She smiled and slipped her hand into his, weaving their fingers together in the intimate way she did sometimes. “I would love that.”
As they left the cabin, he turned them toward the river and kept to an easy stroll. The water seemed a natural place for the two of them.
Faith must have felt the same way, for she leaned into his arm. “Why is it you and I always find ourselves near a river when we’re together?”
He couldn’t help a little teasing. “I suppose you just like being rescued.”
She straightened and sent him a look that made his blood heat. “Not hardly.”
He chuckled, forcing his body to ignore its impulses. “I well know you can fend for yourself, Miss Collins.” He tapped her chin, though touching her proved dangerous. “As I recall, you had to rescue me once or twice also.”
Her smile flashed up at him as she kept moving toward the river.
They might always joke about their first meeting, but he loved having so many memories with her. Some thrilling, some that made him smile, and a few he’d rather not relive. He’d always treasure every one.
And speaking of treasures . . . He reached into his pocket and fingered the smooth stone he’d placed there. As they reached the river’s edge and listened to the gentle murmur of the flow, he pulled out the stone and held it out to Faith. “I brought you something. From the pool beneath the waterfall where we found Steps Right.”
She reached tentatively toward the stone but paused before touching it and looked up at Grant, her eyes hopeful. Did she realize what he meant by it? He’d not expected her to make the connection until he told her, but Faith was so intuitive.
He swallowed. “A memory stone. You said you lost the rocks you collected with your mother. I thought you might want to start a new collection.”
Her eyes stayed on his face as he talked, as though reading each word he spoke in his eyes. Her expression shifted from wonder to pleasure, and without breaking her gaze, she closed her fingers around the stone in his hand.
“Grant.” She lifted it up, nearly to eye level so she only had to glance sideways to admire it. “This is perfect.” Her voice held so much joy, it drew out his own grin.
“I hoped you’d think so.”
She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips. Just a single, gentle caress, and he had to hold himself perfectly still to keep from wrapping her close and deepening the kiss like everything in him wanted to.
But out here under the stars, so far from her family, she was too much temptation. She deserved for him to be strong.
As she pulled away and turned to the river, he scrambled to make his mind work. He had to find something that would distract his insides. He inhaled a deep breath, then let it out as he lifted his gaze upward.
A familiar sparkle winked down from above. He pointed to the sky. “See those four stars that form a W? They make up the constellation Cassiopeia.”
Her teeth flashed in a smile far more appealing than even the stars. “I see it. What’s her story?”
Well, that would provide a good distraction. “She was kind of a vain woman, but her daughter’s tale is the one you’ll probably like. Princess Andromeda was tied to a stone in the ocean when she was attacked by a sea monster.”
Her eyes widened. “Who tied her there?”
He shrugged. “That’s not really important.” And not something suitable for polite conversation. He slid a look her way as he made his tone more dramatic. “What matters to Princess Andromeda is that a brave and valiant warrior named Perseus came along just in time. He fought off the monster and saved the beautiful princess.”
She gave him a coy look. “Oh really? Just in time, huh? And how did she reward him for rescuing her?”
Grant turned to face her, drawing her close. She came willingly, and he wrapped his hands around her waist, settling them at the small of her back. “Well, rumor has it she bestowed a kiss on him under the stars. And they lived happily ever after.”
She pressed her palms flat against his chest. She could probably feel the way his heart raced under her touch. “They did? Did that kiss go something like this?” She reached up and tipped his chin down with her thumb, then brushed her warm lips across his. She pulled back the tiniest bit, then lingered with a fingertip of space between them. Her breath mingled with his ... far too much temptation.
He moved his hands from her back, pulling back so he could place his hands over hers. He cupped his fingers around hers, lifting them so he could kiss their tips. “Faith, you’re far too much temptation for me. And I want to do this right.”
She met his gaze, her mouth curving again even as she put another handsbreadth of space between them. “Is that better?”
He eased out his breath and nodded. Only a little, but he didn’t want to frighten her. He would protect her—cherish her—with his last ounce of strength.
As she held his gaze, he did his best to find a way to tell her that. “I love you, Faith Collins.”
Her eyes glistened. “And I love you, Grant Allen.”
