This elicited another laugh out of her. “Competitive.”
Hating that he couldn’t completely deny the competition between him and his brother that had always been there, he opted for sincerity again. “It’s only part of it.”
Her eyes widened, and he caught the yellow flecks in her green eyes. For a second, the word bewitching came to mind. Yes, that’s what her eyes were. Catlike, scrutinizing. “What was the other part?”
He knew he was blushing.
She laughed and then said, “The test. That’s it. You want to pass it.” She looked altogether too satisfied with herself.
He couldn’t help his wide grin, knowing he wouldn’t tell her the truth right now. “Maybe.”
Suddenly, she inhaled deeply and then pulled back. “You put on Chase’s aftershave.” She sniffed again. “And his hair gel.”
Embarrassed, Adam wanted to build a time machine and go back and dig out his own stuff. He covered it with sarcasm. “Oh, you’ve noticed his smell?”
She scoffed. “Fine print, Adam. That’s what I’m all about, baby.”
The fact that she was in his arms and he could smell fruity apricot made him happy. So he laughed. “I guess you are learning something from me.”
“Ha, ha.”
Taking a chance, he pulled her a bit closer. “What am I going to do with you, Red?”
“Why are you here, Adam?” she asked softly, looking at his lips.
He was looking at her lips, too. He blinked and tried to keep his focus. “What do you mean?”
Squeezing his hand, she waited for him to look at her eyes.
He felt like he was in some kind of trance. She was intoxicating. His heart pounded at a rate he was sure the American Heart Association would deem dangerous. “Why shouldn’t I be here?”
The song ended, and a fast one started. Letting his hands drop from her, he immediately felt cold.
Her lip tugged up to the side. “Well, I am on a date with your brother.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chase heading toward them. Then he saw Fancy intercept him, spinning him hard into the dance they’d always performed to this song. He let out a light laugh. “Well, Destiny, it looks like my brother can’t resist Fancy.”
Pushing back from the crowd, Adam took her hand and tugged her with him. Adam wasn’t surprised when he saw Chase and Fancy move in perfect harmony. Then Chase lifted her above his head and twirled her.
Howls and hoots sounded through the air. “Oh, yeah!”
Adam watched, grinning because he knew Fancy had coerced Chase out there. He also knew, by the looks Chase kept shooting Adam, that his brother was not happy about him coming tonight and interrupting his date.
But everything else fled from his mind as he watched his brother stumble and then fall back, hitting the wood floor like a ton of bricks.
Adam rushed to his side. “Give him air, people,” he commanded, clearing the way. Panic forced the air out of his lungs, as if he had fallen instead.
Then Chase opened his eyes, and a severe look washed over his face as he focused on Adam. He held up a weak hand and pointed at him, whispering, “If you kiss her, you die.” Then his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he officially passed out.
Chapter 21
Of course, Destiny had said yes to Adam when he asked her to follow them to the hospital. She stayed in the front area until Adam appeared an hour later, a tired look on his face. He let out a breath when he got to her, not waiting for her to ask. “Doc Taggart wants to keep him overnight for observation. The stupid oaf. He should have stayed in bed for a few days.”
She bit her lip. “I never should have gone to the dance with him.”
“Pshaw, right.” Adam nodded to the hospital door and gently put a hand on her lower back, guiding her toward it. “Like you could have stopped him. He’s stubborn.”
Still thinking about Chase, she followed Adam to his car. He opened the passenger side door for her. She got in, deep in thought..
Adam joined her and started the car.
“So what did the doctor say about his head injury?”
Adam turned onto Main Street, heading toward her aunt and uncle’s ranch. He sighed. “Doc Taggart thinks everything checks out, but he wants to run a few more tests and then send him to a neurologist in Billings next week, just to make sure.”
It sounded very serious to Destiny. “Okay, so … he’s done with rodeo, then?”
Adam let out a light laugh. “Chase won’t let it be done until a doctor tells him to stop.” He turned to her. “Do you have to get home?”
She shrugged, thinking that her aunt and uncle hadn’t given her a time to be home. She checked her phone. “I think I’m good. Why?”
Adam swerved and took a side path that led to a full gravel road.
“Where are we going?”
Flashing a grin at her, Adam widened his eyes. “It’s a secret.”
Nervous flutters of anticipation filled her. She laughed and crossed her arms, feeling the nip of cooler air.
Adam glanced at her. “Are you cold?”
She didn’t like to be a complainer. “I’m fine.”
Grinning, he turned onto a back road that led up to the mountains.
Destiny recognized where they were going. “The hot springs?” She could see a trail and what looked like construction machines.
“Janet and Michael are building a house up here, but they won’t care if we get in a last hurrah.” Adam parked, then yanked open his door and got out, dashing around the car and opening hers.
She didn’t move. Fear and excitement and horror warred inside her. “It’s freezing, and we don’t have swimsuits.”
Adam quickly opened the back of his car. “Destiny, the one thing you’ll learn about me is that I come prepared for everything.” He pulled out two T-shirts and pairs of shorts.
The air was even colder up here, and she shivered more, pulling her small wraparound jacket closer to her.
