Who Wants to Marry A Billionaire?(34)
“Okay, let’s go!”
Daniel tossed her a stainless steel water bottle, “Fill up before we go. No plastic water bottles in Eco-Resort Calderon.”
“You like traveling, don’t you?” Daniel asked Nina as they wound their way around the side of the mountain on a small dirt road.
“Yeah, so far, I mean, India and here, that’s the sum total of my international travel experience.”
Daniel nodded thoughtfully. “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you want to go?”
Nina mulled over his question. “I guess that I’d want to go some place where I feel completely myself.” Ruminating for another moment she added, “Someplace where I feel loved for just being me.”
Unsure how to respond, Daniel simply nodded and said nothing.
They pulled up by a small sign that said “Canopy” with an arrow pointing to a narrow path. Nina grabbed her little knapsack, and the two set off, hiking up the path.
“So this is like one of those bridge walks, right? Where they have the bridges that go from tree to tree?”
“Not exactly,” Daniel offered noncommittally.
“What do you mean, ‘not exactly?’ Either there is a bridge or there isn’t.”
They popped out of some trees, and Nina realized that they were very high up, and in front of them was a little platform, and a cable line at least a couple of hundred yards long stretching out over the valley.
“Oh no, no, no.” Nina shook her head and started backing away. Daniel caught her.
“You’re going to love it. It’s completely safe.”
“You do understand the concept of gravity? Tiny person up here—big planet down there, guess who loses?”
“That’s why you have an extra safety line in addition to your harness.” Before Nina knew what was happening, the zip line attendant and Daniel had snapped and buckled and instructed.
“No way, you go first.”
Daniel shook his head, “If I go first, you’ll never do it. There’s a person waiting for you on the next platform. I’ll be right behind you. I swear, if you’ll just relax, and look at the scenery, you’re going to love it.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Trust me,” and with that, Daniel pushed Nina off the platform and she went whizzing out above the rainforest with a blood-curdling scream. Daniel glanced at his watch, and murmured under his breath, “Five, four, three, two…” and then he could hear peals of laughter coming from Nina.
A few minutes later, he joined Nina at the next platform. She was pumped with adrenaline. “Wow! That’s like the most amazing thing ever! Can we do it again?”
“Actually, you’re going to do it ten more times before we finish. Now on this next one, make sure to look to your right, and you’ll be able to see the volcano.”
“Volcano? Cool!” And with that, Nina jumped.
Nina was in a happy daze as they drove back to the resort, “I’m so glad you made me do that. I would have totally chickened out.”
“Well, sometimes, you just have to trust people.” Daniel reached out and put his hand on Nina’s knee for a moment. His hand started to wander and he retrieved it before he did anything rash. In his heart, though, Daniel wanted more than anything for Nina to trust him. Of all the women with whom he’d been, Daniel realized that Nina, more than anyone, helped him to be himself. Sometimes, with Nina, he could forget that he was a DeVere and just be Daniel. He was admitting to himself, too, that everything about Nina appealed to him: her spunkiness, her compassion, her intelligence, and the fact that she had no pretensions. All that, and she didn’t seem to know that she was beautiful. He had no idea any more whether he was grateful to their arrangement for giving him the chance to get to know her, or hating it because all the lines were blurred between fantasy and reality.
“What do you want to do tonight?” Nina asked.
“Well, I was thinking maybe after all that exhilaration, it might be nice to just hang out in the hot tub. What do you think?”
“As long as we eat something first! How about some ceviche?”
Chapter Twenty Four
Some candle lanterns burned around the hot tub, and Daniel held Nina’s hand as she stepped in. She was wearing her swimsuit with the anchors and looked adorable, Daniel thought, although he couldn’t remember ever being in a hot tub with people wearing swimsuits. He slid in after.
“Mmmm.” Nina’s hair spread out around her in the water.
“Use your words Nina,” Daniel joked.
“Feels fantastic. What a good idea after airplane seats and bumping around in the jeep.”
“So how are you doing? I mean, with everything going on?”
“Well, it’s a lot easier to be your fiancé without the paparazzi and all that. When we’re having fun like today, it just feels like a vacation with a good friend.”
Good friend? That wasn’t exactly the reaction for which Daniel was hoping. “So I’m not such a bad guy?”
“No, you’re a great guy. I mean that.”
Daniel floated over and sat next to Nina, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say that because I think you’re an amazing girl.”