"Where are we going?" she asked him.
"It's a surprise," he told her.
She continued to hold his gaze until he turned away to start the bike. A delicious shiver worked its way through her as her breasts pressed firmly against the muscles of his back. They strained against her as he fired up the bike and pulled away from the curb. He kept his speed under the thirty-five-kilometer speed limit as they drove down the road on the left-hand side. She was glad she wasn't driving as watching him do it was disconcerting to her; she had to fight the urge to jerk him back to the other side of the road when cars and scooters approached.
Even at their relatively slow speed, the wind rushing around her and blowing her hair back gave her a sense of freedom she found enthralling. It took everything she had not to release his waist and throw her arms out to the side as he weaved expertly in and out of traffic. She couldn't stop the laugh escaping her as they hit an open expanse of road and he drove faster.
Over his shoulder, she watched as the world rushed by in a blur that made her eyes water, but she still wished they could go faster. The motorcycle eased back as they came to a highly congested area of traffic. Though she wanted the speed again, she found she wasn't disappointed as she nestled closer to him and rested her cheek against his back. He smelled of Irish Spring soap and the fresh ocean air. Coming to a complete stop behind a line of vehicles, he put his foot down. His hand rested against her joined ones on his waist while he waited for traffic to start moving again.
Yes, she could most certainly lose her heart to him, she thought as a feeling of peace and security stole through her.
It took some time, but eventually, he found a parking spot and stopped the bike. Emma reluctantly slid her arms away from his waist and climbed off the bike to examine the area. She removed her helmet and shook out her hair before trying to finger comb out her helmet hair. It didn't matter; she would take a bad hair day every day for the rest of the year if it meant climbing onto the bike, with him, again.
"Have fun?" he asked as he settled the helmets onto the back of the bike and locked them into place with a chain.
"I could do that every day," she said honestly.
"I'll have to remember that."
She wasn't entirely sure how to take that, but she wasn't going to spend all day trying to puzzle it out. With him, she could simply be, and she intended to do that as they walked down the street together.
"Can you tell me where we're going now?" she inquired.
He pointed up the hill to a large house set in the center of an open green field, surrounded by a massive stone wall overlooking the ocean. Large cannons were positioned to face the sea on the hill around the house. It was an old military fort, she realized.
"It's the Bermuda Maritime Museum," he explained. "I thought you'd like to look around it."
Emma couldn't find her voice for a minute as tears suddenly burned her eyes. The urge to cry was silly, but he'd remembered her love of history. It was one of the sweetest and most thoughtful things anyone had ever done for her. She blinked back the tears as she focused on him once more.
"I'd love to," she said honestly.
He clasped her hand as he led her toward the large front gates and the ticket booth tucked within the rock walls. She took a map as he paid for the tickets, and they entered the museum. They explored the grounds and the small waterfall as they made their way toward the old keep at the top of the hill.
The smell of must assailed her as they stepped into the cool and shadowed interior of the massive home. All the windows were open to allow the breeze to drift through the home. The dark wooden floor beneath her feet creaked as they moved through the rooms of the building. She examined all the pictures hanging on the walls and read the plaques beneath them. She ran her fingers over the large tables and chairs filling many of the rooms, examined the coin and book collections, and spent nearly two hours admiring everything within each room of the house.
Ethan remained patiently by her side as she explored every inch of the seemingly endless home. If he'd been with anyone else he would probably be bored out of his mind by now, but he relished in her endless fascination of the things within the house and her enthusiasm as she excitedly told him about the things she was reading on the plaques. She did have a fervor for history, and he was glad he'd learned about this place after their talk on the boat.
Stepping onto the balcony running around the entire upper floor with her, he stared across the glimmering aqua sea to the cruise ship parked at the wharf. People walked about the house below them, but he didn't pay them any attention as he stood behind Emma and slid his arms around her waist. Resting his chin on her head, he watched the boats and jet skis skimming across the water as he savored this moment and this woman.
"This is amazing, thank you for bringing me here," she said.
"Anytime, you actually make history enjoyable."
She laughed as she turned to face him. He kissed her cheek and took her hand as he led her back into the building, downstairs, and outside again into the powerful rays of the sun. They walked a different pathway down to the pool where the dolphins and a sea turtle were kept.
Emma's face filled with delight as she watched the mother and baby dolphins swimming through the water
