“I’m so pleased you came,” she whispered, needing to tell him how much it meant to both her and Patrick.
“I doubt I could have stayed away. I needed to see you, Maisy,” he said, as if it was a confession. “Needed to be with you like I’ve rarely needed anything.”
His words melted the carefully guarded wall she’d erectedaround her heart. Getting close to Chase was a known risk. As Sean was quick to remind her, this relationship wouldn’t end well. To her credit, she’d tried to keep an emotional distance, tried to keep Chase out of her thoughts, tried not to let him invade her life.
And dramatically failed.
“This…whatever this is…is doomed.” She needed to say it, needed him to hear it. “We live in different cities…different worlds, and I’ll never fit in to yours.”
“You don’t know that,” he countered swiftly.
“I do, and the problem is…I don’t care. I know I should, but I can’t make myself.” Chase was her weakness, her kryptonite.
“Then don’t fight it. I don’t know what this is, either. What I do know is that you’ve taken root in my heart.”
As he had in hers as well, although she dared not admit it.
“You’re forever on my mind.”
He was constantly on hers, too.
“Everything I think and do is filtered through what you would think. You’ve made me a better person, a better man. Everyone around me has noticed, and it’s all because of you, Maisy.” He paused, and then added, “It’s crazy how you’ve completely upturned my well-ordered life, but I wouldn’t change any part of it. I feel as if we were destined to meet that day, almost as if God Himself had ordained it.”
Maisy felt the same way, although she’d been unable to voice it. No one could be any more different than the two of them. By all that was right, they should have been nothing more than strangers sharing seats on the same flight.
“My entire day revolves around your calls each night,” shetold him. “Hearing how you practice generosity fills me with this happy anticipation.”
Chase turned her around then, and she raised her eyes to his. Although they were in the middle of an area packed with tourists, Maisy knew by the way he gazed at her mouth that he was about to kiss her. It wasn’t in her to stop him.
Leaning toward him, she closed her eyes as his lips settled gently over hers. What started out as soft quickly fired to life. Maisy wrapped her arms around his neck and gave herself over to the warm electricity that shot through her entire body. This feeling, this sensation, was strong, as if being in Chase’s arms was exactly where she was meant to be.
They remained deeply involved in each other until someone in the distance coughed. Whether it was intentional or not, it was enough for Chase and Maisy to break apart.
Chase leaned his forehead against hers, as if unwilling to let her go. “Not the most appropriate place for our first kiss,” he said with a smile.
Maisy smiled back.
“Come on,” he said, and reached for her hand. “We have places to go.”
Maisy couldn’t hold back a grin. She knew Chase would have their day all planned. “Where to now?”
“Not far. The Chihuly Garden and Glass is right here in Seattle Center. Have you been?”
“No, but I’ve always wanted to see it.” Maisy had heard wonderful things about the beloved glassblower and the garden display.
“Dad has several Chihuly pieces in his home,” Chase mentioned.
Of course he did, and likely several other expensive works of art. Chase probably did, too.
“Dad was fortunate enough to collect those pieces early in Chihuly’s career. From what I understand, they are worth a fortune now.” He casually mentioned this as he led them to the elevator that would bring them back to ground level.
Maisy didn’t know a single person wealthy enough to purchase even the smallest pieces of Chihuly’s work.
As before, Chase had prepurchased the tickets, so they were quickly ushered into the exhibit. Although the clouds were thick with the threat of rain, it couldn’t take away from the sheer beauty of the garden’s glasswork. The space offered a rich tapestry of trees and plants purposely positioned to complement the glass. The richness of the purple-blue obelisks rising from the ground made her pause in their stroll. It was hard to look away from the beauty of the glass that so perfectly blended in with the foliage and plants in the area. Chase was several feet ahead of her before he realized she had lingered. He came to stand with her then. Words weren’t necessary. He seemed to understand her profound appreciation for Dale Chihuly’s talent.
When the first drops of rain started to fall, they ventured into the Glasshouse. Halfway through the door, Maisy stopped and gasped at the hundred-foot-long sculpture that graced the ceiling with vibrant flowers in a palette of yellow, red, and orange.
“Wow,” she whispered. Naturally, she’d heard of Chihuly and his work and had seen photos of various projects. But viewing his talent up close had escalated her admiration a hundredfold.
