“Art?” His voice has a hint of amusement despite his blank face.
Zahra bounces over to us. “You know, if you’re interested, we could take you to check out the horticulture department.”
My eyes widen. “Really?”
She smiles. “Sure. It would be no big deal.”
“Oh my God. I’d love that!”
“With the way you keep taking photos and gawking at their plants, they’ll probably feel like rock stars.”
“That’s because they are rock stars.”
She pulls out her phone and taps away at the screen. “Do you have any free time tomorrow? The head of the department is going to be there and would be happy to show you around. They might be a little busier than usual because they’re prepping for the Flower Festival, but they’d love to show you the behind-the-scenes action.”
I gasp. “The head of the department wants to show me around?”
Her chest shakes from withheld laughter. “Yes. Said so himself.” She flips her phone so I can see the text chain with my own eyes.
Declan clears his throat.
Shit. This isn’t a personal vacation, remember? Today is already enough of a deviation from the protocol. The last thing Declan needs is me becoming distracted by things that aren’t important right now. I can come back and visit Dreamland whenever, but we only have one shot to convince Yakura to work with us. Plants can wait.
I shake my head. “Uhm. Actually, tomorrow doesn’t work for me. Tell him I’m sorry and maybe next time I can make room in my schedule for a visit.”
Her smile falls. “Oh. No worries.”
Declan tugs on my elbow. “Why are you saying no?”
“Because we have our walkthrough to prepare for. Yakura will be here in a couple of days and we need to be ready for anything he might throw at us.”
“It’s not going to be anything different from what you’ve seen today.”
I frown. “But we’re a team.”
“I’m sure I can survive a few hours without you while you go check out some plants.”
“Please. During work, you can’t go thirty minutes without finding some reason to stop by my desk.”
“I like giving you verbal instructions.”
“Why?”
“Do I need a better reason than I like watching the way your eyes light up with defiance?”
“You’re such a liar.”
His right eye twitches. “I did some research on how people with learning differences like yours do best with verbal and written instruction.”
My knees tremble. “Anything else you learned?”
His arm wraps around my waist, which is probably best seeing as my legs are about two confessions away from giving out.
“Voice notes or phone calls work best.”
I laugh despite the tight ball of emotion forming in my throat. “Here I was thinking you just hated texting.”
His lips lift the slightest bit at the corners. “I do hate texting. Don’t trick yourself into thinking it had anything to do with you.”
“Shut up.” I laugh as I give his chest a shove.
His arms don’t budge, although his lips curve up into a smile. “Zahra, you can go ahead and schedule tomorrow’s activities. It might be hard for her, but Iris can survive a day without me.”
I stick out my tongue. “Please. I don’t think you’ve spent a whole workday without me for three years.”
His voice drops as his dark eyes capture mine in a trance. “And I don’t plan on doing so anytime soon.”
I snuggle against Declan’s chest as he throws the comforter over our entwined bodies. I’m grateful he takes initiative because my muscles are aching after going around the entire park twice.
I trace mindless patterns on his chest. “Thank you for today.”
“You don’t need to thank me every time I do something nice.”
“I read somewhere that reinforcing good behavior increases the likelihood of it happening again.”
“There are better ways to reinforce good behavior.” His raspy voice turns my insides into bubbling lava.
“As tempting as sex sounds right now, I don’t think I can move a single muscle.”
“I’ll do all the work.”
“Who knew you were so proactive?”
“They say practice makes perfect, so I’m trying to fit in all the lessons I can get.”
I laugh so hard, I’m afraid I might pee if I don’t stop. “You don’t need any more practice. Trust me.” For someone who has avoided women for God knows how long, Declan sure knows what he’s doing in the bedroom. Or office. Or shower. Pretty much anywhere that has a surface to fuck against is no longer safe.
“My ego thanks you, but I’m talking about practicing for a baby, not sex.”
My eyes widen. We haven’t talked about condoms ever since our conversation a couple of weeks ago when Declan walked out on me in the middle of our argument. Neither one of us has dared to broach the subject, so we haven’t stopped using them.
“Are you suggesting…” My voice trails off. I can’t even get the words out.
“I’m ready whenever you are to get started on your little soccer team.”
“Who said anything about a soccer team?”
“You did.”
“What? When?”
“If I’m not mistaken, I believe you said you wanted a whole minivan of kids.”
I’m not sure I’m even breathing as I speak up. “But we only agreed to one child.”
“Plans change.”
“You didn’t even want one child. How do you expect me to believe you want a whole soccer team now?”
“I do because it would make you happy.”
“That’s not why people should have children. They’re a lifelong commitment—”
He presses his lips against mine to shut me up. “Exactly.”
“But—”
He kisses me again, and my body melts into the mattress.
“We could have one kid or five, so long as you only have them with me. I’ll give you the minivan life, solely if you want it.”
“What if I’m not ready? What if this is all too much all at once and I can’t handle a new relationship and a new baby?”
His throat bobs. “Then we wait.”
“Even if it means holding off on you becoming CEO?”
“Even then.”
I’m hit with a wave of emotion so strong, my eyes glisten. A single tear slips down my face before landing on the pillow beneath me. Never in a million years did I expect to hear those words come out of his mouth.
He kisses me until my lips tingle and my legs tremble around his waist. Our clothes land in a pile on the floor next. When he reaches for a condom on the dresser, I cover his hand with mine and shake my head.
“Are you sure?” He looks down at me with a pinched expression.
I nod, afraid to speak. He groans as he kisses me, this time with enough heat to set my lips on fire. His movements are unhurried as he touches my body like it’s the very first time.
I feel cherished as his lips kiss a path from my mouth to my chest. He draws my nipple into his mouth, teasing the tip with his tongue. I jolt from the zing that shoots down my spine. His throat vibrates against my skin as he laughs, but his amusement disappears as his mouth returns to torturing my breast. He moves on to the other, focusing all his attention on pushing me to insanity.