Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I answered. “I don’t hate money. It can be useful. But I’ll never let it own me like it owns my parents. They live to be seen in a certain light because of money. Part of it is how they were brought up, but part of it is a choice. I made mine.”
Dessert came. They were little round, elegantly decorated cheesecake bites. I wasn’t sure what she would like and had arranged for an assortment to be brought to us when I called the restaurant from Russell’s office to warn the staff we would be coming.
“Oh my god, this is amazing,” she said.
She didn’t know how badly I wanted to eat her. But today, I’d decided to keep my hands to myself and prove that what we had was far more than sex. And so far, I’d been right. She had an adventurous spirit. I’d known that much from her working for the FBI.
I picked up a dulce de leche cheesecake and asked, “If everything was taken care of, where would you go in the world and why?” before taking a bite.
“That’s hard,” she said, tapping a finger to her chin. “There are so many places.”
I held up a finger and swallowed my bite before I said, “Only one.”
“You drive a hard bargain.” She thought for another second before saying, “Initially, I would have said Egypt. I think it would be cool to see the pyramids in person. So much history there. But if I only get one, I’d say Italy for the same reasons.”
A laugh burst from me. “Oh, you’re a cheater.”
She shrugged. “You didn’t specify city versus country. You said place.” I had to give her that one. “What about you?”
I didn’t have to think. “Anywhere, as long as I’m with you.”
Her jaw dropped, and I flashed a smirk. “You are too smooth.”
She’d used those words before. I shrugged. “You said place,” I repeated. “And my place is with you.”
With that, I got up, drew her to me and kissed that sweet mouth of hers that I’d been dying to kiss. She tasted like chocolate ganache cheesecake. I used one hand to cup her face and the other I let fall to the small of her back to draw her closer.
She tightened her grip around my waist and lifted on her toes. She was so soft everywhere I was hard. Though there was a roof of sorts above us. Everything above the short wall was open air. We would be seen if we took things to the next level.
Though I didn’t want to, I pulled back. “As much as I want to devour you, I promised you a date.” I flashed my teeth and took her by the hand.
“Next stop?” she asked. Her eyes were filled with the same desire I felt.
I swallowed as my mind raced with where we could go. In the end, I said, “Central Park.”
We walked the seven blocks to Fifty-Ninth Street. To the sides of the gated entrance, horse-drawn carriages lined the way. As we drew closer, my ire grew. Some of the horses looked tired and likely thirsty. My sister had ridden horses when she was younger, and I’d spent a fair amount of time in the stables when she had lessons.
“Give me a second,” I said to Tayla, letting go of her hand and heading to confront the first handler I got to.
Starting a fight wasn’t the best course of action, even if I wanted to. I wouldn’t ruin Tayla’s first day in New York that way. Instead, I used the next best option.
“I’ll pay you for a ride, but I want you to rest and water your horse for the time it would take us for the ride.” A carriage had just pulled off with a family of four. “You stay here until they get back, and I’ll double your fee.”
The man didn’t have to think about it too long. He accepted the first half of the payment. I made the same offer to two more handlers whose horses looked worse for wear. When I was done, I asked the one I had just spoken to for the brush. He knew what I was referring to. A minute later, he produced one. I waved Tayla over.
“Have you ever brushed a horse?” I asked. She shook her head. “Here, do it just like this. It helps to relax them, and honestly, it’s relaxing for me.”
I showed her how and then handed her the brush. The smile on her face thawed my heart even further. I got a brush from another handler and brushed that horse as we waited. Not long after, a carriage arrived with an enthusiastic horse. I handed the brush over and went to see that handler and arranged a ride.
“Are you ready?” I asked, having sidled up behind Tayla and whispered in her ear.