“Bruce Wayne?”
“Yeah. Being attracted to you or not isn’t the point, though.”
“I know,” I said. As much as I wanted to talk about something else, I couldn’t ignore the facts. “And I get it. Being with me would call into question everything you’ve ever accomplished in your career, and maybe everything in the future too.”
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “And it’s not only about what everyone else would think. How could I not start to wonder if I really earned this job, or if you just gave it to me?”
“Hey,” I said, taking her hand. “I planned to tell you to get lost when you walked into that interview. Seriously. But when you started talking, I realized you have the reputation you do for a reason. And I was right. When I haven’t been distracting you, all the work you’ve done already is top notch. You deserve this job, okay? The way I feel about you has nothing to do with that.”
Miranda swallowed hard, then looked away. She was frowning as she toyed with one of the rings on her fingers. “How do you feel, exactly?”
“Like I’m getting a chance to fix the biggest mistake of my life, and I’m going to do everything in my power to avoid fucking it up again.”
“What mistake was that?”
I chuckled. “Play your cards right tonight, and maybe you’ll get to find out.”
“I don’t know if that’s entirely fair. From the sound of it, I drunkenly spilled my guts to you last night. You should even the playing field.”
“I kind of like being on top. And, yes, I seem to recall something about you confessing your undying love for me.”
She swatted at my arm, but it was at least with a smile. “Please tell me I didn’t say that.”
“Not precisely.”
Miranda folded her arms. “I’m going to need you to tell me exactly what I did say so you can stop dangling vague comments like that in front of me. It’s not fair.”
“I think I enjoy watching you squirm too much.”
“Why does everything sound so sexual when it comes from you?” she asked.
“Because we tend to see what we want.”
She didn’t speak for a few moments, and when she finally did, her voice was soft. “Tell me, Mr. King. When you look at me, do you see what you want too?”
“Very much,” I said. “And since you beat me to making the move this morning, I think it should be my turn.”
“What would be your first move?”
“Well,” I said. “I was thinking I’d invite you to a business meeting but leave things open to turn it into a date if things went well.”
Miranda smirked. “Bold. Your move includes an escape plan?”
I laughed. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but, yeah, I guess it does.”
“Then you might as well throw away the key to that escape door.”
I grinned. “Why would I lock an escape door? I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, not to mention impractical. Do you think I’d want to be fumbling for keys if the room caught on fire?”
Miranda glared. “Keep making fun of me and maybe you will need that plan B, after all.”
I took Miranda back to her room so she could change into a pair of pants. When I mentioned horseback riding, she actually jumped up and down while making a little, barely restrained squealing noise. It was probably the most excited I’d ever seen her, and I wasn’t shocked. Back in high school, she had mentioned once how she always dreamed of being one of those kids whose family owned a stable of horses. She’d thought it would’ve been amazing to get to ride every weekend and have a horse of her own to bond with.
I was happy to see her love of horses apparently hadn’t dimmed with time.
She took almost a full minute to stop happy dancing. When she was finished, she bent to pet Thug. She even rubbed him behind the ears, muttered a few things to him, threw his toy so he could chase it, and then finally got up to come with me.
“So,” I said as we walked toward the golf cart. “How is finding a new home for Thug coming?”
“Fine,” she said. She hopped on the seat beside me, and we drove toward the gardens, where the horses would be waiting. “I mean, I’ve been pretty busy since we got here. But once things calm down, I’m sure I’ll be able to find someone for him.”
“You’re not getting attached?”
“What? No. I’ve never been a dog person.”
I grinned. “What is your animal of choice, then?”
“Elephants. If somebody genetically modified an elephant to stay baby size forever, I would sell everything I’ve ever owned to have it. No hesitation.”
I laughed. “Maybe that can be our next business venture together. Genetically modified animals. We can branch out to other animals too. Miniature giraffes, gorillas, cows . . .”
“Don’t tease me with that. It makes my heart hurt just to think about them. Imagine coming home to a little elephant sleeping on the couch.”
“Or taking your tiny giraffe for a walk.”
We arrived at the gardens. A woman was standing with two horses that were already saddled up and ready to go.
“You excited?” I asked.
“I’ve never ridden a horse before,” she said. “You think it’s okay?”
The woman with the horses overheard and smiled. “You’ll be fine. I’ll take a few minutes going over the basics, and then I’ll let you and Mr. King take them around the grounds.”
“By ourselves?” she asked. “Is that safe?”
“Mr. King is an experienced rider. These horses are also extremely well trained. You’ll be absolutely safe.”
Miranda looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “I never took you for a horse rider.”
“Yeah, well, I went through a little bit of an equestrian phase after high school. I don’t like to talk about it.”
“Do your brothers know?”
“Of course they don’t,” I snapped. I blew out a breath and shook my head. “Sorry, it’s just . . . yeah, please never breathe a word of that to them. Especially Cade. He’d never let me live it down.”
She was smiling wide now. “Did you wear those tight beige horse-riding pants and the little hat?”
“It’s a helmet. And I wore the equipment you’re supposed to wear. Sometimes the pants were beige,” I added.
She clapped her hands and laughed. “Oh my God. I can’t even picture it, but I want to. Is it some sort of requirement that all men in the King family have to have a weird hobby?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Rich has the dinosaur thing. You have horses, apparently.”
“Had,” Nick corrected. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I still enjoy riding, but I don’t compete or anything like that.”
“Actually,” Miranda said, “does Cade have a weird thing, other than, well, being weird in general?”
“Yeah. Never ask him about bugs or snails. He will talk for hours about them.”
She smirked. “I think I caught the tail end of one of his snail talks, come to think of it. But what made you get into horses in the first place?”