She looked up at him in shock. “What do you get in return?”
Darian opened his mouth to answer when the stable master interrupted them. “We’ll talk about this later. Come here and meet Chancy. He takes care of the stables and all the horses.”
As they approached, he said, “Chancy, this is Larkin. You’re going to see her around a lot. Is Daisy available to pet?”
Chancy nodded. “Yes, sir. She’s in the paddock.”
“I’ll call her. Thank you, Chancy.”
Chancy nodded and left.
Chapter Eleven
Darian took her around the place, stopping and showing her different parts she showed an interest to the most.
“This is beautiful,” she said, sliding out of the Gator. She scanned the calm surface of the lake, crossed her arms over her midsection, and hugged her waist. She couldn’t remember seeing any place like that before.
He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s one of my favorite places. I always came here to think when I was a child. Heck, I still do.”
“It’s so peaceful,” she murmured, afraid to break the moment.
He pressed a kiss to her head. “Let’s eat.”
Larkin followed him to a gazebo. “I could live here,” she commented. The outside of the structure was made of beautiful wood. The majority of the space was closed off with only one large opening and a window across from it. Inside, there was a small table and two chairs, and then some kind of padded, double lounger like you’d see on a beach, but she’d never seen one so big.
She sighed and looked around to see Darian was setting up the picnic on the table.
“I can help.”
He shook his head. “No, baby. Just sit.”
She’d hadn’t thought she was hungry until the delicious-looking food was taken out of the basket. Grapes, crackers, cheese, olives, and for dessert, small little square cakes. Darian pulled out a bottle of wine and poured them a glass.
“I’m not sure about the wine,” she said.
“I know, you’re only having one glass. She put bottled water in the basket, also.”
Larkin picked up the glass and took a sip. “Mmmm, this is really good.”
He sat across from her and started eating.
She started in on the cheese and crackers. “All of it is really good.”
“You have to eat more if you’re going to drink that whole glass.”
“Okay.”
Several minutes went by in silence. When they finished, he packed the leftovers away and grabbed the blanket he’d had in the back of the Gator. He held out his hand to her. “Come here, baby. I want to cuddle with you.”
She stared up at him with wide eyes but took his hand.
He pulled her over to the lounge. “Sit. I’m going to lower the top a bit, so we’re not sitting up so far.”
After he adjusted the back of the seat, he lay down and then pulled her against him until her head was on his shoulder. Then he spread the lightweight blanket over them.
Larkin sighed and laid her hand on his chest. “This is nice.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, it is.”