There’s something in his expression that I can’t quite decipher. But whatever it is, I get that it is not something good and quite possibly has something to do with Jude’s past.
I’ve pried into Kas’s past enough without him knowing. I’m not going to pry into Jude’s personal business as well.
“Come on.” Kas tips his head in the direction of the exit door.
I follow him outside. I thought the inside was impressive, but out here is just as awesome, if not more so.
It’s like one huge park yet so much more.
There are climbing frames and a children’s playground, complete with a swing set, slide, monkey bars, and a seesaw. And what looks like an obstacle course is set out across the area. There are also all different kinds of structures that I wouldn’t even know how to describe.
“This is amazing,” I say, walking past Kas, taking it all in. I turn back to face him. “Did you build all of this?”
“Not with my bare hands.” His lips curve into a smile. “But Jude and I did design it. Well, actually, Jude did all the drawings, and all I did was give my input every now and then. We hired contractors to build it all.”
“It really is fantastic.”
“Yeah.” He smiles again, and this one reaches all the way to his eyes. “Come on.” He walks over and takes my hand, leading me toward one of the metal climbing frames.
Attached to the climbing frame are two platforms facing each other, about three feet of space between them.
Kas stands up on one of the low platforms. “Climb up here, beside me,” he says.
Taking my bag from my shoulder, I put it on the ground by the climbing frame. Beside him, I step up onto the platform.
He glances down at me. “Okay, so we’re just going to do some precision jumps to get you started.”
I give him a dubious look.
“You’ll be fine. It’s just about balance.”
“Of which, I have none.”
He laughs. “Just watch what I do.”
Kas moves so that his feet are at the edge of the platform. Then, he jumps forward with both feet landing easily on the other platform.
He turns around. “See? Easy. Your turn.”
“Oh, yeah, really easy.” I roll my eyes, giving him a look.
He folds his arms, giving me a no-nonsense stare.
“Fine,” I huff.
I step up to the edge, exactly as he did.
My heart starts to beat a little faster as I look down at the three-foot gap, which doesn’t sound like much, but it is.
“I don’t think I can do it.” Taking a step back, I look up at Kas.
He takes in my wide eyes, and his expression softens, his arms dropping from around his chest. “You can do it, Daisy. You’re strong. You’re not afraid of anything.”
“I’m afraid of falling down there.” I grimace, pointing at the space between the platforms, which is only about a four-foot fall, but it’s four feet more than I want to fall.
“I won’t let you fall.” The pledge in his voice lifts my eyes to his.
I stare into his warm eyes. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
I take a deep breath and step back up to the edge.
“Okay, bend your knees, and use your arms for balance,” Kas guides me, showing me exactly what he means.
I copy his stance.
“Now, just push off the platform with your feet, and propel yourself forward.”
I meet his eyes.
“You can do it,” he whispers. “Trust me.”
Something happens in this moment as I stare into those eyes that I once thought were so cold. I realize that I do trust him.
Then, I just do it. I push off the platform, and I jump.
My feet land soundly on the other platform.
“I did it.” I beam.
“Yeah, you did.” He smiles.
“No, I told you so?” I grin up at him.
“As if I would be so arrogant as to say something like that.”
He chuckles, and I laugh.
“Do you want to go again?” he asks.
“Okay.” I nod.
We spend a good few minutes with me jumping from one platform to the other, and Kas watches.
Honestly, I’m really enjoying myself.
This is the best date I’ve ever been on, and it’s only just started.
“You up for trying anything a bit harder?” Kas asks.
That stops me in my tracks. “Harder? Like how?”
He gives me a secret smile. “I’ll show you.”
“How about you show me what you can do, and then I’ll do something harder?”
He stares at me, a panty-melting grin appearing on his face. “Okay. Deal.”
He moves off the platform we’re on and walks over to another climbing frame. I pick up my bag and follow him over.
He climbs up the frame until he’s about ten to fifteen feet high. Then, he gets up onto a platform and stands at the edge. He front-flips off the platform, landing on his feet, into a crouch, his hands touching the floor. He pushes up and takes off running toward a pommel horse. With his hands on it, he does an almost cartwheel-like movement. He lands on his feet on the other side where he proceeds to do a couple of backflips in succession, and then he lands on his feet, stopping.
“Show-off.” I smile, walking over to him.
He smirks at me.
I stop a few inches away from his body. He’s barely out of breath.
“That was seriously impressive,” I say.
The smirk vanishes, and a smile touches his eyes as he lifts a shoulder.
I love how modest he is about this.
He reaches out, taking ahold of my hand, and pulls me into his body. He wraps his arms around me and brings his lips down to mine.