Page 57 of Beautiful Rose
“Are you ready for the ride, miss?” he asks Marr.
When I booked the Date in the Hills package with Bill, I told him my girlfriend scares easily.
Marr gingerly nods her head as we shake hands with Bill. He leads us to the stables, and I grab Marr’s hand.
I turn her to me. “You can still say no. We can watch the horses grazing on the meadows. There’s no pressure.”
“Were you really…planning for a week?” She blinks those big blue eyes rapidly.
I nod. “I wanted our first date to be memorable.”
She looks between the two horses Bill’s leading out and then back me.
“If I don’t like—”
“You just say the word.”
“How are you feeling?” I look at Marr as she walks beside me on the jet-black mare.
“It feels…different. I can feel her…move.” She looks from the horse to me.
“But not bad, right?” I grin when she shakes her head.
Bill leads us to the brow of the hill, where a lunch basket is waiting for us. He lays a white picnic blanket on the ground and leaves us to return in a few hours.
“What do you think?” I ask Marr while passing her a glass of iced tea.
I’m hoping her answer to this question is amazing, but she replies in her own sweet style.
“You took me for date in the hills, on a horse, and had lunch delivered from Giovanni’s. I think I’m becoming a fan of dates.” She eyes the insulated food box from her favorite Italian restaurant.
“Does this mean that my attempt at making you forget all your previous dates was successful?” I smirk, but I’m only half joking. I want her to think about no other man but me.
Way to go, Zander! With this attitude, you’re going to scare her away.
The pink in her cheeks spreads beyond her neck and the collared T-shirt.
“How many dates do you think I’ve been on?” Her fingers play with the edges of the picnic blanket, and I cock an eyebrow at her.
What are you saying, couch girl?
Before I can start the guessing game, she turns and gazes ahead. From this far and at this height, Cherrywood is nothing but a doll village.
“I thought dates usually take place in crowded restaurants.”
“Dates can be anywhere you like.” I sit upright and move closer to her.
“You seem to have a lot of practice.” She looks my way, biting her lip in suspicion.
Does she know how alluring she looks right now?
“I am aware of the art of dating.” I grab her hand resting between us and bring it closer to my lips. “Doesn’t mean I’m a practitioner of the art.” I glance at her before placing a kiss on her palm. Her hand shivers under the touch of my lips. Her blue eyes gleam behind the red frames in the daylight. Watching her face reflecting my own excitement, I kiss her thumb, then her index finger and the next, until I reach her pinkie. I bite it softly, and her wide eyes close while a soft moan escapes her lips.
Her sun-kissed face, her slightly mussed hair by the wind, and the heavy rising and falling of her chest makes me forget every resolve. Since I met this girl, she has made me crazy. Crazy with fear, worry, nervousness, and passion.
What the hell was I thinking bringing her to such a secluded place?
I bring her face closer and lean down, covering her lips with mine.