Page 15 of My Heart to Find

“Chocolate?” My mouth waters.

He nods, his eyes bright. “So, we need a plan. We’ve got to get across the river without swimming or getting wet.”

I breathe deeply as I look across the river again. My head feels heavy, but a good kind of heavy, and I know it’s because Damien’s so close to me. I’ve never stood so close to a man before and not felt nervous—even at uni, I was just so awkward in seminars when I had to sit next to guys. I could barely say a word. I was too anxious. But, with Damien, it’s easy. We’ve been talking and I haven’t been panicking. It feels right.

I hope we’re paired together for the next challenge too.

“Can you fly?” There’s a mischievous glint in Damien’s eyes.

“Alas, I left my wings at home.”

“Shame. Me too.” He laughs, a low, throaty sound now.

“Hold on.” My eyes widen. “We only have to get to the other side of the river, right?”

He nods, inclining his head toward me slightly. He’s about six inches taller than me, and he looks down at me with such tenderness that I nearly stop breathing.

“There’s... There’s nothing to say we have to cross right here,” I whisper.

“Nothing to say a lot anyway.” He pushes his hair back. Longish, blond hair. Then he retrieves a rubber band from his pocket, starts to tie it back.

“That’s gonna pull your hair,” I say, sliding my spare hair tie off my wrist. “Here.”

“Thanks.”

I wait until he’s tied his hair back then I lower my voice again. “I’m sure there was a bridge—back there. We drove past it. On the bus.”

His eyes widen. “Yes.” His grin is huge. “So, we walk back there and cross on the bridge?”

“We do.” I give him a nod.

“Well, I guess we better get wood and make this damn raft,” he says in a loud voice, then winks at me—actually winks.

I find myself laughing as the two of us hurry away. And it feels almost magical walking away with Damien. Just me and him, going into the woodland. I flick a glance over my shoulder and see Jana watching me. She’s probably regretful she got paired with Freda, because Damien is hot.

I almost want to laugh, thinking that. Because I’ve never thought that about anyone before. But Damien ishot. Attractive. There’s a carefree side to him that just makes me think he’s never stressed. And he’s strong, that’s obvious in the way his jacket arms are straining across his biceps. He looks good. Very good.

“So, you’re from England, too, right?” Damien asks me.

“Yep. Devon,” I say.

“Oh, fairly close to me then. I’m in Dorset.” He holds back a branch that sticks out over the pathway, so I can get past it easily. “We’ll have to meet up after this retreat then.”

Meet up? My eyes widen, and my heart’s doing all these little skipping things that make me feel even more giddy. Damien wants to meet up with me?

I feel my face redden even more. Is he interested in me? Like I’m interested in him—and I am interested, aren’t I? Because he just seems so nice, and I want to know more about him. I want to know everything. The realization sends shock waves through me. I’ve not felt this yearning desire to know a person like this before. But I just want to be around him.

“Are you cold?” Damien asks, concern in his voice. “Here.” He takes off his jacket, freeing those arms that are definitely very muscular—the kind of muscular that would have River drooling—and drapes the garment over my shoulders. The back of his hand brushes against my face, just for the tiniest fraction of a second.

“Thank you.” I hardly dare to breathe, but then he’s walking again.

“Come on. We’ve got to get to the other side first.” He sounds determined—and I like that. Hell, I seem to like every single thing about him—how is that possible? This has never happened before.

I breathe deeply.

“Hey, do you think Donnie and David are going for the bridge too?” he asks.

My pace quickens. I hadn’t thought of that.

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