"You still haven't answered my question," John told me, his hands buried in the pockets of his blue jeans. I looked up at him, my heart beating fast and my cheeks still tinged with red. He seemed too calm, too casual, not at all flustered by my uncle's interruption.

"What question was that again?" I asked, proud of myself for keeping my voice steady as I tried my hand at teasing him.

"You're really gonna make me say it again?" he chuckled, taking his hat off and running his fingers through his hair.

I watched him take a step towards me, having to tilt my chin up slightly to meet his gaze. There was a kind of mischief in his dark eyes and his mouth was stretched into a lopsided grin.

"Do you wanna go out on a date with me?" he asked.

My breath caught in my throat.

"Yes, I'll go on a date with you," I smiled,

"Okay," he said, wriggling his brows.

"Okay," I replied, giggling.

We settled on Friday for our date, which was a completely reasonable time considering it would be the start of the weekend and we wouldn't have to worry too much about work.

As the rest of the week unfolded however, I couldn't help but feel anxious and antsy. The days weren't going by fast enough, and to make things even worse for my poor heart, John was making himself way too scarce.

We still ate dinner together every evening, and although he seemed to be getting a little more comfortable opening his mouth around me, there was still some residual awkwardness lingering between us.

I silently wondered, as I was getting ready on Friday, what it would be like to really know him – all of him. What was he like with his guards down and that goofy grin of his plastered on his face? What would it be like eating dinner with him then?

What was he like when he was truly happy or excited about something? What was he like when he was worried or scared? What kind of movies did he like? What was his favorite book? Did he root for specific sports teams? I already knew he was a Rangers fan from the hat he wore almost every single day. Did he also root for the Cowboys?

If not, I wasn't sure I'd be able to date him.

Smiling, I plugged in my curling iron and looked at my reflection in my vanity mirror. John wouldn't tell me what he had up his sleeve for our date, his only hint being to dress casual. Did he even know what he was talking about when it came to women's fashion?

So I chose a light blue, printed Maxi dress and a pair of strappy sandals. I applied a light amount of make-up, feeling very girly and attractive as I danced around my bedroom to Taylor Swift's latest music.

When my curling iron was hot enough, I proceeded to do my hair, letting it fall down in loose curls down my back.

He was used to seeing me in jeans and my ugliest t-shirts or sweaters, so I was kind of excited to see his reaction tonight. I was nervous too. God, I really hoped it wouldn't show.

She told me she'd be ready for six o'clock but came downstairs twenty minutes later, looking a little red in the face but absolutely breathtaking.

I smiled at her, trying not to let the nerves show through as I stood there waiting at the foot of the stairs.

"Sorry," she smiled at me, almost tripping on the last stair and catching my arm on her way down to steady herself. "The dress I wanted to wear ended up not bein' the dress I wanted to wear. So I ended up changin', and obviously I had to change my shoes too..." she rambled.

"Obviously," I smirked.

"God, I'm sorry, I'm really nervous," she giggled.

"It's okay, you look beautiful," I told her with a chuckle. Since we were on the subject of her looks, I decided it was plenty okay if I let my gaze wander a little, falling briefly on the pretty red dress that showed off her long tanned legs.

"Thank you, you look very handsome," she smiled, blushing again.

"Well thank you," I said teasingly. "I was hopin' you'd notice."

"I notice," she said softly, ducking her head to hide her blush.

I wasn't wearing anything special. Actually, I didn't own anything special. I settled on a dark blue t-shirt, my leather jacket and my best jeans, which, unlike all of my other pairs, didn't look shabby and worn out.

I decided to leave my hat in the loft and I was feeling really naked without it now.

"Do you wanna go?" I asked her finally, feeling like we'd been standing there for a little too long.

"Yeah," she grinned.

I reached for the door and pulled it open, silently waiting for her to go through. I followed her to my truck and opened the passenger door too, waiting for her to get in before I doubled back towards my side.

"Where are we goin'?" she asked me when I started backing out of her driveway, leaving behind the faded red barn and turning on the street, heading further out of town rather than in.

I grinned at her.

"No fair, you can't just expect me to climb into your truck and haul me off somewhere without tellin' me where that somewhere is," she insisted, looking at me pointedly. My grin widened. "What if you get mauled by a rabid dog and I can't find my way back home?" she wondered.

"I'm not gonna get mauled by a rabid dog," I shrugged.

"Come on, I want to know! I'm not good with surprises!" she giggled, putting her hand on mine in all of her desperation. The sudden physical contact didn't go unnoticed by either of us.

