Page 74 of Wild Abandon

“You do know this isn’t a date.” He’s skeptically eyeing me.

“They’re not for you. They’re for me. They’re my magic roses.” I brush past him and open his kitchen cabinet to grab a glass to leave them in.

Nate stares at the glass as I fill it with water, and then he smiles to himself. “I believe in magic roses.”

I’m surprised by his comment, so much so that I make a face at him. I make a face for so long that the water overflows from the glass.

“Don’t kill the magic roses.” He grabs the glass and places it on his table. “Come on, we’re gonna be late.”

He won’t tell me where we’re going, but I’m assuming it’s another vineyard. Something small like the wine cave we went to. I ask him ten times in the short drive, and he just smiles and shakes his head.

When we pull into a large field, there is absolutely no mistaking what we are about to do. In the middle of the grass is a giant wicker basket lying on its side and the world’s largest balloon splayed out on the grass.

I swallow down my anxiety. “Um, Nate, don’t you think this is something you should have asked someone if they were comfortable with doing it before you went ahead and booked it?”

“You’re the one who said you wanted to try it.”

“Saying something and doing something are two very different things.”

Nate grabs my hand. I didn’t realize how tightly I was gripping the center console.

With his other hand, he pulls my chin, forcing my gaze away from the hot air balloon in front of us and onto him. “Are you going to tell me the woman who packed up her life on a whim in search of love and adventure is afraid?”

“I’m not afraid of heights.”

He raises a brow. “I know. I took you on an air tram. You said this was something you wanted to do. What are you afraid of?”

I swallow down the lump in my throat. “Dying. Falling to my death. Not living to see thirty-one,” the answers easily flow out of my mouth.

He lowers his forehead and makes sure I’m staring directly into his eyes. His voice is low and assured. “Crystal, do you think I’d make you do something I didn’t think was one hundred percent safe?”

“No.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Because I’ve been dying to do this my entire life.” He lets out a megawatt smile and gets out of the car.

I release a deep breath of nervous energy and follow him out of the car.

We stand back as the burners roar, inflating the giant balloon. The lump in my throat is still there, growing heavier with every inch the balloon expands. As it grows, it rises from the ground, pulling the basket into an upright position. Nate grabs my hand and pulls me toward the basket. When it is at maximum capacity, he helps me as I place a shaky foot on the footrest and am hoisted over the side by the pilot.

Nate climbs in and holds on to me tight. Clearly, I look like I need the support.

The burners continue to roar and then silence.

Gently, we are lifted into the breeze, and I bury myself into Nate’s chest, so I can’t see the ground beneath us become smaller and smaller. I focus on everything Nate—the hard planes of his chest, the smell of cotton from his shirt, and the way his hand is stroking my back, calming my nerves.

Nate leans his head down and whispers into my ear, “If you don’t look now, you are going to miss out on something spectacular.”

I lift my head from his shirt and look up into the sky. “It’s pretty. It’s blue.” I bury my head back into him, satisfied with the amount of time I was able to lift my head.

Nate’s chest rumbles with the light laugh he’s giving me. “Give it one more chance.”

I peek my left eye out of the confines of Nate. I hold on to him tightly as I lean to the side just a touch and peer outward.

We are flying, gliding over the corridors of grapes and over the magnificent valleys. We drift between the mountains and sail peacefully into the heavens. There is no wind. We are the wind. We are the sky and the earth and everything beautiful in this world.