Sage looked up at Riggs, amazed.

He studied her with an expression of concern, which only made his already angelic face more handsome.

She closed her hand around his and allowed him to help her up.

When she was standing, she realized how close she was to him - his big body inches from hers, her hand still lost in his.

The air between them seemed to sizzle. She felt her body start to respond the way it always did when he was near - a planet orbiting a sun.

Her dreams had taught her well. She could practically feel him kissing her already.

“What are your plans for the day?” he asked her.

It took her a moment to make sense of the words.

When she put them together she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. She was in an agony of attraction and he was asking for her daily agenda. He had meant what he said about not needing an answer to his outrageous proposal right away.

She chided herself for the unexpected wave of disappointment that washed over her.

“I was planning to go to the printers in town after breakfast,” she said. “I need to have flyers made.”

“Someone in town makes aviation devices?” Riggs lifted his eyebrows, impressed. “Where do you need to fly?”

“What? Oh. No,” she said. “I see why you thought that, but no. Flyers are just advertisements printed on a sheet of paper.”

“I see,” he nodded. But he didn’t look convinced.

“Here,” she said, letting go of his hand to slide her cell phone out of her pocket. “Here’s the one I’m having made today. I’ll go back after lunch to pick them up and see if I can get some of the local businesses to hang them in their windows.”

She handed him the phone.

He looked down at it and chuckled.

“Do you get it?” she asked. She hadn’t though he would understand the joke.

“This is an idiom, right?” he asked, handing the phone back to her.

“Yes,” she smiled.

The top of the flyer said, Take your sweetie to Martin’s Bounty for Pick-Your-Own-Peaches.

The image below showed a cartoon couple under two peach trees. In a dialogue balloon, one character said to the other, “You’re a peach!”

Below the picture it said, Here at Martin’s Bounty the skies are blue, the berries are ripe and everything is peachy keen!

“This is a very good advertisement,” Riggs said. “It makes me want to pick peaches.”

“Thanks,” Sage said, unable to hide her grin.

She enjoyed working on things like the flyer and designing the signs for the peach pick. Although she had an accounting background, she’d always had a fondness for marketing and graphic design.

“May I accompany you to town?” Riggs asked.

“This morning?” Sage asked.

“And this afternoon,” he offered.

Sage was a little surprised. Riggs and his brothers normally fed and mucked up after the animals in the afternoons and then took a swim in the pond. They clearly enjoyed the time together with the animals, and swimming was a favorite pastime of everyone on the farm.

“Are you sure?” she asked, not wanting to cut in on his time with his brothers, she could only imagine how much they must rely on each other to make sense of this strange world. “It will be a lot of walking around in town and talking to people to get permission to post the flyers.”

Riggs was not just the quiet type. The big alien was deeply, profoundly silent. She really couldn’t imagine him approaching strangers to ask if he could hang flyers in their windows.

“Sounds good,” he said, giving her a nod.

She was surprised at how delighted she felt, as if she were headed to a birthday party this morning instead of a dreaded task.

“Morning guys,” Arden said from the barn door.

Drago was with her, their hands intertwined. The two of them looked, supremely, wildly happy.

“Good morning,” Sage replied. “You’re up early.”

“We’ll help you with breakfast,” Drago offered.

“No need,” Sage told him. “It’s already taken care of.”

“Otis?” Arden asked.

Sage nodded.

“I guess it’s cake for breakfast,” Arden laughed.

“Oh, we know that one,” Drago said. “Dad is great. Give us the chocolate cake!”

“You have so much catching up to do when it comes to pop culture,” Arden said playfully.

The two of them headed up the hill toward the picnic table, where Otis was setting out the morning’s treats.

Sage turned to Riggs.

He smiled at her, blue eyes crinkling.

“What are you smiling about?” she asked, smiling back.

He shrugged and jogged up the hill to join her.