Page 79 of Places I've Never Been

She stopped walking to force him to really look at her. “You always have to leave, Adam. That’s the way life works. Nothing lasts forever. Especially paradise.”

He took both of her hands in his. “Paradise is always here. All we have to do isbethere.”

He sounded so sure of himself. His gaze was full of promise and possibility, and the thought of it was so enticing that she let herself get lost in the idea that maybe this relaxed, happy feeling might last. It was like taking that first step off a cliff into a deep pool of water.

She lifted her face to his in open invitation.

His arms went around her and his lips found hers and she kissed him with all the wild feeling of joy that the island inspired every time she stepped outside her villa in the morning.

Two weeks. They had two more weeks of this utopia. The idea of it made giggles bubble up from her belly. She grinned against his lips.

“What are you laughing at?” He looked confused. “Did I tickle something?”

“Yes.” She beamed at him. “You tickle me. All the time. There are no barriers for you, are there? You really would buy an island just so you could romance a woman there any time you wanted.”

The look in his eyes told her he absolutely would, but before he could say it out loud the familiar hum of an electric motor sounded behind them.

They both turned.

LT pulled up next to them with a big grin on his face. “Good morning, oh wait,afternoon, you two. Want a ride?”

“Yes, please.” Mattie slid onto the back seat and patted it.

Adam took the hint and joined her in the back seat.

“So, how was the picnic?” LT drove up the path as fast as the little cart would go.

They could have walked faster, but she couldn’t bring herself to hurry, so she sat back and leaned against Adam. “It was really,reallynice.”

Adam put his arm around her and squeezed. “We should go back there tonight.”

Mattie rolled her eyes. “Tonight we should get some actual sleep. We came here to write songs, remember?”

“Work, work, all the time.” LT threw his hands in the air. “What about love?”

A little thrill rushed through Mattie’s stomach as the word “love” reverberated around her head like one of those crazy choruses in a children’s song.

“No reason we can’t have both,” Adam said.

He squeezed her shoulders and kissed the side of her head.

Love.

They couldn’t possibly be in love. Not yet. They didn’t know each other at all, really. This was just a summer thing. It didn’t mean anything. She didn’twantit to mean anything.

Her heart fluttered. She took in a deep breath and tried to ignore it.

They caught up with Brandon and Flynn at the bottom of the stairs to the Big House.

“We should start at noon every day,” Brandon said. “I’d be much more creative.”

Flynn snorted. “You’d be much more awake, you mean.”

Mattie smiled fondly at them. “You two are clowns, you know that?”

“Yes,” Brandon said.

“Absolutely.” Flynn nodded. “It’s imperative that someone keep the crowd entertained. Adam’s way too serious for that.”

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