"I'm not tellin' ya," I said, not about to cave just because she was making it impossible for me to breathe right now with those sexy brown eyes and that ruby red smile.

I tried arguing with him but I should have known it wouldn't amount to anything. He was being insufferably silent and he was doing it on purpose.

We drove for about ten minutes, heading further into nowhere, until finally he turned onto a dirt road that I wouldn't have noticed if I'd been driving by at the speed limit. It was partially hidden by overgrowth and a smaller vehicle would have likely not been able to get over all of the potholes, roots and rocks.

"Okay, so you're takin' me out in the middle of nowhere... You're not secretly a creep are you?" I asked teasingly, glancing at his face and catching myself staring into his dark eyes. I didn't get to see them very often, since he was wearing a hat about 99% of the time on the ranch.

"Not much longer now, you'll see," he grinned.

It took us another ten minutes to get to this secret location that John was adamant not to tell me about. I didn't ask him about it again, letting him have his fun. Instead we talked about our day, which didn't really stray too far from the usual conversations we had over the last two weeks.

In other words, I did most of the talking.

"Alright, this is it," he said finally, easing on the gas and pulling up in a grassy clearing, surrounded on two sides by trees and bushes.

"Oh, it's gorgeous," I said excitedly, looking around through the windshield before looking at him, catching his smile and returning it full force. "I didn't even know this place existed... and I've lived here my whole life!" I told him.

"Come on," he said, opening his door and stepping out of the truck.

I did the same, grateful I chose to wear comfortable boots and not the high heels that I usually wore with this red dress.

Once outside his truck, I was able to hear the stream that ran to the east. There were birds chirping in trees and a squirrel darted by, inches away from my feet. I walked around for a moment before returning to John, finding him kneeling in the bed of his truck; from where I stood, I got a really perfect view of his behind.

He definitely had a nice one. Maybe, just maybe, I'd even go as far as to say his butt could give Luke Bryan a run for his money.

I smiled to myself, but then immediately flushed red when he turned around and caught me staring.

"I thought we'd have a picnic," he drawled, holding out his hand.

I took it and he pulled me up so that we were both standing in the bed of his truck on the blanket he'd spread out. For a moment our bodies were flush against each other, my hand still in his. I looked up at him, my other hand pressed against his chest. He was all muscle, lean and strong.

"Hi," John smirked.

"Hi," I replied, a little too breathless.

"You hungry?" he asked, letting go of my hand.

"Starvin'," I replied, clasping my hands together in excited anticipation. The picnic basket sat in the middle and I was curious to know what he'd packed in there.

He sat down and stretched out his long legs, patting the spot next to him. I sat down next to him, the basket between us. He opened it and took out a few Tupperware containers with fruits, vegetables, dips and other kinds of finger foods.

"Oh my God, you got pie!" I blurted out, watching him pull out the largest container, which was big enough to fit a whole pie.

"I did," he laughed, setting it down next to the other containers and going back to the basket to pull out a bottle of wine and two plastic cups.

"What kind is it?" I asked, still thinking about the pie.

"Red... it's nothin' really fancy," he shrugged. "I should've asked you if you drink first... or if you even like wine. I'm more of a beer kind of guy myself, but it uh... felt more..." he hesitated. "...romantic," he chuckled, and for a split-second I could've sworn he was the one doing the blushing.

"I like wine," I laughed. "I meant the pie though. What kind of pie?"

"Oh, blueberry," he said, putting down the bottle of wine and tucking the basket away so that it wouldn't be in the way.

"No candles?" I asked playfully, poking into the first Tupperware container and grabbing a piece of cucumber, chopped in a perfect cube.

"Now you're pushin' your luck," John shook his head, grabbing one of the toasted sandwiches he'd bought pre-made and taking it out of its brown paper bag, taking a big bite.

"I'm kiddin', I love this," I told him honestly, settling against the far back of the truck bed, my head resting against the rear window. I could see myself spending all night here, just hanging out with him and looking at the stars, or listening to the wildlife and the constant flow of the stream.

"You said you were into all of that cheesy romance stuff so..." he shrugged, popping a bite-size tomato into his mouth and giving me a goofy, lopsided grin.

"You did a good job," I smiled, patting him on the head. It was mostly just an excuse to touch him again.

"I do what I can," he shrugged, his eyes glinting with mischief in the taillights.

