“Ohhhh, that’s good,” I muttered, then giggled softly.
Lifting my eyes from the screen, I stared across the room, unseeing, as I stretched my arms above my head. My mind was full of magic, mystery, and mythical creatures as I lifted my coffee cup to my lips to take a sip, and realized that the cup was empty.
“Hmmm, when did that happen?” I asked myself out loud, the groaned when I tried to stand and my muscles protested.
I heard the sound of footsteps, and turned my head to see Gabe through the screened porch. I swiveled my head around, searching for the clock, and gasped when I saw it was one o’clock on the nose.
“Shoot!”
I was about to start apologizing, but when Gabe opened the door and peeked his head around, a large sexy grin on his face, all words left me.
He was impossibly handsome. No, really. Those lips…
“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang…” That’s what came tumbling out when my words came back, causing Gabe’s grin to widen.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I answered quickly.
“Are you just now finishing up?” he asked, coming fully into the room.
“Yeah,” I said, leaning to the side in an effort to stretch my aching back. “I got caught up, but I can be ready in two minutes.”
“If you aren’t done, we can reschedule.”
“No,” I said, in a louder-than-necessary voice. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Gabe’s face softened at my admission and he took a few steps toward me, pausing to brush the back of his hand against my cheek.
“Have you eaten anything?”
“Coffee.”
Gabe chuckled. “Coffee isn’t food.”
“It should be,” I replied softly, mesmerized by his gentle touch.
He brushed a loose tendril back and said, “Get ready, Zoey. It’ll do you good to stretch your legs and get some food in you.”
“Okay.”
I rifled through my things until I found a bathing suit, running shorts, and a tank top, then hurried into the bathroom to get changed. I felt bad about not being ready when he arrived, but was relieved that it didn’t seem to bother him in the least. In fact, I hadn’t seen him get riled up about anything in the admittedly short amount of time that we knew each other.
I really liked that about him.
“Ready,” I said as I rushed out. I crossed to the room as he opened the door for me and then followed me outside.
“Here, a little something to tide you over,” Gabe said, handing me a granola bar.
I stilled, my hand out, each of us holding an end of the bar, and lifted my eyes to his.
“That’s so thoughtful.” And it was … As silly as it may sound, it was the most thoughtful thing I could remember a guy doing for me.
Gabe released his end of the bar and swung to the side, showing me the backpack he was carrying.
“Don’t worry, I have a full lunch in here. Once we make it to the waterfall, we can set it up and take our time.” He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, then raised his head and said, “Let’s go.”
We started off in the opposite direction of the camp, so we passed his cousins, who were all sitting on Jasmine’s porch eating their lunch and talking. When she noticed us, she raised her hand and said, “Have fun, you two,” causing everyone to turn and wave.