Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
With only a grin, she slayed me. I would have done anything for her. Suddenly, it clicked what Connor said about knowing when you have the one. The one woman who would own your heart. He said it would hit me like a sledgehammer and there would be no denying it. He said it had been like that for him with my sister and he’d tried to ignore it. But ultimately, couldn’t.
I led Tayla over to the carriage and helped her up. I didn’t immediately get in and asked the guy to wait a second as I went over to proposition the three handlers in another bid to give the horses more resting time. I offered them additional money to wait until I got back. They took me up on it. Luckily, I’d gotten cash from my mom, who believed in keeping money in the house. She didn’t completely trust banks and I’d wanted more cash than I could get from an ATM at one time in case something came up.
After that was done, I got in the carriage and sat next to Tayla. Unable to keep my hands to myself, I grabbed hers as we began the tour of Central Park. I’d chosen the long ride, and we saw everything from the Wollman Rink. New York’s famous ice-skating rink where Love Story, Serendipity, and Home Alone 2 were filmed. We rode by the carousel and the Central Park Zoo. We also saw the Boathouse and Tavern on the Green, the most lucrative famous restaurant in the world, and other places where movies were filmed. An hour later, we returned and the three handlers were still there. I paid them and felt better as the horses looked perkier after the rest and water.
“That was amazing,” Tayla said.
Though I had seen it before, it was different being with someone who was only seeing it for the first time. I noticed things I’d taken for granted. “It was.”
“You’ve seen it before,” she teased.
“Not with you.”
“I’m beginning to think you’re a charmer who charms all the ladies.”
I brought her hand to my lips and brushed a kiss over her knuckles. “Only you.”
A blush crept over her beautiful skin. “We’re taking a cab to the next stop.” She pouted and so I took the opportunity to kiss her. “Trust me. Besides, you need to see New York above ground,” I offered.
“Fine, and I do trust you.”
After everything she’d learned about me, that surprised me. And yet, I was still holding back. This time, it wasn’t my secret to share. It was, for lack of a better word, classified, or rather on a need-to-know basis, who I worked for. I could only hope if she ever found out, she would forgive me just the same.
We could have walked, but I hailed a cab instead of an Uber. Though she hadn’t complained, she was wearing wedges, and I didn’t think they were the most comfortable shoes ever. Since I didn’t want a record of our movement, I’d gone the cab route. Plus, I wanted to pay cash. Cabs were becoming less common in the era of Uber and Lyft, but they weren’t obsolete. We got in and drove for about five minutes.
“Are we going back to your restaurant?” Tayla asked.
She paid attention and recognized how close we were. “No. Better,” I said as the cab let us out at 653 Fifth Avenue.
“Cartier?” she asked.
I nodded. “The building consisted of two conjoined residences. The Plant House, which is considered one of the remaining Gilded Age mansions, and the Edward Holbrook residence.”
She looked skeptical. “So we are here as tourists,” she said, with one brow arched.
I winked at her. “You are. I’m your tour guide,” I said as I led her to the doors of the store.
Her eyes went everywhere as we entered the store. The ceilings were extremely high, and the space was expansive.
“Can I help you?” A man offered as we entered.
“I don’t have an appointment, but I hoped to see—” and I gave him the name of the sales associate I usually dealt with. “If he’s not available, then your next available associate.”
The man nodded. “Someone will be with you shortly.”
Tayla had wandered in, and I found her looking at a display of Cartier’s iconic LOVE bracelets. They were oval, with the horizontal line inside the letter O spaced evenly around the bracelet, alluding to the bracelet’s locking mechanism.
“You should try one on,” I said when I reached her.
She held up her hands. “No way. Everything in here is more than a month’s paycheck.”
I knew that the sales associates in this store made more than most federal government employees not working in this state and not from commissions, just straight salary.
A woman approached, and I assumed the associate I’d asked for was busy. “Would you like to try one?”