We ended up eating all of the food he'd packed and, between the two of us, completely finishing the bottle of wine. I felt a little guilty about that, wondering if it even occurred to him that I was underage and that I would be underage for quite a few months still. He was thirty years old; he probably didn't even have to think about that normally, and I was too embarrassed to tell him.

The wine helped loosen him up quite a bit. I'd never heard him speak so many sentences all at once - it was kind of refreshing, and his sense of humor had me doubled over in fits of giggles. He was so charming and goofy.

"So this Brad Paisley fella," he grinned, making his way onto his feet, taking a few strides towards the tailgate and hopping down onto the ground. He spun around on his heels to face me. I was still sitting on the bed of the truck, the blanket covering my legs, which were getting a little chilly as evening turned into full on nighttime. "What was that song you said was your favorite?" he asked me.

"All of them," I grinned, wondering what exactly he was doing. He looked at me expectantly. "No, I'm kiddin'... Um, We Danced," I added.

"Right, thought so," he said, making his way towards the driver's side of the truck and pulling his door open. I looked through the rear window as he fumbled around with his CDs. He popped one into the CD player and cranked up the volume so that Brad Paisley's voice filled the whole meadow.

"You're insane," I laughed as he came back towards me, holding out his hand.

"A little bit," he shrugged.

"Are you askin' me to dance with you?" I asked him teasingly, realizing he'd suddenly gone shy again and that he was probably struggling to come up with the words.

"Yes I am," he replied with a smirk.

I slipped my hand into his and let him pull me down from the bed of the truck. He tugged me closer so that my body was pressed to his again, my arms instinctively reaching to wrap around his neck. Our height difference was perfect for this kind of thing - he was taller and bigger than me, but not too much to make it awkward. I felt safe and comfortable in his embrace, my cheek resting against his shoulder as we swayed.

"You're good at this," I smiled. I hadn't danced with very many boys in my life, certainly never with men. In high school the boys I'd danced with were usually drunk and a little too grabby, which didn't sit too well with me.

He didn't allow his hands to wander, keeping them on my waist. His breath was warm against my neck and shoulder, but he didn't try to kiss me. He didn't step on my feet either, which were bare since I'd discarded my shoes hours earlier.

We danced in the truck lights for hours, letting his CD go on until all of the songs on it had been played once. I could've stayed in his arms forever.

"Are you cold?" he whispered, running his hands up and down my uncovered arms, which were definitely a little chilled. Goosebumps crept over my flesh that had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with his touch.

"A little," I shrugged. "It's okay John, you don't have to do that," I added, watching as he shrugged out of his jacket. He draped it around my shoulders and I found myself swimming in it, despite the fact that it fit his frame perfectly. "Thank you," I smiled.

"You're very welcome," he drawled.

When we retreated back inside the truck a little while later and I picked up my phone from the seat, I was startled to find that it was almost one in the morning.

John seemed to have lost track of time too.

"Think I could convince my boss to let me sleep in a little tomorrow?" he wondered, slipping his seat belt on and waiting for me to do the same before making a U-turn back towards the trail we took to get here.

When we got back to the ranch and we were both standing on the front porch, I realized I really didn't want this night to end. I looked up at him, wondering what was going on through his head.

"This was good, I had a good time," he smiled.

"Me too," I murmured, glancing down at my feet and then back up to meet his eyes. In the current gloom, they looked as black as an overcast midnight sky. "We should do it again soon," I added.

"Mm, I'd like that," he agreed.

There was silence for a while. I stood there in anticipation, butterflies wrestling in my belly at the thought of what he might do next. He seemed to want to kiss me, and I was giving him every silent indication that I wanted him to kiss me...

Actually, I did everything but throw myself at him.

He didn't kiss me.

"Well uh, good night Carly," he said.

"Good night," I smiled, trying to hide my disappointment. He turned around and went down the porch steps, walking a few feet towards the barn before I called to him again: "John," I said simply.

He turned around to look at me.

"I just... um," I stammered, realizing I had nothing to say.

He stood there for a lingering moment, and then in five easy strides closed the distance between us once more, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me in close.

I never really stopped to think too much about the moment before a first kiss, but I don't think I'll ever forget the way John looked at me right before his lips pressed greedily against mine. There was a fire in his gaze, a longing that was directed at me. No man had ever looked at me like that before, had ever held me like that.

His kiss was tender and warm; I could tell he was holding back, that I was only getting a glimpse of what really kissing him would be like. He made my head spin and completely turned my world upside down. I couldn't breathe... and then... all too soon... he pulled away.

"I had to do that," he murmured, his breath warm against my tingling skin.