Shoving the clothes at her, he leaned back into the back seat and pulled out a wool blanket, a towel, and a huge winter coat.
“Oh my gosh.” She wasn’t sure if he’d planned this, or if he really was just that prepared, which seemed preposterous.
Adam shut the door and motioned to the path, holding up a large flashlight and flicking it on. “Chase and I are yin and yang. He’s spontaneous, with a ‘let’s do it, who cares about the consequences’ attitude. I, on the other hand, am of the ‘let’s do it, but I brought a million things in my car so we’re prepared’ mindset.”
Following him on the path, she giggled. It was ridiculous that she was out in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night with Adam Moon, the same guy that she’d thought was the biggest jerk less than two days ago. Honestly, she wasn’t surprised that he was so prepared. It fit his personality. “I’m probably more like Chase,” she admitted.
As they arrived at a large rock, he threw some stuff down and then reached back for her hand. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I gathered that about you.”
Thinking of how she missed his labs, she took his hand and laughed. “Yes, you probably did.”
He easily tugged her to the rock, right above the hot spring. He kept her hand inside his, grinning down at her.
Staring up at him, she noticed he was close to her. Too close. She could feel his breath on her cheek. Her mouth went dry, and she took a step back, trying to clear her mind.
Adam released her hand, but took her shoulders to steady her. “Are you okay?”
Not wanting to explain how crazy she felt at the moment, she shrugged. To distract him, she pointed to the clothes. “How are we supposed to get into the shorts and T-shirts? There aren’t any changing rooms.”
“Oh.” His face went blank. Then he pulled back his hands and reached for the clothes. A boyish grin lit over his face. “I guess we’ll just have to go on the honor code that we’ll both face the other way and won’t look until we give the okay.” H
e lifted his eyebrows. “You okay with that?”
Butterflies now erupted inside of her. “Totally, sounds good,” she said casually.
“Great.” Adam handed her a pair of shorts and a shirt. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter 22
Adam quickly changed, and didn’t look back. He knew Chase wouldn’t have been able to control himself in the same situation; it wasn’t in his nature to play by a code of ethics like this. Not to say he wasn’t tempted to glance at Destiny, but he would never do that. So he waited, feeling the steam from the hot springs and anxious to get in. He was also anxious to see the look on her face when she got in.
Honestly, he couldn’t describe why or how Destiny Morningstar had become the focus of his thoughts. He’d pretty much been able to think of nothing else since that night they’d played the football game together. She’d run into his arms, and he’d swung her around, and the whole team had been cheering when they’d gotten that touchdown … Something inside of him had changed then.
It wasn’t like with Laura, his first real girlfriend. Not like his crush on Janet, either. No, this was different. Suddenly, he wanted to experience everything with her, to be with her constantly. It was completely insane. He’d actually gone to a barn dance to be with her. He was willing to tick off his brother to be with her.
He wished he hadn’t made that whole stupid first kiss thing with Chase, because he didn’t want this … to be that. Only, he hadn’t even realized that until he’d seen his brother move in. Destiny wasn’t a prize for some competition between him and his brother. She was complex. When he was with her, he felt different. Happier. He found the best parts of himself when he was with her. But how could he describe that to her?
Unfortunately, if he wanted a chance at being with her, he did need to get the first kiss out of the way. He needed to stake a claim before Chase really got in the saddle and started competing.
“Okay,” she said.
He turned around, and she turned at the same time.
Their eyes met, and the center of his chest filled with warmth. She looked beautiful. Her red hair was kind of frizzy. The shirt and shorts were way too big, yet somehow she managed to be utterly gorgeous. He offered his hand. “Should we get in?”
Tentatively, she took his hand, her eyes wide. “Are we just jumping?”
Excitement surged through him. “Let’s do it.”
“Okay.” He felt her shaking.
He squeezed her hand. “One, two, three!”
They both jumped at the same time.
“Whoo!” he yelled as the hot water hit his body.
“Gaaa!” The water was much hotter than they’d anticipated, and it took several seconds and lots of shouts for them to acclimate.
Finally, he grabbed her, and they both went completely under the water together.
Once they came up, he kept her in his arms. “Do you want to go to the Easter ball with me Saturday night?”
She scrunched up her face. “What?”
He knew it was probably ridiculous coming from him. “I know it probably sounds stupid, but … it’s a Snow Valley tradition.”
“Sure.”
“What?”
Pulling back, she smiled. “I’d love to.”
“Really?”
She shivered. “Why not?”
“Are you still cold?” He wanted to pull her in, but he wasn’t sure. “Do you want to come over here? There’s a bench.”
She followed him through the water. “Okay.”
They both relaxed into the water for a few minutes. Then Adam did another thing he didn’t usually do: he asked a personal question. “So, Destiny Morningstar, why do you want to go to Europe?”
“What?” She seemed startled by the question.
He watched as she pushed her hair back away from her face. “Well, you seem pretty concerned with getting this extra credit, so you must have a reason.”
