CHAPTER EIGHT
The hike up the hills outside the city had her with her hands on her hips, sucking in deep breaths. This was not how she wanted to impress Noah. His forehead had a slight sheen to it, but at least he was breathing normally. When had she got this unfit? She thought after running after the twins all day, every day she had been fit. This proved otherwise, and the groan she'd just let out caused her companion to smirk.
"Too much for you to handle, huh?" he asked as he offered her his bottle of water. In this heat she kicked herself for forgetting to bring some, too caught up on going on a date with him. No, not a date, she reminded herself, it was just a day out, between friends.
She sighed in defeat as a family of six dashed past them on their way to the top. The kids were running ahead and then racing back to their parents making her feel more unfit than she already did. "Yeah, it's been a while since I've been up here. Forgot what a killer these hills are. Guess I need to take the stairs rather than the elevator at home to build up my fitness again." If she'd been with Lucy or anybody else, she'd have admitted defeat a while ago. Why she continued with the pretense she was enjoying herself was beyond even her comprehension.
He looked at her with concern, he put his hand on her shoulder rubbing it gently and crunched his eyebrows together, "You want to sit down for a bit?" he asked.
There was at least another thirty minutes until they reached the top and she wasn't sure she wanted to put herself through that punishment. She'd well and truly blown any ideas she had to impress him, she might as well be honest. "Yes, please," she begged. "Otherwise I'm jumping on your back and you'd need to carry me there."
His lips twitched as took her hand and led them both towards a seating area. "Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea I've ever had," he admitted. "I thought it would be great to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and all the open space. I'm sorry you're having such an awful time."
She sat on the bench that faced the city and looked up at him. Regret filled his face, and she felt guilty. It had been a lovely idea and apart from needing an oxygen mask and all her leg muscles burning like Dante's inferno. "Oh no, it was a great idea. I rarely get out of the city, well apart from when I visit my family, and I've missed it. If I use the stairs instead of the elevator from now on who knows, next time I might even beat you to the top," she grinned.
"Next time?" he quirked an eyebrow at her. "So I've not put you off?"
She laughed, grateful at how easy he was making this for her. "No you've shown me how much I need to stop wallowing in my room with bags of Cheetos and start living again."
"Ah so Cheetos is your guilty pleasure, mine too," he admitted. "Being on the road, I feel like I've eaten nothing but junk food and unfortunately my body is used to it now. I'm hoping now we're home for a few months I can eat better and have time for days like this."
"You're different from what I imagined you'd be." she slapped her hand over her mouth as she realized she'd said that out loud.
A smirk slowly appeared on his face, "So, you have been thinking about me?"
She would swear he could see right through her and into the tiny box she'd shoved the crush she had on him. "Of course," she scoffed, "when you invited me here I wondered what our day would be like and how we'd get on." She could feel herself blush from the tips of her toes to the top of her head and hoped she'd thrown him off asking any more awkward questions she didn't want to answer.
"Sure," he replied, letting the r roll of his tongue as if he didn't quite believe her. "You want to head for the top or go back down?" He threw his hands up in the air, "No judgment. We can do the top another time."
She laughed, "Back down. I think my body would give up if it thought we were going up instead of down and I'm sure you don't want to carry me all the way to the bottom if I collapse from heat exhaustion."
The corners of his eyes crinkled, "Yeah, I'd hate to have to carry you." He held out his hand for her, "Right, let's start our decent. If you're good, I may even treat you to an ice cream when we get to the bottom."
Indya put her hand in his and beamed at him, "Deal."
There was no point in fighting it anymore, the only thing that had her worried was the secret she was keeping from him. Sure, she didn't have to tell him but if he ever met her family, they'd be more than happy to clue him in and she would rather that came from her, so she could explain herself. But not yet. She wanted him to get to know her better before he was introduced to the idea that she was also crazy-fan Indya.