Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 83(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 83(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
I stepped into Kaylan again, placing one hand on his hip while resting my forehead against his. “You mean like an Audrey II.”
“Precisely.”
And, of course, my geeky heart soared that he’d gotten my dorky Little Shop of Horrors reference.
“I don’t know if he technically cheated. Karl is someone he works with. He said they were just friends.” This time, it was my turn to shrug as I lifted my head. “Feelings for Karl might have been what pushed him to end our relationship.”
Kaylan jerked his head back and narrowed his eyes at me. “You don’t sound or look upset by any of this. Why?”
“Maybe it’s because I’m over Tim, and any anger I felt was my ego being tweaked.” I leaned in close, placing my lips right beside Kaylan’s ear. “But it might also be from the amazing kiss I just received.”
“Mmmm…” Kaylan hummed. “I’m a polyglot. Makes for a very limber, talented tongue.”
I jerked away from my date, my head falling on an explosion of laughter. Of all the things I’d expected him to say, that was not it.
“It shows,” I agreed when I caught my breath. Taking his hand, I tried to pull him to the path so we could continue, but Kaylan tugged me in the opposite direction.
“Wait. We need a selfie, and this is the perfect spot.”
“To mark the occasion of our first kiss?” I asked as I returned to his side.
“I wasn’t going to be that sentimental. My thought was to prove to my boss that I went out on this date,” he muttered as he fiddled with his phone.
“Got it. Kaylan is not a romantic,” I teased as I stood beside him with an arm wrapped around his waist. The waterfall tumbled behind us while lush greenery framed the rest of the shot.
“Hey, now! I can be really fucking romantic when I want to be. I just didn’t want to make any assumptions.”
He lifted the phone to get us both in the shot. I rested my cheek against the side of his head and smiled while getting lost in Kaylan’s bright grin.
“What kind of assumptions?” I inquired after he finished snapping pictures and put his phone away.
“You know…assumptions about whether there will be a second date. Or a second kiss.”
“Or kisses that involve both of us being naked,” I suggested.
“That,” Kaylan said sharply, pointing one finger at me. “That right there is why I think you’re a very smart guy, and I want a second date with you.”
Chuckling, I tugged Kaylan off the bridge so we could continue through the rainforest display. There was still one more room to tackle, which would give me time to figure out how to sneak some more kisses or if I should hang all my hopes on a second date.
“So, Mr. Polyglot, how many languages do you speak?”
Kaylan flashed me a smirk as we climbed the curved marble stairs up to the main entrance of the conservatory. “Fluently? Eight.”
“You’re shitting me,” I scoffed.
He lifted one hand, counting them off on his fingers. “English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean. It was part of the reason I got my job. Sebastian’s executive assistant speaks French, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Polish, and Russian. Sebastian wanted someone to fill in the gaps. When he hired me, I spoke three, but expressed an interest in learning more. Sebastian said that he’d pay to have me professionally trained, and my salary would increase with each language I mastered.”
“That’s amazing.” I reached out and caught his hand, threading our fingers together again. The man with the wicked tongue grinned at me as we turned to the right and headed into the last room—the Fern Room. It was a smaller room with a pond in the center, while trees and a wide variety of ferns filled almost all the space. There was a little narrow path through the greenery for us to walk, and even here and there, we had to move some leaves aside.
“What exactly do you do for your job?”
“Are we giving up on listing our most unappealing qualities?” Kaylan taunted.
“They weren’t working for me. If that’s your worst, you’re never getting rid of me. I figured we should just get the boring stuff out of the way.”
Kaylan waggled his eyebrows at him. “Got plans for the fun stuff later?”
“Maybe…”
A low snicker escaped Kaylan as he continued to walk. “This is the boring stuff. My job is to do a lot of odd jobs, most of it talking. I talk to all the different departments and department heads, gathering reports and various bits of information. It’s also a lot of meeting prep work. And then there’s research. Sebastian will get this crazy idea, and I have to track down random things for his idea.”
“Sounds…unpredictable.”
Kalyan nodded as he took a picture of some koi swimming around a gray stone mermaid sculpture. “Some days, it’s definitely unpredictable, but there are a lot of days where I know what I’m in for. It’s a nice balance of routine and chaos.” He tucked his phone away and smiled at me, a couple of locks of brown hair falling in front of his eyes. “What about you? I know plenty of graphic designers from work. Do you do your own artwork on the side?”