Michael had taken her bags inside the house but Callie remained outside, admiring the beauty of Neverland in the daylight. She heard the door close and she turned back to the house to see Michael walking back down the steps towards her. He looked at her curiously. 

   As he walked towards her, Callie took a moment to appreciate his broad shoulders and his tall, slim body. 'He looks like a dancer.' She thought to herself, wondering why she hadn't noticed before. As he walked, she noticed, he moved like one as well. 

   He kept his eyes locked on hers and she could feel her heart start racing. Startled, she broke the contact and turned back to look at the gardens around her. "It's a beautiful paradise you've built here." She motioned trying to steady her voice. 
      He stopped beside her and she could feel the electricity between them and worked to even out her breathing. He looked around for a moment and gave a short chuckle. "This is nothing." As she looked at him, he gave a sly grin and grabbed her hand. "Come on." He directed with laughter in his voice.

   He grabbed her hand and she felt a spark of the electricity shoot from the tips of her fingers, up her arm and throughout her body. Her short legs stumbled to keep the pace with his and she couldn't stop her mind from racing. Where was he taking her? Why did she react the way she did to his look? His touch? What was this strange power he held that made her swoon?

   Michael raced around the side of the house and down a path. It ended at another road, you could go left or right but in front of them stood a large building on a hill. There were steps leading up to it on either side of a clock made out of flowers. It read 'Neverland'. "Come on." Michael directed as he pulled her hand and led her up the stairs. 

   When they got to the top, she noticed that the building, though it looked like another house, was actually a train station. She saw a shiny red train sitting in the back waiting for them. She looked up at Michael and he smiled and pulled her along towards the train. He stepped up into the engineers cabin and pulled her into it with him. "Normally, we'd sit back there..." He said motioning towards the rows of seats in the passenger cars behind them. "But it's just us, so we are gonna have to drive this thing." He finished looking around the cab trying to figure out how to start the train. 

   "We...? As in me and you? Drive...?" She stammered.

   He straightened and looked at her daringly, inches away from her face. She felt her insides burning, much to her surprise, with desire. "Are you scared?" He raised an eyebrow and grinned devilishly.

   He was messing with her, she realized. She was not about to back down. 'Two can play this game.' She thought. She leaned closer an inch. She took in his scent and could almost feel his breath but didn't break away from his enchanting stare. She felt her knees shaking but steadied herself and calmed her voice as she replied, "Not a damn bit." She kept her eyes locked on his.

   He chuckled and looked back to the controls. Callie breathed a silent sigh of relief.

   Michael found the button he was looking for and warned, "Be careful." as he pushed it. The train let out a puff of steam as it lunged forward. Callie lost her balance but Michael caught her around the waist. He pulled her into him. His eyes pierced hers, searching her soul, trying to figure her out. Callie's eyes were wide in surprise and fear and she was unable to look away from him. She was vaguely aware of their slow, heavy breathing in unison and felt a shiver run down her spine as she felt her breasts push up against his hard chest when they exhaled. 

   For how long they stood together that way, supported only by Michael's long thin fingers gripping a handle on the ceiling of the cabin, Callie had no clue. Then Michael broke eye contact and lowered her down to sit on the bench beside him. He avoided looking at her again and instead leaned his head to the side to see ahead of the train. 

   Callie was thankful he decided to look away. She could feel the blood rushing to her face and knew she must be beet red at that moment. She looked out on her side taking in the view. 'This,' she thought, 'is Neverland. 

****

   Michael took Callie around the entire park. He pointed out this and that as they went. Otherwise they sat in silence until they reached the zoo animals. 

   "Who's taking care of them?" She asked.

   "I am. I fed them earlier this morning." He answered.

   "May I see them?" She asked hopefully.

   Michael smiled and stopped the train. He got off and then helped her off as well. 'Ever the gentleman.' she thought, 'even in the most uncomfortable moments.' She admired that. 

   They walked from one animal to the next and Michael would talk about them. She smiled and listened intently. It was wonderful, she thought, to see him light up when he talked about the animals and his love for them. And the children; He spoke of the children that came to visit Neverland and how happy the animals made them. 

   Since it was starting to get late, Michael decided to go ahead and feed the animals again since he was already out here. Callie helped and then they walked back to the train.

   This time, Callie sat as soon as Michael helped her step up into the cabin. The continued to tour Neverland. They went through the amusement park and Callie admired the rides.

   "Have you ever been on any of these?" Michael asked curiously.

   "Nope... But I can drive a tractor." She smiled at him. 

   Then they continued their journey in a comfortable silence. When they got back to the train station, Michael helped her out of the cabin and they walked lazily back to the house. Every once in a while, Michael would look in her direction but Callie was too busy admiring the trees to notice. 

   Michael was still feeling conflicted. He had told himself she would be on her own the minute they got back to the house. But she had shared that story with him in the car. And for some reason, it moved him that she would share something so private. Even still he was content to part ways but something had made him turn from her room, where he had taken her luggage, and walk back outside.

   And then there had been the moment on the train. 'What was that?' He asked himself looking over at her again. Twice he thought she may kiss him and that if she hadn't, he might have kissed her. He had wanted to. It took everything in him to pull away. He couldn't figure it out. Sure, she was beautiful but there were beautiful women all over the world, throwing themselves at him. He wondered what it was about this woman that made him want her so badly despite all of his objections. 

   Callie was still looking up when she stopped walking. 'Perfect' she thought shooting a sneaky glance over at Michael. "You ever climbed a tree?" She asked interrupting his thoughts. He was still trying to process what she had asked when she walked over to the tree and started climbing.

   Michael laughed unimpressed. "You have no idea." He mocked as he followed her lead. They found the right branch and sat side by side overlooking the ranch. They sat for a while in quiet contemplation watching the sun sink further in the sky. 

   "It's so peaceful here." She said after a while.

   "Mmmm." He responded, still lost in thought. "I've spent a lot of time up here recently."

   "Thinking about your wife?" She blurted out and immediately regretted it. "Sorry." She said quickly. "Sometimes I have no filter." She laughed nervously.

   Michael smiled. He noted that a few months ago, that might have killed him but he was surprisingly un-phased by it now. He wondered if his present company had anything to do with it. "Ex- wife." He corrected. "And yes, I thought about her. But I've been thinking about other things too."

   "Like what?"

   "My family. My music. I write songs up here sometimes. I think about my life. My fans. The world and all of the problems in it. How I can fix them." He stared into the distance for a moment before he looked at her.

   She smiled. "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm a good listener." She didn't know what had compelled her to say it but she also knew that she meant every word.

   Michael gave a little smile and looked back out at the horizon, watching the sun sink lower in the sky. 

   "I know you don't trust me or anything." She started off only half teasing and he looked back at her. "But I've recently learned how comforting it can be to talk to a stranger... you should try it sometime."

   He smiled shyly looking down at his feet. "Thank you."