Chapter Twenty-One

Staring into Blake’s eyes was…amazing. It was like she could walk in and find peace there.

“Hey, everyone,” Blake said, staring at her instead of the phone. “Zandra’s right, this place is beautiful.”

His words floated over her like the lightest caress and made her heart pick up speed. It was like he’d touched her, and every inch of her being wanted more. Zandra blinked. What the hell was wrong with her?

She turned the phone around and hoped she didn’t look like she was forcing a smile. “I gotta run now, but stay tuned and I’ll be back soon with more from Europe.” She waved as she ended the live video.

Biting down on her lower lip, she turned the phone around and poked at the screen, every cell in her body completely tuned to Blake standing a short distance away. God knew how she managed to concentrate long enough to upload the stories, but thirty seconds later she glanced up, and her heart did a funny flip-flop thing.

Blake sucked in a deep breath and blew it out, his gaze fixed on hers. Energy oozed out of him like he was the caged lion she’d photographed at an Oregon wildlife preserve, ready to pounce at the slightest provocation. “You ready to go now?”

His words were slow, measured, like the question had a deeper meaning behind it, which was just plain silly. She squashed her overactive imagination. “Yep. Let’s go.”

Zandra picked her way down the remains of the staircase, careful to be in the middle of each step. She should’ve been more concerned about the condition of the staircase, that she might take one wrong step and the whole thing would come crumbling down. The old her would’ve definitely been more concerned, but clearly that woman wasn’t around today. Good thing…

“What was so important that you just had to get up there?” Blake asked once they were back on firm ground. “And don’t tell me it was for the view.”

Zandra tilted her head to one side. “You didn’t see?”

“See what?”

“A heart. There was a heart carved onto the side of the turret.”

“How could you even see it from down here? How did—wait a minute. You knew that, didn’t you? Before we got here?”

She shrugged as they walked toward one end of the castle ruins. “The e-zine gave me a chance to find one place on my own, so I did some research of the area and tried to find a destination that would appeal to travelers on different levels. Not only is this castle off the beaten path, but it’s got a romantic history to it. You wanna hear?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Once upon a time—”

“Very funny.”

“Hey, it was a long time ago.” She cleared her throat. “There was a dude who wanted to earn the love of a maiden, only her family was stuck up and wouldn’t entertain the idea of him being part of the fam. So, he sold his services as a mercenary for several years, saved up his gold, invested it, then finally had enough to build this castle.”

“Did he get the girl?”

“Sadly, no. She died of some disease a few years after her family turned him away. So that’s why he had stones carved to resemble a heart. It was because of her that he’d wanted to build the castle in the first place.” She sighed. Some stories were just too good to not share. “It’s so romantic.”

“She died,” he said flatly. “How could that be romantic?”

“Leave it to a guy to point that out.”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? He did all that work, made all those sacrifices, and in the end, he didn’t get the girl. Seems like a waste of time to me.”

“The gesture, Blake. It’s the gesture that’s romantic. Just because they didn’t live happily ever after doesn’t mean it wasn’t romantic.”

“You do realize that’s the kind of crazy talk that gets women into trouble in the first place,” he muttered, stepping onto the edge of the path that led to the parking lot.

“Oh, I gotta hear this.”

“Why do women think romantic gestures have to be so grand? Guys don’t get credit for stuff like cleaning up after the dog or taking out the garbage or—”

“—teaching a bully a lesson,” Zandra chimed in.

Blake stopped and turned, his gaze catching hers when he peeked over the top of his sunglasses. “I was going to say helping a woman figure out the train schedule, but let’s go with that. Present company excluded, of course.” He blew out a breath.

Of all the things she’d discovered about Blake on this trip, his willingness to step in and help a fellow human being out had to be the most attractive thing about him. It only enhanced her awareness of him.

She nodded. “Well, what you say is true—guys don’t get enough credit for doing the everyday stuff, and that’s too bad. After all, most women would just as soon have the guy deal with cleaning up after a dog.”

He had that sexy don’t-give-a-damn smile on his face. “Well, sure, but would cleaning up after the dog earn him a kiss?”

Her breath caught, and every nerve ending in her body crackled, tuned in to Blake, to the way he stood, almost eye level with her since he was on the downhill slope, and the magnetic pull he seemed to have on her.

How could she have known him since high school and not have known him at all? Even after the countless times he’d spent hanging around her childhood home?

That she should want to know him now seemed…fitting. Like a promise long overdue and gratefully filled.

“Zandra?”

She heard her name on his lips, his tone just a breath above the slight wind that blew past and barely cooled her. She felt the heat from the top of her head to the tips of her open-toed sandals, felt the tug and pull toward Blake, toward his own heat. What the hell was happening here?

“I don’t know,” she finally answered. “Kisses are for special things. Otherwise the guy tends to take them for granted because they come too easily.”

A corner of his mouth crooked up in amusement, and his eyes bored into her like he was reading her mind, reading her soul. “I’m glad you feel that way.”

She swallowed past the roaring in her ears, past the rush of adrenaline that surged through her, wanting, waiting…for what? What the hell was stopping her from taking what she wanted, what she needed, even if it was only for one night? Or for the remainder of their trip?

“Are you okay?” Blake stepped closer, concern etched in his eyes, in the lines on his forehead. “You’ve been running yourself ragged since you landed. Maybe we should head back to the hotel and get some rest.”

Oh, she wanted to head back to the hotel, all right, but not for the reasons he thought.

She stared as he hoisted the backpack onto his shoulders. They weren’t a couple, would never be a couple. Which was just fine by her. But what if, just this one time, things were different? What if she just truly let go and enjoyed herself? Wouldn’t that add to the experience of Zandra 2.0?

Hell, yeah, it would.

Decision made, she cleared her throat. “What if I had something else in mind?”