BETROTHED ✓

2°

Larai shut her eyes tightly as he crouched to her level on the ground.
"I'm harmless." The person stated in a firm, yet gentle voice.

By the tone of his voice, she could tell it wasn't Zakari, but someone else.

She let out a deep sigh of relief and quickly adjusted her open blouse.

"Are you alright?" The man asked, his voice laced with worry.

She opened her eyes and they met with the most mesmerizing pair she had ever come across. In the light of the day, his eyes seemed to shine brighter than the sun itself. His eyeballs, round and brown.

The gleam present in them.

The eyes were indeed windows to the soul. She felt connected to his soul by merely staring into his eyes. They gave him an innocent look of an infant. She could get lost staring into his eyes and she wouldn't mind if that would take her far away from the reality of her life. She was utterly hypnotized by them.

He blinked.

She broke out of her reverie and looked away. Embarrassment washed over her, as she realized she had been gawking at a total stranger. "I'm sorry for staring at you in that manner. I don't usually do things like that," she apologized, feeling the need to let him know she was not a weirdo.

He chuckled. "Then I should also apologize for equally staring at you in that manner. I'm sorry." He mimicked her voice, earning a shy smile from her. "Sorry for prying, what are you doing in the middle of these bushes alone?"

She blew out her cheeks. "It's actually a long story. What are you doing in the middle of these bushes alone?" She returned his question, with a raised brow.

"I'm carrying out a survey for an industry I work for." His gaze drifted to her bleeding toe. "That looks bad. Can I take a look?"

Her lips curved into a broad smile as she stared at him. He was caring—exactly how the protagonists in the books she read were.

Who said good men didn't exist anymore?

"Can I?" he asked again.

She snapped out of her trance and nodded.

He sat down on the grasses and brought out bottled water from his backpack. He opened the lid and poured a small quantity on her toe, then more, until the blood had completely been washed off. "I'm going to apply some disinfectants and a band-aid." He stated, but her mind was far from reality. She had felt stupid for gawking at him, like a cuckoo, but that did not stop her from repeating her action.

She couldn't help it, he was enthrallingly beautiful and she was spellbound.

He waved a hand over her face.

She cowered and mentally face-palmed. "Sorry, what was that?"

"I'm going to disinfect your wound." He responded, giving her a lopsided smile. He had caught her gaping at him yet again.

"I will do that at home. We have some herbs that work perfectly fine," she politely declined. "Tell me, do you usually move about with disinfectants?"

"Yes," he responded, curtly. "I'm just taking precautions."

"Thanks for helping me out." She smiled.

"It's no big deal, but since you're so grateful, I'm glad I was able to." He returned the smile. "Where do you live? I can accompany you home if you want." He offered.

At his words, Larai felt her insides twirl pleasantly. She absolutely wanted that, but she knew what the consequence would be if one of her parents saw them together. She heaved a sigh of disappointment. "No, it's fine," she declined politely, but a huge part of her hoped he would insist.