Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 53081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
“You’re here on vacation. Go have fun,” Caesar answered firmly.
“Okay, I’m going to lie by the pool and have one of those drinks with an umbrella.”
“Don’t have too much fun,” Caesar warned.
“I’ll try,” she teased as she left.
Chapter Five
Following a text message, Isla waited at the elevator for Caesar, who’d said he’d come get her for dinner the following evening. When the doors opened, Caesar stepped out.
He gathered her in his arms to kiss her thoroughly. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. Shall we go to dinner or look at the map first? I’d really like you to see it,” Isla said eagerly.
“I share the fifth floor with my team. They’re all at dinner right now. No one should be there,” Caesar offered.
“How do we get there? The elevator only goes to four.”
“It just takes a special touch.”
He pressed a decorative button above the down arrow on the wall. When the elevator arrived and a couple stepped out, Caesar waved her inside. He pressed his hand to a panel, and the car began to rise.
“I thought that was just a fake button,” Isla said, wide-eyed.
“It is for everyone whose prints aren’t on record. Those living on that floor are the only people who can get upstairs.”
“Is that for security reasons? Or is something bad going on up there?” Every scary movie popped into her head as the doors opened.
“You’re safe. The elevator here has a regular button. You can get downstairs easily,” Caesar assured her. “Come inside. You’ll see it’s all very normal.”
She followed him into a large gathering area with comfortable couches and a large TV. To her delight, a stuffed black cat sat on the couch. He was obviously well-loved.
“Are there kids here?” she asked.
“No. Just Littles. That’s Hades. What’s your stuffie’s name?”
“Nado,” she answered automatically as she looked around, ensuring this wasn’t an ax murderer’s workshop.
“Nado. Cute. What kind of stuffie is it?”
“Nado is a shark, of course. Haven’t you ever watched that movie with sharks that are thrown out of the ocean by a tornado?” she asked, turning to face him.
“I get it. Nado is short for tornado. That’s cute. I’ll look forward to meeting Nado soon. I also think you watch too many scary movies.”
“Oh, I’ve never seen them. I get nightmares just from the commercials on TV,” Isla said. “My imagination makes them terrifying.”
He grinned. “Note to self—no commercials. Want to look at the map out here, or should we spread it out on a table in my apartment?”
Isla looked around at the doors. All but one was decorated with a colored drawing. She surmised that the stuffie on the sofa went with the person who lived behind the door with the picture of the black cat. There was a kiwi she recognized from her research on New Zealand. A spider, swan, and penguin rounded out the pictures.
When Caesar led her to the blank door, her heart hurt for him. He didn’t have someone who’d made him a drawing. She instantly wondered if there were crayons and paper in the gift shop.
“You need a picture,” she said softly as he opened the door.
“You’ll make one for me, Little girl,” he responded with a smile.
“If you’d like.”
“Thank you. Come inside. Let’s put the map on the kitchen island. There’s good light in there.”
After leaving her sandals by his door, she hopped up on a bar stool. Isla pulled the map out of her bra and spread it out. When he looked at her strangely, she asked, “What? I don’t have any pockets. Where else was I supposed to hide it?”
“I’ve never been more jealous of a map in my life.” Caesar dispersed her embarrassment with a look that contained enough heat to make her wiggle on her stool.
“Come look at this.” She pointed to a spot on the map. “I really struggled to figure out that those letters were an NZ for New Zealand. From different angles, that writing looks like different things. I thought the Z was a two for a while. Once I figured that out, I searched the coastline to find anything resembling the map. What do you think?”
“I think you’re right. It looks like our coastline here. There’s one way to find out for sure.”
“How’s that?”
“There’s a computer guy on my team. He could tell us quickly if our guesses are right.”
“Will he take our treasure?” she asked nervously.
“Goodness no, my Little Fish. Any treasure discovered belongs to New Zealand anyway. I’m just going to make sure you’re safe looking for it.”
“Thanks.”
Impulsively, Isla scooted to the edge of her stool and wrapped her arms around his neck. Pressing her mouth to his, she kissed him with all the heat that brewed inside her every time she spent time with this magnetic man. His groan in response made her smile, happy that he was as attracted to her as she was to him.