But was that enough?
She’d laid her heart on the line last night. She hadn’t expected him to say he loved her back. In fact, she would have been shocked if he had. But there was a part of her deep inside that had hoped. And that was terrified of having her heart trampled if Evan never came around. If he couldn’t let go of his fears or his past enough to actually figure out that they were meant to be together for more than a night. For more than lovemaking. She wanted a lifetime.
“Well,” he said in the deep voice that always made her feel hot all over. “That went just fine.” He smiled when she shot him a look. “I know. You hate that word.” And finally, he laced his fingers through hers. “I was wondering if you’ve got the next few hours free.”
Her heart soared off into the sky. “I do.”
“Then let’s take another flight.” He turned, leading her back onto the plane.
“Another flight? Where are we going?”
He helped her into the seat she’d occupied on the way back from Chicago. “It’s a surprise.” He put a finger to her lips as she opened her mouth to ask more questions. Taking the seat beside her, he said, “I want to do something special for you after all you’ve done to help me.”
“You don’t need to do anything for me.”
“I do.” He poured more champagne. “Last night was beautiful. But I need to do something just for you. I want to do something for you. Take you to a very special place.”
She wanted to cry. She wanted to throw herself at him. She wanted to forget every single one of the worries that had been running through her mind all morning. He wasn’t saying he loved her. But he was giving her something wonderful—a few more precious hours with him.
They landed in Monterey, only half an hour’s flight time from San Francisco. She smiled, laughter lacing her words. “What are we doing here?”
“Hush,” he said, his finger on her lips again, as if he needed an excuse to touch her. “Let me surprise you. Let me give you something for all you’ve done.”
Then he ushered her into a waiting limousine, sitting close, her hand clasped in his.
Her heart was fluttery with emotion, with need. She wanted to cup his cheek, turn his face to hers, and kiss him until he couldn’t deny that what he felt for her was as momentous as her own feelings. And yet she wanted simply this, her hand in his, a surprise awaiting her.
After leaving the airport, they headed south on Highway 1. The weather was gorgeous, the sun bright, the sky clear, and the temperature in the low sixties. January could be a rainy month, broken up by gloriously sunny, relatively warm days. Vastly different than Chicago, though that certainly had its own appeal too. South of Carmel, their driver took a private road out to the coastline.
“What are you planning?” Her smile bubbled through.
“Something you’ve always said you wanted to do.”
The limo stopped at the end of the road, and Evan took her hand as she climbed out. The driver came around the hood and handed him a small package. “Per your instructions, sir.”
Evan smiled his thanks, then said, “Down here,” pulling her through a couple of fence posts and out onto a dirt path they followed to the cliff edge.
“What is this place?”
Hand in hand, they descended a few steps cut into the rock until they reached a bench on a small plateau to the left of the path. “A friend of mine owns the land.” He waved south. “There’s a cottage over there.” Then he pointed down to the ocean below. “And these stairs lead down to a private beach.”
It had been windy up on the cliff, but the bench they sat on was sheltered in the cleft of the rocks, and the heat of the sun warmed her through her jacket. Evan warmed her hands. And her heart.
“It’s beautiful. And peaceful.” The sun sparkled on the ocean, and the sound of the waves drifted up to them. Seagulls squawked overhead, diving down to the beachhead below.
“I knew you’d like it.”
“It’s perfect, Evan. Thank you.”
He unwrapped the package the driver had handed him. She was stunned to see a pair of binoculars.
“You always said you wanted to go whale watching. But you never have. And this is the perfect time of year. The gray whales are heading down to Mexico to calve.”
“Oh my God, Evan.” Without the aid of the binoculars, she stared out to sea. Then she saw it, a spout of water high into the air. Then another and another, like the bursts of a string of steam engines cruising by. “Look! They’re out there.” She could make out their dark shapes in the ocean, beyond the waves.
“Try the glasses.”
She could barely suppress her eagerness as she grabbed the binoculars from his hand. The ocean was the deepest blue-green, the whales like a cavalcade through the waves. “Oh Evan, this is so amazing. They’re gorgeous. And so mighty. So powerful and perfect.” They seemed close enough to touch through the lenses.
“We’ll come again toward the end of February, when they’re heading north again with their calves. They swim much closer to shore then to protect their young from the sharks, and they’re slower too, because of the babies.”
“Yes, oh yes. We have to.” She hugged the binoculars to her chest, watching the procession with the naked eye, overcome by the beauty of nature right before her. “This is so much better than being on a boat with a bunch of strangers. We’ve got our own private overlook.”