Chapter 19
“Where are we?” Andrea asked for what felt like the hundredth time. The man was being sneaky and evasive. All he’d told her so far was that it wasn’t dangerous. Just so it didn’t ruin the surprise, he’d made her wear a blindfold. She bet that it looked suspicious as they drove down the street.
“It’s a surprise.” Jack chuckled evilly. If she could see him, she would hit him for stressing her out. He could be leading her to a swamp full of gators for all she knew, though that was doubtful. Michael didn’t seem like the type to wine and dine ‘em to kill ‘em.
Still, it was scary driving around town with a blindfold on and having no clue where they were going.
She’d been nervous the rest of the week about where he would take her, and he’d always avoided the question when she’d brought it up.
Finally, she just had to accept he wasn’t going to tell her.
She was just going to have to either trust him or cancel.
“Michael, you know I don’t like surprises.”
“You’ll like this one. I promise,” he said confidently. Michael didn’t know her well enough yet to boast about something like that. Should she pretend to hate it or admit it if she didn’t like it?
“Doubtful,” she mumbled, but she couldn’t suppress the bubble of excitement as the car came to a stop and the engine was turned off. “Can I lose the blindfold now?”
“No, not yet.” Michael took her hand and guided her out of the car and forward.
Andrea gripped his hand tightly and slid another around his waist even though the ground was even under her feet.
It was just the fear of tripping over something she couldn’t see; that was the reason she told herself she held on so tightly.
With one sense paralyzed, she noticed her others picking up like her hearing. Her ears strained to listen for any sign of where they were. She couldn’t hear the ocean, so they weren’t close enough to the shore. She didn’t even hear much traffic.
“Watch your step. Two steps in front of you there is a lift,” Michael warned her. Her gait slowed, and she pushed her foot forward instead of stepping so she could find the lift he’d warned her of.
Andrea navigated over the lift which was felt more like a speed bump. After that, the ground seemed to shift from flat and even like a sidewalk to dirt feeling. The smell around her changed too. It was more earthy and pungent.
“Almost there.”
“How do I know you’re not leading me out to the swamp to dump my corpse to the alligators?”
“For one, if it’s your corpse, you’d already be dead, and two, you have a vivid imagination and still a very poor impression of me.”
“Well, it smells like a swamp.”
“No, it doesn’t. It smells like flowers. Alright, stand here.” He guided her to a spot then released her. She instantly missed his heat though she wasn’t cold, but she felt alone. “And take off the blindfold.”
Finally. Andrea pulled it off her head, her eyes taking a moment to adjust the light as she gasped.
She wasn’t in a swamp at all but surrounded by an atrium of flowers.
There were flowers of every kind and size.
Most she couldn’t even name. Not only that, there were hundreds of butterflies fluttering around her.
A pale yellow one landed on her arm followed by another which had turquoise-colored wings rimmed with black and another landed that was green and black.
She had never seen so many variations of colors on butterflies.
Andrea chuckled and waved her arm up and down, the butterflies clinging to her.
“This is incredible,” she stated in awe. Her eyes travelled around her trying to drink in everything.
Michael beamed at her. “See, I told you it would be a good surprise.”
“Do you always have to be right?” she mused with an arched eyebrow, but there was no heat behind her words. How could she be cross when he’d taken her to such an incredible place?
“No, but I knew I would be in this case.”
“I can’t believe a place like this exists.” Andrea had never heard of such a place. She knew atriums existed but not for sustaining life other than plants.
“A botanical rainforest. It took some looking, but I finally found a place you would be willing to travel to and with no risk of dangerous animals eating you.”
It took Andrea a moment to understand what he was talking about. She couldn’t believe he’d remembered from their date. She didn’t like landmarks but preferred nature where nothing could kill her to enjoy its beauty.
“I could stay in here for hours.” Andrea closed her eyes and breathed in the earthy smell all around.
Now that she knew it wasn’t a swamp, she could relax.
It was so calm and peaceful in here. It was silent except for the water system misting the flowers and making it feel like a muggy rainforest. She could forget about the horrible ugly world just outside those doors for a moment. There was no danger, just peace.
“There’s no rush. The place doesn’t close for hours yet.”
“Maybe I should just build one of these in my backyard, so I’d never have to leave.”
Michael looked around the place. “It is a nice escape, isn’t it?”
Escape. That it was.
Andrea opened her eyes to see Michael watching her much like a hawk seeing its prey. Did she want to be devoured? “Thank you,” she commented, turning away from his penetrating gaze.
“You’re welcome.” She heard him move closer. She could move away or stand her ground. She remained rooted. “Andrea—” Her name on his lips sounded like a purr. She felt it like a caress across her skin.
She wanted to dislike him. Keep that barrier up she had erected years ago, but he was chiseling away at it. If she wasn’t careful, he would crack the fountain, and it would crumble. Or was it already too late?
Against her better judgement, Andrea looked up into his eyes again and felt caught.
“Oh my god, look!” a young girl squealed, running into the room.
The girl’s voice was as effective as a bucket of ice water being dumped over her. Andrea stepped away from Michael. “We should go. I don’t want to hog this place from others.”
Michael didn’t look happy about the separation, but he didn’t say anything. “Okay. Are you hungry?”
“I could eat.” She wasn’t starving by any means, but she wasn’t ready for this…what would she call it? Outing, yeah, that sounded good. She wasn’t ready for this outing to end. “Are you going to make me put the blindfold back on?”
“No.” Michael leaned closer, his breath tickling her ear. “But if you like it so much, I won’t stop you.”
No, she didn’t like it. Didn’t she? No, of course not. Who liked feeling helpless and relying on others?
“I don’t,” she stated firmly. “So where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” he responded with a twinkle in his eye.
Andrea wondered if he’d said that just to get a rise out of her, but when they returned to the car, and he didn’t say where they were going, she realized it had to be true.