The Turning Point

CHAPTER FOURTEEN- GREEN EYES

Heloyse

"Didn't you see the sign? It says: 'No trespassing. Private property.'"

I stayed in the water, my face burning, unsure whether to apologize or just leave. Or maybe my shame wasn’t just for being here without permission, but for something else. A reason that made my heart race like never before.

In my entire life, I had never seen anyone like him. I tried to recall any image that resembled him, but I couldn’t. He was tall, even sitting on a magnificent black horse. Shirtless, his tanned skin glowed under the sun, and his blonde hair, past his shoulders, framed his face beneath his hat. His light, worn, tight jeans seemed to mold the muscles of his thighs. When I looked back at his face, I noticed the beginning of a beard, tracing the line of a jaw that seemed sculpted.

My gaze inevitably fell to his abdomen, firm and well-defined.

Irresistibly tempting", I thought, unable to restrain myself. I shouldn’t think like that, but it was impossible.

A shiver ran through me, and I ran my hand over my arm in a futile attempt to shake off the sensation.

"Are you deaf?" His voice cut through the silence, deep and authoritative.

"I... I didn’t see it. I thought the place was beautiful, and that no one would see me, so..."

"So you decided to trespass?"

The way he reprimanded me, as if I were a child, made my face burn even more.

"I’m sorry! I’ll leave right away."

"I don’t know you. You’re not from around here."

"No... I’m staying with the Ferrels. They’re friends of your boss."

He raised an eyebrow, and something in his expression made me hesitate.

Cielo had mentioned that this Will had many employees, and he certainly looked like one of them, with his simple appearance and direct way of speaking.

"My boss?" he asked, a slight tone of amusement in his voice.

"Yes. But don’t worry, I’m leaving. I really shouldn’t have come in here."

With quick steps, I walked to the tree, grabbed my tank top, and put it on, aware that he hadn’t taken his eyes off me. My fingers trembled as I tied my hair up and slipped on my flip-flops. I grabbed the book and phone, walking toward the fence with the urgency of someone who just wanted to disappear.

My face was hot, covered by the heat of embarrassment, and if I stayed one more minute there, I would jump into that river and vanish without a trace.

"When you want to swim, come through the gate, Miss."

"You won’t see me here again."

I couldn’t look back at him.

I walked to the fence and crouched down to get to the other side.

A thousand times damn it!" I thought, as the barbed wire caught in my bun again. My body shrank in embarrassment, and I muttered low curses as I tried to free myself.

That’s when I heard the sound of his boots hitting the ground. My heart raced, and my eyes fixed on the earth before me.

"Get a knife and kill me," my mind said.

"That’s what happens when you jump a fence. If you had asked to come in, this wouldn’t have happened. Now you’re stuck, like a rabbit in a trap."

"You’re the predator," I thought, feeling the blush rise even more on my face.

"I’ll remember your advice," I replied, my tone sharp as I continued trying to free my hair.

"Besides trespassing, you’re cheeky," he retorted, his voice filled with something I couldn’t decipher.

Before I could respond, I felt his presence behind me. His warmth seemed to wrap around me, and my hands froze as he began to work on my hair, untangling the strands with a gentleness that didn’t match his rough appearance.

When he finally freed me, I stepped back, but my body felt the absence of that brief touch. Something inside me rebelled against it.

Already on the other side of the fence, I turned to thank him, and that’s when the world seemed to stop as I looked into his eyes.

If paradise had landscapes like European pastoral paintings, they would surely be made up of colors as perfect as that green.

"Now you’re stuck, like a rabbit in a trap."

I compared him to a predator, and I was right. He had the gaze of a feline, with eyes the color of emeralds. The color was so pure it seemed impossible to be real.

His gaze pierced me like a blade, cold and empty, yet irresistible. Then, a quote written on a wall came to my mind: "I know happiness, and it has green eyes."

Surely, it was written by a fool like me.

I could see his full lips, his well-defined jawline, and the reflection of his hair in the sun, making him seem almost unreal.

Despite his clothes, the man had a magnificent beauty. Aristocratic, perhaps?

If Franz Xaver Winterhalter had seen him, he would have put aside his preference for queens to paint the magnificent, masculine beauty standing right in front of me.

He could also be compared to a lustful heartthrob, like those in the romance novels of the time. The tanned type, exuding arrogance, with a rugged face and strong features, driving the maidens wild. And they, too, would wish to have at least one painting of him to sigh over every morning, admiring him.

What would his portrait be like? Perhaps he would be painted with beautiful green eyes, revealing an empty soul, because he had an empty gaze.

My mother used to say, "Run from green eyes; they are dangerous." She always said that when recalling her first love as a teenager.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Miss," he replied, his casual tone contrasting with the intensity of his presence.

As I moved away, his voice stopped me again.

"Have a good day, Heloyse!"

"Oh my God!" I should have asked how he knew my name, but he was already far away with his horse.

Franz Xaver Winterhalter: Famous royal portraitist.