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“Okay.” She sniffles. “What are you going to do for the next hour or so, though?”
I shrug, pulling away from her. “I’ll probably get some sketches done for clients, maybe start studying for finals. Don’t rush, take your time. Once you’re done, we’ll escape somewhere else.”
Camille’s eyes bounce around my face, her pillowy lips parting into that smile that makes me smile in return.
“Thank you for this, for knowing exactly what I needed.”
I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, my thumb grazing her jaw gently. “No problem. Now, go get started so we can get out of here. Our day isn’t over yet.”
Camille squeals, wraps her arms around me, then darts off to the dirt and sink her knees in the grass as she gets started.
I find myself staring in admiration for too long and shake my head as I retrieve my iPad to do some work. Grabbing the nearest lounger, I plop down in it and attempt to work on the sketch for a dainty birth flower tattoo.
More often than not, I find myself distracted by the pretty girl in my backyard, on her hands and knees as she gardens.
As much as my mind wants to trail off in that direction, I don’t. While I think fucking her in my room all day would make her smile, she wants to escape, and I have the perfect place to do just that.
Lottie’s Place.
Chapter Thirty
Camille
Ilove this man.
I know I shouldn’t love him. But I do. How can I not after he brought me to his house to garden because I mentioned one time how I missed it?
Unraveling the softer parts of Ryker has been one of the greatest adventures I’ve been on, one I never want to end. Just like this day, it’s been absolutely perfect so far.
After I finished up in the garden, we had brunch. I taught Ryker how to make crêpes, my favorite, and topped them off with strawberries and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. We made a huge mess, but we laughed a lot as Ryker followed my instructions, yet his crêpe still fell apart miserably when he tried to flip it. But that didn’t matter to me. What mattered was that he was trying and doing something new for me.
Once we cleaned up, he threw a couple of snacks in his backpack along with two water jugs, and then we were on the road to the unknown.
Thirty minutes or so go by, and I still have no clue where we’re going. Truthfully, in all my time here, I haven’t gone too far out of the city limits. Until today, it looks like. Pine trees pass by in a blur of differing shades of green and brown as we cruise along a back road. I can see the mountains more clearly, their jagged edges more pronounced and beautiful this close.
It’s quiet this far out, the only sound being the bike’s engine and the few cars we’ve passed. I like the solitude of it, something I didn’t have much of growing up.
Eventually, we pull into a nearly empty red-dirt lot that’s caged in with a haywire fence, with the words Lottie’s Place hanging up high on a post.
“What is this place?” I ask Ryker as I fluff out my hair after removing my helmet.
He takes it from me and stores it underneath my seat. “You’ll see, c’mon.” He looks giddy as he takes my hand, and that alone makes me more excited.
There’s a cabin made out of logs with the words Lottie’s Place in purple on a banner hanging over the door, with two rocking chairs on the wraparound porch and a golden retriever eagerly waiting for us.
As soon as our feet hit the steps, the dog jumps up, its tail wagging rapidly back and forth. “Hi there, sweet…boy,” I confirm, giving him cuddles. I look for his name on his collar and burst out into laughter when I do.
“What is it?” Ryker asks.
“Sebastian.”
“Maybe his owners also realize The Little Mermaid is a great film.” He smirks, giving the dog head scratches.
“I see you’ve met, Bash,” an older man croaks, causing us both to stand upright.
“He’s adorable.” I swoon as Bash licks my hand.
“That he is, and a damn good dog too. Even gets me a beer when I ask him to.” The man chuckles, making both of us laugh. “I’m assuming y’all are here to take the gondola up to the see the field?”
