on the lake.”
Overhead the stars shimmered like sequins in the autumn skies. She shot him a little smile as she pulled from the slip. “Stargazing it is.”
A while later they drifted to a stop in the middle of the basin. Grace shut off the lights, and the night went dark around them. There was no room to spread out on the boat, which had only two bench seats, but at least it was comfortably padded.
The temperatures had cooled, so Wyatt grabbed the light blanket he’d brought from the backseat and wrapped it around Grace.
“Thanks. It is getting a little chilly. Fall is on its way.”
They leaned back against the seats, their eyes having adjusted to the darkness. To the west, the sky was still deep blue, but overhead the black canvas showed off pinpricks of twinkling lights.
The boat bobbed gently, the water kissing its sides with quiet ripples. The scent of a campfire drifted past on a breeze.
Grace’s arm rested against Wyatt’s, and their thighs touched. He loved being close to her. He laced his fingers with hers, resting their hands on his leg. “I can teach you the constellations.”
“I already know the constellations.” A grin tinged her voice.
“Okay, smarty-pants.” He pointed to the sky. “What’s that one?”
She leaned closer to follow the direction of his finger. “Give me a break. It’s Sagittarius. Everyone knows that.”
“Okay, that was an easy one. How ’bout that one?”
“The one with the tail? Draco.”
He shifted his finger a tiny bit. “That one?”
“Hercules. My turn to quiz you.” She pointed into the sky. “That one—the one that looks like a graduation cap.”
“Aquila?”
“Very good. And that one?”
He put his arm around her, leaning in closer, not necessarily because he needed to. He drew in a whiff of her flowery shampoo. “Which one?”
“Right there. The one shaped like a Christian fish symbol.”
“That’s not a constellation.”
“Yes, it is. It’s Pavo.”
“You’re making that up.”
She chuckled, glancing at him. “No, I’m not.”
“Somebody did do well in school.”
“I may have been a bit of a perfectionist.”
“What kind of grades are we talking about here?”
“Well, I wasn’t valedictorian or anything.”
“What was your GPA? I know you know it.”
“It was 3.78,” she admitted. “It was algebra that did me in.”
“I liked algebra.”
“You would.”
He smiled to himself. “That’s quite an achievement, Grace. Are you that much of a bookworm, or did your parents push you?”
“Not at all. And I’m not a bookworm. I just pushed myself and got very upset when I didn’t do my best.”
He thought about that a minute. “Do you think that might be related to the survivor’s guilt you mentioned earlier?”
Her gaze burned into the side of his face. “That’s very perceptive. And yes, I do. But I’ve been working on it, trying to manage my expectations.”
His heart went out to her. He wished he could see more than just the gleam of her eyes in the dark. “You don’t have to do anything to prove your value. You’re worthy just as you are—just as God made you. I know you know that already. Just wanted you to hear it from someone else.”
“Thank you.”
They stared at each other, the moment drawing out. Liquid heat hummed through his veins from her nearness alone. She was the only woman who’d ever had that kind of power over him.
“I feel like we’ve known each other longer than ten days.” She ducked her head.
If it had been any other woman he might’ve been put off that she’d counted the days. Instead he felt relieved. A little heady, actually. He hoped she never lost that sweet innocence. “Well, we’ve covered a lot of ground together.”
“Literally.”
“Quite literally.”
She tilted her head up, looking at him. “I had a great time tonight, Wyatt.”
He touched her face and leaned closer until their breaths mingled, because he had to have another taste of her. And soon.
“The best is yet to come,” he said softly.
“You—you can beat the Chris-Craft? Clem’s food? The autumn sky?”
His lips tipped upward. “Let’s give it a whirl.”
He took her mouth like a man starving. Because he was starving for her. Their kiss may have been only yesterday, but he wasn’t counting in days. He was counting in hours, in minutes. And it had seemed like a million of each had passed since he’d claimed her lips.
He deepened the kiss, and she yielded to him, clutching his shirt, hanging on for dear life. He was doing the same. Already fighting for breath, zero to sixty in ten seconds. That’s how it was with Grace. He was warm