Page 22 of An Adventure For Aster

“You get anything you want,” she said. “You just need to come get it.”

He knew there was a double meaning there, but it was best to let it go for now.

He locked the house, climbed in her small SUV, his knees not quite hitting the dashboard but damn close. She laughed and apologized, but it was fine. He’d been in a lot smaller and more uncomfortable places before.

It was only about ten minutes from where they went. “This isn’t Clyde’s,” he said.

“Nope, we are picking apples here and then going to Clyde’s for food and drink.”

He got out and followed her to the store to get a bag and then into the orchard they went. “Do you want a ladder?”

“Nope,” she said. “You’re tall and can reach up for those I can’t.”

“Or I can put you on my shoulders,” he said, lifting an eyebrow at her.

“Really?” she asked.

She was all but bouncing when he suggested that. “I bet you look like one of your students right now.”

“Probably,” she said. “I haven’t been on anyone’s shoulders since my father’s or brother’s as a kid.”

He squatted down, she moved over and climbed on his shoulders and he stood up and had his hands on her thighs. The smell of the lotion on her body hit him square in the chest.

She smelled like the plant did, so you’d think he’d be used to it. But it smelled different on her.

“You okay up there?” he asked.

“I’m so jealous of the view you have from up here.”

He snorted. “Even I don’t have that. You’re like eight or nine feet up,” he said.

He was six foot three.

“You know what I mean,” she said. “Move closer to that branch.”

“Give me that bag,” he said. “Are you okay if I let go of your legs to hold the bag at least with one hand?”

“Sure,” she said. “As long as you catch me if I start to fall.”

“I won’t drop you,” he said. But he felt her thighs squeezing his shoulders and had a moment where he wanted to feel that around another part of his body.

When they were done with their apples, they went to Clyde’s and got in line to buy some donuts, then moved over to the tasting room. They got their drinks and found seats at a picnic table.

“What do you think?” she asked. “Do they have apple orchards in Texas?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” he said. “This was a first for me.”

“Good,” she said. “Was it fun?”

“Not as much as what we did at my place, but it’s on the scale. Just the bottom of it.”

She laughed. “There is that humor,” she said.

He wasn’t sure that was a joke, but he’d let her think it.

“This isn’t half bad tasting,” he said.

“Can I try yours?”

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