His brows knit as he glances down at me, his aqua eyes burning with intensity. “Of course I’m happy. You’re here with me.”

“You know, if your fans knew you talked like that, they’d go even more wild for you.”

“No, they’d probably laugh,” he says with a shrug. “But I really don’t care what they think. Only you.”

“Not the female ones.” I do up the last button and then link my arms around the back of his neck, standing on my tiptoes. “Okay, where are you taking me today, because I’m dying to know.”

“It’s a surprise,” he says, then grabs my hand and tugs me toward the door.

“You say that every day.” I pout as he slips his shoes on.

He grins at me as he picks up my sketchbook and drawing pencil from the dresser. “I know, and that pouty look that you always get on your face when I won’t tell you makes it so much fun.”

“Why are you grabbing that?” I nod at the sketchbook, closing the door behind us as we step out into the hallway.

“Because you’re going to need it,” he says, leading me down the hallway.

I sigh and follow him down the stairs and out to the car. We climb in, he starts the engine, and then he drives down the highway, heading out of town. We’re in South Caroline right now, so even though it’s February, the air is warm and the humidity makes my skin sticky, especially because we have the windows down. The ocean’s pretty close by, the sand golden, the sky blue, and it makes my hands itch for the pencil and sketchbook Micha has in his lap.

When he finally stops the car, we’re parked in front of a field covered in luscious grass and bushes. There’s also this lofty tree in the center, by itself, some of the branches stretching toward the sky and others drooping toward the ground. It kind of reminds me of the tree back at home for some reason and it dawns on me why he might have brought me here.