She stepped from behind the tree, fully dressed again in her muddy clothes. Her blonde hair hung down wet and just as unruly as it had been yesterday. Water dampened her dress where her undergarments were, and a brown bag dangled from her shoulder.
“All dressed,” she said, throwing him his wet shirt.
“Thanks.” He wrung it out and pulled it over his head. “What’s in your bag?”
She patted the satchel’s soft leather and listed the contents. “Bread, granola, cheeses, and a blanket.”
“Really? I’m starving!” He reached for the bag.
Renna instinctively turned away, pulling it out of his reach. “What if I don’t want to share?” She smirked.
Trev reached even farther, trying to grab the handle of the bag. He missed. He raised his eyebrows, matching her playfulness. “I think you owe me. Since we met, you’ve pretended to drown and stolen my clothes.”
“Well, you threw me in the water today,” she challenged.
“You jumped in of your own free will.”
She puckered her lips together. “True. I guess I have to share then.” She reached into her bag, revealing a tattered brown blanket. They both took a corner of the fabric and pulled, spreading it out across the dirt and grass. She knelt down, laying out the food.
Trev lowered to the ground, ripping off a chunk of bread and throwing it into his mouth. “Tell me more about yourself,” he said between bites. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to know everything about this girl.
“More?” Renna put a slice of cheese in her mouth. “I can’t think of anything else to tell.”
“Do you sing?” he asked.
Her mouth stretched into a frown as she chewed. “Terribly.”
“Do you dance?”
“Flawlessly.” She sat up a little taller, an edge of pride coming through her voice.
“I’m going to need to see.” He added in his most official voice, “We can’t have people throughout the countryside claiming to be excellent dancers when they’re not.”
She brushed the crumbs off her skirt and stood up, reaching for his hand. “All right, but I need a partner. Do you think you can keep up?”
A smirk formed on his lips. “I’ve danced a time or two.” Trev grabbed her outstretched hand, electricity sizzling between them. It had been a long time since he’d felt this way and man, it felt good. She smiled too and then pulled him to a spot away from the blanket, placing him across from her.
“We need a beat to get us started,” Renna said. She stomped her foot wildly on the ground over and over, dust flying into the air. She nodded at him to see if he caught the pattern of the beat. “Recognize this?”
It was a popular folk song rhythm he’d danced to many times at parties. “Of course.” He reached for her hand again, and they started to chassé to the left in rhythmic moves.
Typically, Trev was an excellent dancer, but Renna made him nervous. He had to think about every move, what step came next, and where his hands were supposed to go. As he worried about trying to impress her, she tripped on his foot, almost falling. They both laughed, neither of them sure of whose fault it was. With each step or direction change, their laughter grew louder. They no longer followed the pattern of the dance, but instead spun around faster and faster.
“I think I’m going to be sick!” Renna broke free of the circle and spun to a stop. She focused on the ground with her hands on her hips, trying to will the dizziness away. It didn’t work. Losing her balance, she toppled over and landed on her back in the grass.
Trev burst into laughter. “You’re right,” he said, fighting his own dizziness until he made it to the ground next to her. “You are the best dancer I’ve ever seen!”
By this time, Renna laughed so hard that she couldn’t speak, or at least Trev couldn’t make any sense out of the words she said.
“I definitely think you should teach lessons. People would come for miles to witness your graceful movements.”
She hit him on the arm. “You’re making fun of me!”
“Your dancing deserves it!”
“I want another chance!” She stretched out, holding her stomach where the pains of laughter still lingered. “With real music and beautiful dresses so I can prove how good I am.”
“Maybe you aren’t excellent after all, but no one has dared to tell you.”
Renna tugged at a handful of grass and threw it at him. His eyes flickered with amusement, but he didn’t move. She grabbed another handful of grass and threw it at him again. He ignored her, so naturally, she pulled out more grass and knelt in front of him, piling it on top of his head like a bird’s nest.
He grabbed her arms and pushed her to her back again, the bird’s nest on his head scattering down over her. She squealed as his legs straddled her torso, restraining both her wrists with his one hand while the other plucked fresh grass.
“You don’t stand a chance!” He pulled at the grass around them, throwing it onto her in big mounds. Renna shook her head and her body trying to break free, laughing the entire time.
“Do you give up?” he asked.
“Yes! Yes!” she screamed, still trying to wiggle free.
Trev held a pile in his hand, ready to attack. “I’m not sure I can trust you.”
“I think you got it in my mouth,” she said as she spat into the air.
“You started it,” he said innocently. “You’re like a twelve-year-old.”
She laughed and squirmed again, trying to free herself.
“How old are you anyway?” he asked, still holding her firmly to the ground.
“Eighteen.” She gave one last struggle for freedom, but to no avail. “How old are you?”
“Twenty four,” Trev answered. He could feel the heaviness of her breathing beneath him, and for a moment, it was like everything in his life paused. This strange girl made him feel differently than he ever had. He studied her, her flushed cheeks, her soft lips, her green eyes that always seemed alight with passion about something. She was intoxicating. There was something about Renna that connected with him—a pull toward her he couldn’t deny.
But he needed to deny it. He was engaged.
The thought stung, and he quickly rolled his body off of hers. Trev gestured behind him to his PT. “I should probably get going.” He needed to put some space between them, even if he didn’t want to.
Renna
Renna let out a long breath, regret flaring inside her. She shouldn’t have been with a man on the ground like that. It had been innocent fun at first. Then something had changed in Trev’s expression, and suddenly their playful moment had turned intimate.
But then he’d scrambled away so quickly. Maybe she’d just imagined it?
Either way, she couldn’t help but like him—at least what she knew of him.
And his looks. They couldn’t be ignored. The combination of his athletic build, dark curls, severe blue eyes, and that boyish smile were proof enough that God was feeling generous the day he had created him. She twisted her hair between her fingers, willing herself to play it cool.
“Are you headed to the ruler’s palace in Albion?” Renna said as he knelt back down on the blanket to help her clean up. She didn’t want to sound too hopeful.