Enchanted (The Accidental Billionaires #4)(26)

His head jerked up. “A what?”

“It’s an ancient cleansing and purification ritual that helps clear your body, mind, and spirit.”

“Not happening,” he answered.

“Why?”

He lifted a brow. “Do I seem like an esoteric type of guy to you?”

“Not exactly,” I agreed. “But I thought you were becoming open minded. Well, except for the yoga and meditation things. It does include a cenote swim at the end, and I think it would be relaxing. I don’t exactly consider myself one with Mother Earth, either, but I think it would be a unique experience. I’ve always liked to participate in something . . . different. It’s an ancient ritual of the indigenous people.”

“Which includes what, exactly?” he asked, skepticism written all over his face.

I shrugged. “I can’t tell you everything, since I’ve never done it myself. I thought we could experience it together. But I can do it alone. No big deal. I’ll leave you to your work that day.”

“Tell me what you do know,” he insisted.

“There’s a call to the ancient gods, a sweat lodge with volcanic rock, a cleansing ceremony by a shaman, and then a cooling off in a cenote. I swear, that’s about all I know. But I’m willing to give it a try. It might be cheesy, but I’ll never know if I don’t try it. Maybe I’m not all that esoteric, either, but I’m all about anything that helps me relax and clears my mind of negativity. If I feel exactly the same afterward, at least I’ll experience what the ancient people did.”

“Not my kind of thing,” Noah answered.

“I get that,” I replied wistfully. “I’m not even going to try to talk you into it. If you aren’t open to it, there’s plenty of other things we can do together on other days.”

“I thought you were a New Age type of woman,” he said thoughtfully.

I shook my head. “Not at all. I practice yoga because it’s good for me spiritually, as is meditation. It helped me through some of my anxiety when I was younger, and keeps me balanced now. But I am open to almost anything. And I’m very tolerant of philosophies and cultures all over the world. I have to be. I’m not there to judge when I travel. I’m there to learn. It doesn’t mean that I’m going to take up practices that don’t fulfill me, but there’s no crime in trying to understand some that might be different from my own.”

“So what exactly do you believe in?” He pinned me with an intense gaze that made me want to squirm.

“I believe in living, and letting people live their lives exactly the way they want as long as it isn’t hurting anyone else. I believe in living in the moment, because the next one isn’t guaranteed. I believe in being grateful for the experiences I’m given.”

“What are you grateful for right now?”

“Anything and everything I do with you,” I answered bluntly. I wasn’t going to lie to him.

“Why?”

“Because I like being with you, Noah. My travels can be lonely sometimes. I’m usually okay exploring on my own, but sharing things with you puts a whole new spin on traveling. Like I said . . . it’s nice.”

He pushed his empty plate away and grabbed his mug of coffee. “I honestly can’t imagine being here with anyone else. Or alone,” he said in a low, thoughtful baritone. “This time is special to me, too, Andie. I doubt I would have embraced the opportunity to try new things. More than likely, if you weren’t around, I’d be fighting stress headaches and wishing I was back in California.”

“But you’re not?” I ventured.

He shook his head. “I’m not. You’ve pushed my very narrow boundaries, and I’m not exactly complaining about it.”

“You’re finally looking up from your computer,” I teased.

“Because of you,” he replied sincerely. “Hell, I never even thought about most of the things we’re doing right now. You’re teaching me how to live outside of work. I’m seeing the world through your eyes.”

I shot him a grin. “I was thinking the same thing.”

He was silent for a moment before he said grudgingly, “I’ll go with you to the ceremony.”

“Don’t,” I said firmly. “Don’t do it just because I asked.”

“I’m not. I’ll do it because I want to spend every single moment that I can with you. And I don’t really give a damn what we’re doing.”

My heart somersaulted inside my chest. I felt exactly the same way, which was why I’d been about to change our itinerary to skip the whole ceremony. It wasn’t like it was something I needed to do. It was more like something I’d never done before that sounded interesting. “I don’t care, either. We can do something else.”

He grinned. “I’m trying to be open minded.”

I sighed. There were so few men like Noah, guys who were willing to jump into almost anything, even if they thought it was weird. And the fact that he was willing to do it for me amazed me.

Just to spend time with me.

Just to be with me.

Really, nobody had ever wanted to be with me that badly.

“I really am okay with doing something else,” I told him.

“Not a chance,” he refused. “When will I ever have the opportunity to sweat my balls off in some kind of sweat lodge again?” He stood. “Let’s go check out those underwater caves.”