“Nope. But I can’t wait to go.” She pointed to a large round metal circle. Pretty lights twinkled from the angled beams as dusk fell. “Is that a Ferris wheel?”
“Yep.”
“I want to go on that, but it sure goes high in the air.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll hold on to you.”
“What if we fall out?”
“I won’t let you fall.”
She took a deep breath and let it out. “Do you promise?”
“I do.”
She put a hand on his arm. “Will you kiss me when we get to the very highest top?”
“Perhaps.”
Ria wanted to skip as they strolled over dirt and uneven patches of dead grass that made paths through the carnival. Games of chance and loud bells came from seemingly every direction.
The very first thing they did was ride the Ferris wheel. As their car reached the very top, the wheel stopped. Ria clung to Cam, her heart pounding at the height, but he kissed her and the rest of the world fell away. Too soon, the wheel spun back into motion and returned them to the ground.
Cam bought her a small cardboard box filled with a fluffy, light, buttery, salty treat called popcorn. It was delicious.
One open-tented area held games of chance. She tossed rings. She squirted a water gun. But her favorite game was something called Skee-Ball. At first, she thought it was miniature bowling. She’d read about bowling, but this was different. And apparently she had a knack for the game. Every time she rolled the ball and it hit the very center target, a bunch of little blue connected rectangles shot out of a slot. The more she played, the more blue rectangles she won. In fact, she earned twice as many of them as Cam.
In the spirit of gamesmanship, he gave her his wad of what he called “tickets” so she could trade them all in and acquire a special prize. She was able to get not only a small, black-and-white stuffed animal—a dog with adorable floppy ears—but also two matching black faux leather bracelets with decorative knots, one for each of them. She didn’t know what faux meant, maybe plastic, but they now sported matching faux leather bling.
After mastering a new game and collecting her winnings, they walked around looking inside the tents. One was filled with something called quilts. It was amazing. Master artists had assembled little pieces of material and sewn them all together to make beautiful blankets, each completely unique with a variety of creative and colorful designs.
She didn’t have enough Earther cash to purchase one as a souvenir, nor a large enough place to hide it from her mother. Not even with a luxury room on the ship. She teared up a bit at the thought of going back to Alpha-Prime, but shook off the sadness.
Ria would enjoy as much as she could while she was here. Tears regarding her future were a waste of time in the here and now.
She’d have a lifetime to cry her eyes out back on Alpha-Prime.
Chapter Ten
Cam took Ria back to his place after their long day out and about. He considered the day a smashing success. Ria had added as many things to her list as she crossed off it, but she was elated. Even the carnival had been fun. While he didn’t normally enjoy such things, he had a great time seeing Ria enjoy it.
He made a mental list of all the issues he’d need to sort out once his vacation was over. It would take his mind off of missing Ria. Pain blossomed in his chest every time he thought of losing her. Each time it happened, it took longer to fade. He was starting to believe it might only be a matter of time until the pain simplydidn’tfade.Think of something else.
Okay. Why was Wyatt meeting with Diesel at a biker bar a good jaunt away from Alienn, and why had they excluded Cam from the confab? Why hadn’t Wyatt mentioned his plan to meet Diesel when Cam and Ria met the sheriffs on the highway earlier? Diesel seemed troubled when he left the bar, but it must not be due to an issue with the truck stop or aliens being found on Earth because he didn’t even look at Cam on his way out.
Cam shoved that future discussion onto a mental back burner and focused on what was most important right now. Ria. The thought occurred to him during their auspicious kiss in front of the bar and was reinforced by the encore when they were high in the air on the Ferris wheel that his time to savor her sweet lips was limited.
A war raged within him as to whether he was a fool for not spending every moment in Ria’s arms, or whether he was trespassing on another man’s territory by allowing her to stay with him until the ship returned. He spent about two seconds considering moving Ria to a more neutral place where he didn’t have immediate access to her luscious lips, then decided that was beyond foolish.
His main focus should be creating enough memories with Ria to last a lifetime without her. That’s where he intended to put his thoughts.
As they walked into the house, Ria said, “Want me to cook something for you?”
“Do you know how to cook?”
“A little bit,” she said with that cute smile he’d learned gave away her exaggeration of the truth.
