Meant for Me | ✔️

14) under the stars

Saturday 17th August

A D D I E

"Addie?"

I looked up from the page that I had been staring at and saw Zac standing over me.

"It's four."

"What?"

He pointed over his shoulder toward the kitchen. "It's four. Remember, we were supposed to mee-"

"No, I know. I just. . . lost track of time. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You weren't hard to find."

I looked down at my book and realized that I was on the same page that I had been when I opened it. Which had to have been two hours ago, at least. I snapped it shut and stood up, fast, meeting Zac with a smile that wouldn't let him know how rattled I was. Not that he would mind. He was so patient and understanding but I didn't want to dwell on the fact that I was struggling to breathe.

"You free for the rest of the afternoon?" He stood close and slipped his hands into his jean pockets, which were a faded wash and he was wearing a powder blue t-shirt that hugged his arms and chest.

"As you can see, I'm not the most in demand person on the planet. So I'm free. What's the plan?"

He kept his eyes on me but reached out and took the book from me and then, to my surprise, he took my hand in his. It sent a warmth right up my arm and a tingle spread fast.

I trailed along behind him, not protesting when he carefully tossed the book onto the deck and then headed for the paddock gate. He was quiet as we walked but he didn't let go of my hand. I watched it the entire time, fascinated at how it encased mine and felt so warm. I was sure that having my hand held had never felt like this before. Felt so consuming and breathtaking.

"Surprise."

He stopped, it was abrupt and fast but I hadn't been focusing on our surroundings at all. I had been too occupied watching our intertwined hands and his chiseled back, which I tore my gaze from and saw a large, beautiful horse. It chewed on grass as its tail swished at the pestering flies. It was saddled up and the saddle extended over it's backside into a tray like device which had a picnic basket strapped to it.

"What's this?"

Zac shrugged and gestured his head at the horse with a cunning grin. "A different sort of ride. If you're up for it."

My stare fell to the ground while I hid the blush crawling up my neck after I unintentionally heard a different meaning than the one intended. He must have caught on.

"Head out of the gutter, Ads," he laughed and I looked up in time to see him wink at me. It was the nickname that snapped me out of the amusement. It sounded so familiar, yet I'd never heard him call me that before. It sounded right. It fit. It was effortless and I had to inhale a deep breath.

"Is this a birthday present?"

"Nope," he waved me over to where he stood beside the horse. "Just something to do on a Saturday night. This is Nellie. She's our big girl. Better for tandem riding."

I stood beside him and tilted my head so that I could look up at his gorgeous face. Angular and dark but in the most alluring way. His lashes were so full. His eyes were so dark brown that his pupil was almost indistinguishable and his stubble was rugged, perfect.

"A date then?" I had no idea what possessed me to say that but I regretted it the moment it left my mouth. He chuckled and slipped around me so that he could put his large hands around my waist.