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“You look beautiful,” he said.
Heat crept into her cheeks. “Thanks. I was just thinking the same about you.” And then—
realizing how that sounded—she said, “I mean you lookhandsome.”
“I know what you meant.” He smiled at her—the kind of smile that lit up his eyes. She liked to think that he only ever smiled at her that way. It made her stomach dip just like she was on a roller coaster going a hundred miles an hour straight down.
She swallowed hard. “Are you ready to go?”
“I am. Adventure awaits us.”
Off they went for their balloon ride. She couldn’t wait. When Carter unexpectedly took her hand in his, her stomach dipped again. Today was going to be an amazing day.
Floating so high.
Feeling on top of the world.
The balloon ride was amazing. Angela held onto him the entire time. That alone made the ride worth it. The view was just the icing on top.
They would definitely be coming back to the Vines Entwined B&B one day. Carter felt as though they’d set off on a journey on Friday morning, and now they’d reached their destination. He’d like to think that those challenges had brought them closer together.
With the balloon hovering in the blue sky, Carter turned to Angela. He’d held back for too long now. He stared deep into her hazel eyes, which now had a greenish hue. “There’s no one else in the world I’d want to share this moment with.”
She stared back at him, making his heart pound. “Thank you for taking me on this journey with you.”
She lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. His heart slammed against his ribs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. It’d only been a few days since they’d last kissed, and yet it had felt like eternity. He didn’t ever want to go that long without feeling her lips on his.
A jolt of the gondola had them pulling apart as they grasped the edge of the basket. The pilot assured them it was just a bit of wind. He sent a jet of fire into the balloon, lifting them higher in the sky.
Angela insisted Carter take some selfies while they were in the basket. She said she would have taken them, but she didn’t have a free hand. One hand was clamped to the basket, and her other hand was grasping Carter’s so tightly that he was starting to lose some feeling in his fingers. And so, he obliged.
When they finally set down in a field, Angela let go of his hand. He had to flex his fingers a few times to ease the cramping. All the while, he smiled as Angela bragged about going up in a hot air balloon.
She looked so happy—so like the Angela he’d fallen in love with. He didn’t want this moment to end. He wanted to hang onto it forever.
While they waited for their ride back to the B&B, he stepped up to her. “I had the best time this morning.”
“I did too.” She gazed into his eyes.
He wrapped his hands around her waist. “I don’t ever want to lose focus on us again. I think we let the rest of the world get between us. Me with my job.”
“And me dealing with losing my mother.”
He wanted to kiss her again, but not yet—not until he’d had his say. “I’m sorry I work so many hours. I wish I knew how to do it differently. But this is going to be an ongoing thing.”
She nodded. “I know. I just need some us time—like every weekend. If you could shut off your phone on Friday evening and not turn it back on until Monday, then we could get through this.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. When there’s a case, I can’t always shut off my phone.”
“But in between cases?” Her eyes pleaded with him to meet her halfway.
“We can try it.” It wasn’t a promise like she wanted, and he knew it, but he didn’t want to lie to her. “I will try to do my best to protect our time together on the weekend.”
He was trying to meet her halfway.
Now she needed to meet him halfway too.
Angela found herself hesitating. What was wrong with her? Why wasn’t she rushing into his arms? She told herself that it was wedding jitters. Everyone got them, didn’t they?
