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He smirked at her. “Sweetheart, you’re late to the game if you think I’m going anywhere.” He reached for her, holding her face gently in his hands. “I have a feeling things are only going to get better.”
“I can’t wait,” she murmured right before his lips crushed over hers again.
She’d expected Mason to put the truck back into drive so they could get to where they were going, but instead, he stepped out of the truck. Harley blinked and peered out her window with curiosity. They appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. She could see the slight glow from town just down the hill. But beyond that, she couldn’t get her bearings at all.
Mason opened the back of his truck, climbed into the bed and moved a few things around. Then he climbed down and opened her door. “Coming?”
“Where?” she demanded. “We’re in the middle of nowhere in the dark. I refuse to get lost.”
He chuckled, taking her hand and pulling her from the truck. “Just trust me.”
Rather than take her into the neighboring field, he guided her to the bed of the truck, where he’d unrolled some sleeping bags. She lifted a brow. “I don’t know what you’re planning, but something tells me that the towns folk would not approve of us spending the night here.”
“Will you just get in? I’ll be taking you home soon enough.”
She climbed into the bed of the truck, pleasantly surprised to find there was some kind of foam padding beneath the sleeping bags. She settled down on the makeshift bed, resting her head on a small pillow and stared up at the sky.
Shooting upward with a gasp, she stared wide-eyed at the sky. There had to be a million specks of glitter just hanging out up there.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard his warm chuckle. The truck shifted as he climbed up beside her and settled down on his own sleeping bag. Her eyes darted to his for only seconds. “I have never seen so many stars.”
“That’s because of light pollution. When it’s bright out, it’s harder to see the natural light. Out here, we’re just far enough we can see even the dimmest star.” Mason tugged her to settle down beside him and she complied, resting her cheek against his shoulder as she kept her eyes trained on the night sky.
Mason pointed to a cluster of stars and gave them a name that immediately vacated her head. He told a story about them, but all she could hear were the dancing beats of their hearts. His fingers brushed along her arm, up and down, as he told story after story.
“You must really like astrology, huh?”
He chuckled. “Astronomy.”
“That’s what I said.”
Another laugh, then he pressed a kiss to her temple. “Yeah, I like the stars. They make me feel like there’s something bigger out there waiting to be explored.”
She craned her neck around so she could look at his profile in the darkness. “Like your books.”
“Hmm?”
Harley leaned up on one elbow. “Those sci-fi books you like to read. Don’t they explore space?”
Even without the light from the moon, she could see the way his muscles formed that endearing smile. “Yeah, like those books.”
She continued to study him, realizing just how much more there was to him than she’d understood. “Do you ever wish you were born in a different life? One where you could explore the unreachable parts of God’s creations?”
He turned his head and stared at her like she’d just asked him if he’d considered wrestling alligators. For all she knew, he might have preferred to do that rather than wrangling cattle.
“What?” She laughed. “Did I say something wrong?”
Mason shook his head. “No. It’s just…” He shook his head again. “It’s nothing.” Turning his attention to the sky, his expression turned contemplative. “I’ve always thought there was something more out there. I guess it’s always been… comforting.” His explanation made her think back to when they’d discussed God’s existence and the role he played in their lives.
Slowly, she settled back against him. “I suppose you can’t doubt much when the evidence is right there for you to see, huh?”
He shifted beneath her, his hold on her tightening somewhat. “Yeah. I guess not.”
She listened to him tell story after story about why a constellation was called one thing or another. Mason knew what bright dots were stars versus which ones were satellites and planets. Harley had never been interested in what might be out there in the universe—at least not until this moment.
The cadence of his voice soothed her. Harley’s eyes drifted closed at some point, and she allowed herself to escape into a world of mythology mingled with modern-day science.
21
