Goddess Legacy: Goddess Series Book 1 (13 page)

“Ah, well, no. I mean, we did go out after my first day on the job, but it wasn’t like
that
.”

Olive perked up. “You did?” she asked, a little too excited.

“I said it wasn’t like that.” She didn’t want to tell her why they’d gone out, not without getting more information from River about his family and maybe more information about her mom. “He’s just a friend, and really, he’s not even that. He’s just a co-worker.”

“Well, I’ll bet he’s a catch,” she said as she stood up, rinsed her dishes, and put them in the dishwasher.

“He’s definitely good-looking. There’s no denying that.”

“But you’re not interested?” she asked, sounding perplexed.

“Not in that way. I like Adin.”

“Right. I hope you have fun today.”

“Sure thing,” Legacy said as she cleaned her dishes and left the kitchen.

Back upstairs, she stood in the mirror looking at her damp hair. It was already too humid outside for her to straighten her hair today. It’d just end up a frizzy mess before the day was over. She decided to put some pomade in it and scrunch it while drying it. She preferred soft, touchable hair, but she’d have to make due. She’d rather it be hard and nice than soft and a fuzzy mess. The strands that didn’t cooperate naturally got a turn around her handy-dandy styling iron. Once she stared curling, the naturally curly strands didn’t look curly enough, so she ended up curling most of her hair. After she finished, she put some soft finishing spray in it, so the curls would still bounce freely without them all sticking together.

She still had time to kill, so she took her time putting on her makeup. Plus, she didn’t want to get any on her clothes. When she got finished, she figured she should change the polish on her toenails. The dark red she’d had on since her first date with him didn’t really go with the pale tones of this outfit.

She took off her sandals and changed the polish color to a more earth-tone shade. After her toenails dried, she put her shoes back on.

She heard the familiar three soft knocks at the door as she walked back downstairs.

“I’ll get it,” she yelled to Olive, not knowing where she was exactly.

She put her hand on the door, took a deep breath to steady herself, and opened it.

The sight of Adin, now slightly tanned, took her breath away. Just like last time, she appraised him as he appraised her, and it appeared they both liked what they saw. Today he was wearing jeans again, but had a short-sleeved, unbuttoned plaid shirt with a v-neck, fitted, beige t-shirt underneath.

“Come in. I’ll be right back.”

He walked in, but his eyebrows furrowed.

“Don’t worry. I just have to get my purse. I’m coming back.” She snickered.

“You’d better,” he said, matching her tone.

She walked into the living room to grab her purse and then met him at the door again.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Yes,” she said, grinning.

He reached over and took her hand. “Then, let’s go,” he said with a wink. Adin led her out of the house and into his car. Once they were out of the driveway, he started talking again. “You look very beautiful.”

“Thanks, you look nice too.”

“Do you remember the last day of school when I was there for the senior parade and you told me that?”

“Yes,” she said, but she was puzzled.

“I told you that you looked nice every day,” he continued.

“I remember. I dressed up that day.”

“It was your birthday,” he said, like that was the obvious reason for dressing up.

“Right,” she said, knowing that wasn’t why she really dressed up, but she didn’t have to tell him that.

“Well, I wasn’t being truthful when I said that.”

Huh? “What do you mean?” Her smile was fading.

“You never look just
nice
,” he said, raising his eyebrows and grinning.

“Oh, well, thanks.” Her smile returned to her face, but it wasn’t the only thing. Now she was blushing.

Adin reached for her hand that was in her lap. His hand grazed her bare leg, and her heart raced. His touch was so soft that she wished he’d forget about her hand and just put his on her knee instead. She glanced at him as he moved their joined hands to the middle of their seats, and as he did, she could see him shift uneasily. He hadn’t anticipated touching her bare leg, and it was obvious to her that he enjoyed that touch more than he expected, probably as much as she did. He took a deep breath, but tried concealing his heavy exhale by clearing his throat. He glanced out his side window before turning his eyes back to the road.