Her skin was radiant. The steam made her cheeks pink. Her catlike green eyes moved to his, then looked away. She shrugged. “Can’t a girl just want to go to Europe?”
Studying her for a few moments, he thought of how she seemed like she was just a regular “let’s have fun” kind of sorority girl. He remembered seeing her the other morning, putting together the window. He’d seen the passionate side of her then. And that mural … “That picture of the Easter hunt in Janet’s window is amazing,” he said, wanting her to tell him about the art school opportunity.
She seemed to be evaluating him, measuring him, before she blinked and looked away. “M-my mother wants me to try for this art school in Paris.” She hesitated, then turned back to him. “It’s one of the best in the world, and they only accept a few applicants. As part of the exchange, I could apply, but only until March twentieth. But …”
“But what?”
She met his eyes. “Do you really want to hear this? ’Cause it’s going to sound crazy to you.”
His heart rate spiked at her intensity. “Yep.”
“Okay. The picture in the Flower Girl window is the first one I’ve done … since Fate died.”
He wasn’t sure what to say.
She pulled in a long breath. “My mom thinks I haven’t been drawing as some type of punishment to myself, or her, or God, or someone.” She broke off.
Scooting closer to her, he reached out and found her hand. “Is that what it is?”
Chapter 23
Destiny didn’t know why she was telling Adam Moon about her deep psychological problems, but she was. Tears filled her eyes. “I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t think it had anything to do with it. I mean … I just didn’t feel like painting after …” She wiped them away. “It sounds so stupid.”
Without warning, Adam gently stroked the side of her face. “It doesn’t sound stupid to me.”
Completely floored that Adam had turned out to be like … this, she shook her head and sucked in a breath. She realized she wanted to talk to someone about it. “Fate was … my best friend. She was everything to me.” More tears surfaced and fell, but this time she let them.
He softly wiped her tears. “Go on.”
Bending her head forward, she took a breath and lifted it, meeting his eyes. His blue, deep, soul-seeing eyes. “I guess the simplest way to say it is that my heart was broken. And the thing no one knows …” She hesitated, but decided to trust him. “I was in a hospital for a few months. Before coming to MSU. I …” She waited for a reaction from him, but only saw his eyes moisten. “She was the best, brightest, happiest part of me.” Now it was a stream of tears. “I know that sounds stupid.”
He was shaking his head, matching her tears with his own. “Stop saying it’s stupid. It’s not.” His voice was a fierce whisper.
She saw him—the part of him from yesterday, the part that wasn’t closed off, that wasn’t a jerk. She stared into his eyes and saw the vulnerable, real, passionate person that he was. In this moment, she realized the whole reason he got so upset when someone messed up his program wasn’t because of them; it was because it was his program, his creation, and he was frustrated it could be messed up.
She broke free and turned away from him, sucking in a breath as she put her face in her hands.
His hand was back on her shoulder, and he stroked softly down her head. “It’s okay, Red, it’s okay.”
Turning, she fit so easily into his shoulder. It was as if it’d been made for her. To comfort her.
She cried. Like she had over a year ago in the hospital. All the emotion that she’d pushed away and tried to forget rushed back to her. “I just miss her so much.”
He held her, gently rubbing her head. “Shh, I know. I know.”
It felt like time was suspended at this moment. Like everything had brought her to this moment and everything would keep her here. With him. In his arms.
She pulled back, looking up at him. He kept her close, and their lips were almost together. Once again, she wondered if he would kiss her. He held her there, not
moving, not closing the gap that she was so sure he’d close.
Then she said the one thing that stripped her emotions bare. “Kiss me, Adam.”
Chapter 24
Everything inside of him wanted to kiss her. The problem was that if he did it like this, it would never mean what she thought it meant. It would mean he’d won a bet, and he wouldn’t let it be that. Quickly, he stood. “I-I’m sorry. I need to get back and take care of the animals.”
***
Two hours later, Adam lay in bed, replaying the scene at the hot springs over and over in his mind. He slammed a fist into his pillow as he turned onto his side. “Dang, Chase.”
His thoughts flitted to the expression on her face as Adam had helped her out, and then they’d both changed back into warm clothes. She’d been completely confused and bewildered. He thought she’d even been crying on the way back. She hadn’t made a peep, but he’d seen her wipe under her eyes a couple different times. .
He would never forgive himself for not kissing her. He should have just sucked it up and kissed her. Heaven knew he wanted to.
Standing up, he decided he wasn’t going to get any sleep. He shoved on some clothes, then rushed out of his room and slipped on a heavy coat and his boots. He headed to the barn, taking the steps to his loft office as quickly as he could. He plugged in the cord to the heater he used to heat his office space. Sliding the door shut, he started up the heater and then slumped into his chair, pressing on his computer. He opened up the app that had the trial run GRE tests on the computer. He might as well practice for his test. After tonight, that would probably be the only thing in his life anyway.
Chapter 25
Destiny knew it was completely crazy to hardly sleep last night because Adam Moon didn’t kiss her. She’d only known Adam Moon for four days, and she’d completely hated him for two. But no matter how she tried to rationalize it, it had left her feeling confused.
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