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He seems to ponder for a moment, then grins. "I'd like to think of myself as a wolf. Loyal, a bit of a lone wanderer, but part of a pack."

I smile, finding the analogy fitting. "A lone wolf with a heart of gold?"

He chuckles, nodding. "Something like that. Though I can't say I've howled at the moon recently."

Our laughter echoes through the clearing, and for a moment, all the complications fade away.

It's just William and me, two people enjoying each other's company in the simplicity of nature.

“Okay, tell me something you haven’t told anyone,” I say, before taking a bite out of my sandwich. William looks startled for a moment but grows thoughtful.

Finally, he tilts his head with a shrug. “I’m supposed to be engaged.”

I almost choke on the bread. I beat my chest and cough. “Excuse me?”

William looks away with a faint smile. “My father expects me to marry someone in the business who would open doors for us in Europe.”

I frown but stay silent, expecting more.

After a heavy sigh, William looks back at me with a lop-sided grin. “Call me a romantic, but I can’t be stuck in a loveless marriage. Even if it’s breaking my father’s heart.”

I put the rest of my sandwich down and wipe my hands with a wet wipe as I chew on the information. “Wait, so your dad wants you to marry someone just to grow your business? You’re telling me that kind of thing still happens?”

William smirks. “Apparently so. But I refuse to do it.”

“Wow.” I puff out my cheeks and exhale the heavy news.

Suddenly, William sets down the flask. “You’ve got a little something…” he begins, reaching toward me.

I get flashbacks of the spider in the greenhouse and freeze. “Oh my gosh, what is it?” I say in a horrified whisper.

William snorts and pulls out a dandelion seed from my hair. “Nothing to worry about.”

Holding the seed between his fingers, he brings it close to my face. "Make a wish?"

I look into his eyes, their depth making my heart flutter. I close mine and wish that this guy won’t hate me when he finds out the truth. That maybe we could start something real when all of this is over.

Hey, he said to make a wish. No one said it had to be realistic.

I open my eyes and blow gently on the seed, sending it dancing into the air. "Wish made," I say.

Then I hold my breath, blinking at William’s huge glistening eyes.

They’re dark blue with flecks of yellow, like constellations in the sky.

I trace the stress lines on his brow with my gaze and try to memorize every contour of his face. You know, for the time I inevitably end up alone, never to see this man again in my life.

My gaze drops to his lips, the bottom one is larger than the top, it calls to me, and I find myself licking my lips like a starving traveler in the Sahara desert.

The air between us is charged, filled with unspoken words and growing tension.

He leans in closer, his gaze fixed on my lips.

My breath hitches, and for a moment, the world falls away.

It's just us, surrounded by the beauty of nature, on the cusp of something new and exciting.

Our faces are inches apart, the anticipation building.