AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, no. That’s not what I meant,” Braxton rushed to apologize, while I urgently glanced around us, but we were utterly alone. “You look perfect. Gorgeous. Just, perfect,” he clarified.
Gorgeous?? He thought I was gorgeous?
Did that matter? The abrupt change in my heartbeats said it did, though I didn’t want it to. I wasn’t that girl who cared about how she looked. It was usually the last thing on my mind.
Chuckling at my reaction, Braxton leaned closer. “I’ve never met anyone like you,” he admitted, cradling my cheek, and my heart began to race. “You are so adorable.”
“Adorable?!” I protested, slapping his hand away from me, but the gesture only made him laugh harder.
Setting the empty box aside, he took one last sip of his drink, reminding me of what was left of mine. The sweet aroma filtering through my nose made me think of something unexpected. “You know, we don’t have these kinds of drinks where I come from, but—”
“You don’t have coffee?” he asked startled, and it was my turn to chuckle.
“No.”
“How do you survive?” he playfully huffed, laying his back on the blanket, but his attention never left me.
“We make do.” I shrugged, smiling when he did. “But its smell reminds me of a plant that grows everywhere in my land.”
“I bet they are coffee beans. I can teach you how to make it,” he offered, then frowned. “Damn, you must live in a truly far away town…”
“You have no idea.”
Patting the space next to him, he motioned for me to lay down too. “Will you tell me about your home?”
I hesitated for a moment, glancing beyond the waves that slowly rolled onto the shore and pulled back, returning to the sea. My chest ached to say yes. What was it about this guy that made it so difficult to say no? “I thought today it was just us.”
Understanding settled in his eyes. “I didn’t mean for you to tell me what’s happening there. I just want to hear what you love about it.” He reached for me, his finger coaxing mine into holding his hand. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to say.”
Letting out the heaviness wanting to take hold of my chest, I laid down, resting my head on my arm, while my hand opened, giving into his quiet plea.
“It’s beautiful there,” I confessed. “With the brightest blue skies you will ever see, and stunning colors painting every inch of the land. Everything is more vivid there. The grass, the flowers, the mountains. It’s a paradise. I would never give it up for anything.”
Both truth and longing rang in my words, and he saw that.
“It sounds perfect.”
“It is.”
His hand left mine, and he pulled the black screen from his pocket. “It sounds a lot like this,” he added, showing me images of a place that felt like I hadn’t seen in years.
“My home!” I gasped, leaning closer.