He hadn’t relaxed his posture yet. She could almost hear him chanting,
Slowly, slowly, slowly!
to himself as he tried to get the thought of her leg out of his head. Even though he was incredibly handsome, she had to admit his response was adorable. The skirt was an excellent idea.

It was an hour-long ride to the botanical garden, and they still had a good forty-five minutes left. Adin had always been a guy who seemed cool under pressure. Well, except his initial nervousness around her when he first asked her out. But the leg incident seemed to have penetrated his usual gentlemanly façade. She was surprised that she felt at ease so quickly after it had happened. And the reason, she guessed, was because she was beginning to find his behavior a little funny.

“Is everything okay?” she asked in a teasing tone.

“Er, yeah.” He shifted in his seat again.

She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling, not that he would notice—he hadn’t made eye contact since he moved their hands away from her leg.

“You seem awfully quiet,” she said once she knew she’d be able to get it out without giggling.

“Do I?” he said, still no eye contact.

She shrugged at his response, not that he’d notice.

Legacy would need to take decisive action. After deliberating for a moment, she decided to let go of his hand so she could see his reaction. She would need an excuse, though. If she just let go of it, he’d know something was up. She had a piece of hair that was dangling by her eye, so she could use that. Ladies primped all the time. He shouldn’t think anything of her examining herself in the mirror.

She leaned forward, positioned the visor with her right hand, and slipped her left hand out of his grasp simultaneously. She fixed her hair in the mirror but watched his reaction with her peripheral vision.

She heard him catch his breath and saw him turn his head in her direction. Once he realized what she was doing, he moved his hand from the console between them back to his own lap. Even though he seemed to relax—only slightly—she figured she should help ease his tension even more.

“So, have you ever been to this garden before?” she asked casually while she continued playing with her hair.

“No, I, um, I’ve heard about it, though. It’s supposed to be really beautiful.” He struggled to keep going and managed to get only a little more out. “I thought it’d be something you’d like.”

She put the visor back into its regular position and leaned back into her seat with her hands in her lap. “If you picked it out, I’m sure I’ll love it,” she said, looking over at him.

He flashed his gaze at her and smiled quickly, then turned his focus back to the road.

He was still tense, and apparently not going to make a move to get her hand back. Now, she regretted letting go. Even though she enjoyed this more than she should—and why not? She’d liked Adin for a really long time; she should enjoy how she made him feel. She did not like
not
touching him. Her hand ached to be in his again.

She looked over at him, and his wasn’t resting gently on his leg. Oh, no. It looked as if he had it clamped down on his thigh. Maybe if she took his hand back, he’d relax.

She sighed, and he blinked his eyes in her direction for a fraction of a second and back to the road. Then she leaned over toward him with her eyes on his face. Because his hand was clamped so tightly, she knew she’d have to brush hers against his jeans to get to his fingers. She slid her hand across his leg and to his hand. She started to gently slip her hand under his with her palm facing down on his leg. Adin looked down and released his grip, realizing what she was doing. His breathing sped up, and he looked back out the windshield.

Touching his leg sent her heart racing. But she wasn’t the only one who responded to the sensation. He seemed to enjoy her touching him more than he enjoyed it when he touched her. But now that their hands were on his leg instead of hers, he seemed even tenser.

Adin shifted his hand so that she could wrap her fingers around his, and she turned hers up so that she could grasp his.

She wasn’t sure if she should move their hands away, back to the safety of the console. But having them there earlier hadn’t seemed to help. She knew they couldn’t move them back to her lap. Even though he seemed more worked up when she touched him, apparently that principle didn’t apply when touching her bare leg. At least his legs were covered, not that that helped
her
, so she decided to keep their hands on his leg. If it became too much for him, then he could be the one to move them.

They sat quietly with their hands on his leg for the rest of the trip.

Once they arrived at the garden, he released her to turn off the car. Then he got out of the car and walked to her door. She glanced at his face as he took her arm to help her out. She didn’t miss his eyes glancing quickly at her legs either.

