Chapter 67
The Promise With No Witness
We finally made it to Everland. The smell of fresh-baked cookies makes my mouth water. Our three-row golf cart flies across the brick pavers, easily navigating the empty streets. We pass by smiling employees, decked out princesses and princes, and shops prepping for another busy day in the park.
My excitement only grows as we near the massive princess castle in the middle of it all.
Adrian places a palm on my bouncing thigh. “Are you okay?”
I grin. “Just excited.”
His forehead wrinkles as he frowns.
“When was the last time you visited the park?” Nia turns her body so she can look back at us.
My smile falls. “We’ve traveled here once for business.”
“You’ve been to Everland one time, and it was for business?” Her face is one of absolute horror.
Adrian’s hand on my thigh tightens in a silent look at me gesture, but I don’t. I don’t want to see the pity on his face.
I consider lying but think better of it. “My mom didn’t have enough money to get us tickets. With flights, hotel, and admission fees, you could buy a month’s worth of groceries for the same price as a trip here.”
“What does your mom do?”
“She’s an art teacher.”
Nia grasps onto Theo’s arm. “We need to offer teacher discounts. And children of teacher discounts. And discounts for adults who have never been to Everland as a child.”
He shoots her a look. “At that rate, we won’t make any money.”
“There are grown adults out there who have never been to Everland, Theo. Now is not the time to be stingy.”
He looks over at Adrian for help, but Adrian is solely looking at me.
“I didn’t realize you had never been here before.”
I shrug. “You never asked.”
The hand on my thigh squeezes harder. I shift my gaze toward Adrian, and the look on his face sends a shiver down my back.
“Would you like to check out the park?”
“For work?”
“No. For fun.”
The idea makes me laugh. “You hate this place.”
“I’m willing to pretend that I don’t for a day.”
“What about prepping for our walkthrough with Nakamura?”
“The park will still be here tomorrow. We can talk business then.”
Heat spreads through my chest. I wrap my arms around his neck and give him a squeeze. “I’d love that.”
Adrian speaks up to the rest of the group. “Plans have changed.”
Nia squeals with delight, and like that, our day is completely altered because Adrian declared it so.
All for me.
Nia is the best tour guide ever. Turns out she has been a part of Everland since she was a child, so she knows everything about the place. With her knowledge and Theo’s ability to help us skip any lines, there is nothing stopping us from exploring the whole park in a day. Well, nothing but me. I try my hardest to keep focused, but I am distracted every few feet by the different flower and plant displays. The array of colors captures my attention, and I can’t help stopping each time to check out the perfectly designed topiaries of different Everland characters.
Adrian looms over me like a shadow, assessing my every move.
I turn toward him with heated cheeks. “What?”
“I should have known you would care more about the plants than the rides.”
“Because look at this! It’s art!” I throw an arm up at the sculpture of Iggy the Alien, Marcus Sterling’s iconic first character. The entire thing is made up of trimmed green leaves and a ball of wire.
“Art?” His voice has a hint of amusement despite his blank face.
Nia 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.
Adrian clears his throat.
Shit. This isn’t a personal vacation, remember? Today is already enough of a deviation from the protocol. The last thing Adrian needs is me becoming distracted by things that aren’t important right now. I can come back and visit Everland whenever, but we only have one shot to convince Nakamura 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.”
Adrian tugs on my elbow. “Why are you saying no?”
“Because we have our walkthrough to prepare for. Nakamura 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. “Nia, you can go ahead and schedule tomorrow’s activities. It might be hard for her, but Amara 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 Adrian’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, Adrian 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.”