She smiled and was about to turn away, when he caught her hand in his.
“I will admit,” he continued, “what I’ve seen here gives me pause. But I don’t see a solution that will make you happy. Some of these trees will have to go.”
“Some.” She tilted her head and he swore he saw a spark of triumph in those amazing eyes of hers. “But not all.”
“No, not all.” And perhaps not as many as he once thought. “Show me the rest.” He tugged her to her feet.
“The rest?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. This is what you wanted me to realize, isn’t it? That I have to take other things into consideration besides location and ease of construction. And I acknowledge there’s more to this project than I first thought.” More than he wanted to consider. He wasn’t supposed to care so much. He wasn’t certain he could afford to, from either a scheduling or financial perspective. Which begged the question, was it the project he was feeling a strong connection to? Or was it the woman determined to make him see things her way?
“You make me sound manipulative.” She stepped away from him, attempted to tug her hand free of his, but he held on. Clung to her in the same nature-induced way the butterflies far above them clung to their perches.
“We’re all manipulative when it comes to things we care about. Convincing others to see our point of view, showing them that view.” He shifted his gaze to the glossy blue sky and ocean at the edge of the grove. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, it shows what you’re passionate about.”
“I’m passionate about a lot of things.”
Xander tugged her forward and looped his arm around her waist. He held onto her gently, wondering if the hand she’d planted between them, against his chest once again, was to push him away...or pull him closer.
“I’d have to be a blind man not to see that.” He dipped his head, kept his eyes locked on hers as he brushed his lips against her mouth. At her gasp of surprise, he expected her to walk away, maybe even run, but no. Calliope Jones wasn’t a woman who ran away from anything. “I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
“It’s likely you never will again.” He caught a flash of wry humor on her face, but her down-to-earth authenticity rang true. “I am the only me there is.”
It was all Xander could do not to laugh in relief. Something told him one Calliope Jones in the world was more than enough. He lowered his gaze to her mouth, to the lip she’d caught between her teeth. How he wanted to kiss her again. Really kiss her to see if she tasted as sweet and tempting as he imagined. As much as he longed to find out, he couldn’t bear knowing. He couldn’t take the chance that kissing Calliope Jones would prove what he already suspected—that she was unforgettable.
“How about the rest of that view?” Fighting against the desire pushing him toward her, he instead took a deep breath and filled his lungs and mind with the scent of endless spring showers of flowers and rain. A scent he would forever connect to this amazing, transfixing, entrancing one-of-a-kind woman.
“It’s pretty overwhelming.” Calliope relaxed her hands and let her arms drop to her sides. She stepped away, as if understanding and agreeing with his assessment. There couldn’t be anything between them. There was too much in their way, not the least of which was geography. He was a city man, from his product-pampered head to his designer-label shoes. And Calliope Jones was the human equivalent of Mother Nature herself. “Are you sure you can take it?”
He grinned at the challenge that had returned to her voice. “If I fall you can catch me, right?”
“Of course.” She reached up and brushed feather-light fingers against his forehead to push the hair from his eyes. “But I have faith in you, Xander Costas. Maybe even more than you have in yourself.”
* * *
CALLIOPE WAS LIVING her dreams.
Not in the way normal people did, not in the I’ve-accomplished-my-goals kind of way.
No. In Calliope’s case, standing within the dual embrace of the eucalyptus trees and Xander’s arms, she knew she’d been here before.