The garden was beautiful. There were over two hundred acres filled with thousands of rare shrubs, flowers, and trees nestled against a serene lake. Among the varieties were magnolias, camellias, azaleas, Japanese maples, and endless roses.

Adin was back to his regular, charming self. As he guided her around the grounds, he pointed out the antique variety of roses and the rare tree from Burma, which was the only known one of its kind in North America. They continued walking around and easily talking. There were natural bridges over streams, beautifully placed boulders throughout the garden, and several waterfalls that could be heard throughout the grounds. Even though it was hot and sticky outside, the lush trees provided ample shade throughout the park.

For lunch, they visited the restaurant adjacent to the grounds and took their meals out to one of the many picnic tables by the flowing streams.

After eating, they walked one of the several trails that veered off the main grounds and eased into a manicured forest. The forest was thinned, so its natural beauty could be admired. This setting was more private, but Adin didn’t seem to care. They talked, laughed, and held hands throughout the rest of the afternoon without the tension that had been there this morning.

Once they made their way back to his car, she felt a little uneasy. She had such a wonderful day that she didn’t want a repeat of this morning in the car. Not that she hadn’t enjoyed herself then, but she wanted Adin to enjoy himself too.

“Thank you, I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” she said as they pulled out of the parking lot.

“It
was
beautiful,” he said, smirking.

“And all those flowers get to keep living for many people’s enjoyment rather than living and dying for one person’s,” she said, smiling at him.

“True.”

She sighed happily and stared out the side window. She was overwhelmed by how peaceful she felt.

“What are you thinking?” Adin asked after a couple of minutes.

She turned to look at him. “I was thinking I’ve had a wonderful day with you. And I’ve never considered myself an outdoorsy type person, but I was just wondering why that is. Honestly, I really do enjoy being outside and experiencing nature.” She looked down at her hands. “It was wonderful to experience it with you.”

Adin reached up and stroked her cheek. She turned back to face him and saw his eyes were gentle. She figured the day’s activities helped clear his mind of how he’d felt this morning.

“The pleasure was mine,” he whispered, and then dropped his hand from her face while he turned to watch the road.

As she continued to watch him, he glanced over at her and then gently took her hand from her lap and put their joined hands on his. She watched his face for any sign of tension, but found none.

“What was the coolest thing you did at the beach?” she asked casually, just wanting to chat. “I need to know if I ever get to go.”

“I parasailed. I’d never done that before, and it was awesome.”

“Uh-uh! That’s not for me. I’m terrified of heights.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that,” he said calmly.

“Yes. I don’t even like thinking about…”

“Your hand is sweating,” he interrupted. “Are you okay?” His tone was more urgent.

“Yeah, my hands and feet start tingling and sweating when I think of heights. When I think about being stuck up high, I instinctively want to grab hold of something so I don’t fall. Sweaty extremities would make a firm grip impossible, so it just adds to the fear. My stomach gets all knotted up too. It’s silly. I know,” she said, shaking her head.

“It’s not silly,” he said, rubbing her hand. “I have fears too.”

“What are you afraid of?”

Wrong question. He tensed up again like this morning. “Um, I’ve told you about my fears,” he said, not wanting to revisit his fears about their relationship.

“Is that why you acted
that
way this morning?” She had thought it was cute at first, but she hadn’t really thought about it from this perspective.

“Yes,” he whispered. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I don’t ever want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t. I didn’t consider the reason. I was just flattered.” She thought it best to go with
flattered
rather than
tickled
.

Adin chuckled and glanced at her. “Flattered?”

“Sure.” Hopefully, she could ease his concerns a little. “I’ve liked you for a long time, and you seemed uneasy at the sudden touch of my bare leg. I figured it was because you liked touching my leg almost as much as I liked you touching it. It was reassuring that your feelings may not be so far off from mine.” She shrugged, hoping she didn’t cause more damage by being honest.