Ineedyou.”
The desperation in his tone was like a punch in the gut. She couldn’t stand to hear him so anguished. She moved into his arms and clung to the back of his shirt. He ran his hands up and down her back in a slow, sensual caress. She leaned into him, savoring the hard plane of his chest. When she tilted her head up, she found him gazing at her with the same longing she’d kept locked up in her heart. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was falling in lovewithhim.
“Did you bring a blanket?” shewhispered.
“Yeah.”
He took her hand and led her to the center of the candles. He only let go of her long enough to spread a blanket out on the ground. When he finished, he sat on one side of the blanket. She joined him. He lay back, so shefollowed.
As she stared up at the night sky, a million stars twinkled. She’d never seen anything so beautiful. A flood of emotion rushed up to claim her. She couldn’t imagine sharing such a perfect night withanyoneelse.
He propped up on one arm and leaned in to kiss her. The sensation of falling pulled her into the earth. She moaned against his lips as he moved to cover her with his chest. As she laced her fingers into his hair, he sighed against her mouth. His hand grazed the edge of her hip, and she shivered withdesire.
