She turned beet red, covering her face with her hands as she let out an embarrassed laugh. “Mycreativejuices. Obviously.”
I chuckled. “That’s what I figured you were talking about.”
Although now I couldn’t help but wonder if the slip had been because our experiences had gotten her actual juices running, too. Biting back a moan at the possibility, I turned my attention to the road and asked her more about her songs as I drove us out of the city.
Before too long, we got to a field dotted with hot-air balloons. Some were already in the air, and others were still on the ground. As soon as I made the turn to drive to the field, Serenity gasped, her hands flying to her chest as she turned to face me with her eyes huge.
“Are you serious?” she exclaimed happily. “This is the surprise? A hot-air-balloon ride?”
“Yep, this is the surprise.” I grinned, risking a glance at her since we were on a quiet dirt track that only led down to the field and there were no other cars around. At the sight of her staring up at the sky with that absolutely awe-struck expression on her face, love swelled in my chest.
Despite all my earlier misgivings about this outing, in that moment, I didn’t give a damn if she thought she had to be here because I was paying her to. Whatever she thought, it was worth it just to see her looking so fucking happy.
CHAPTER18
SERENITY
Ican’t believe it. I’m about to climb into the basket of a hot-air balloon. Excitement, exhilaration, and trepidation all raced through me. Despite having told him that I wanted to do this, heights weren’t my favorite thing in the world, hence the trepidation.
Thankfully, however, as I placed my hand in the palm of his for him to help me into the basket, the positive emotions far outweighed the negative. “This is incredible. I mean… wow. Just wow. I can’t believe you did this for me.”
“For us,” he said, eyes smiling as he drew me into him to whisper in my ear. “I had to book the engagement package if we wanted food and drinks for our ride, so just go with it.”
My heart leaped. I knew it didn’t mean anything, but the thrill that ran through me at his words was entirely involuntary.I’m only here because he wanted a companion and he saw a chance to help me out financially. That’s it.
I had to keep reminding myself of that not-so-fun fact as he released me, stepping back to let me have a look around. There was a wicker picnic basket inside, along with an ice bucket and some champagne.
For just a minute, I closed my eyes as I gripped the rough edges of the railing, wondering what it would’ve felt like if we’d never broken up and the engagement story had been real. By now, we might’ve been married already.
The balloon operator was the only other person onboard, and he grinned underneath his big bushy beard. “I’m Ted. Welcome to the Odyssey.”
“The Odyssey?” I asked.
His grin widened. “Just my little nickname for her. You folks all set to go?”
“We are,” Bart said, coming up behind me and planting his front against my back as I turned to watch the view when we started our ascent. His arms were around me, his hands braced beside mine on the railing.
The trip felt increasingly romantic as the balloon lifted into the air, the cool breeze in my hair and Bart’s heat seeping into me from behind. He brought his head forward until it was beside mine, his big body against mine as he spoke near my ear.
“This is actually pretty cool. I was worried it’d be boring, but it’s really not.” He moved one of his hands up and pointed out into the distance. “The view is great. I never would’ve thought it’d be so beautiful this close to the city, but I kind of like the contrast between the wide-open spaces and the densely populated ones.”
“It’s definitely not boring.” I glanced down at the ground, watching for a moment as it dropped further and further away until Bart’s car was the size of an ant. “Being this high up isn’t as frightening as I thought it would be. This basket actually feels pretty steady.”
“It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be, too,” he agreed. “Speaking of which, would you like to sit down for our picnic? There’s a blanket we can spread out.”
“And miss the view?” I turned my head to his, trying my best to ignore how darn close by his lips were to mine as I shook my head. “No, thanks. Do you think we can eat standing up as long as we promise to hang onto our glasses real tight?”
He shrugged. “There were no rules against it in the informational packet I got.”
As soon as he moved away, I missed feeling him so close to me. It was really annoying that I didn’t know if I’d be feeling that again today or if I’d have to wait until we had to pretend to be an engaged couple before it would happen again.
Sighing heavily, I tried to focus on the view until he got back, thankfully sliding in behind me again as he handed over a glass of champagne. My insides went all glowy and gooey when he settled against my back again, and I decided to toss caution to the wind, needing to know more.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” I said. “What are your plans when all of this is done?”
“The bucket list?” he asked, sounding contemplative before I felt him shrug his shoulders when I dipped my head in a nod. “I don’t know yet, to be honest. I haven’t given it any thought yet, but Tanner and Jeremiah have both got some awesome charities going. I might get involved with those or find an organization in my own field to take up a role in.”
He let out a deep but quiet breath that warmed the skin on my neck. “Not so long ago, Tanner was struggling with that very same question. What to do now that he’d unexpectedly landed with his ass in a pot of gold. I remember not envying the position, and I still don’t want to be in it.”