Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
God, what a mess. I had to try to make it happen by that evening or I’d be under a less than 24-hour deadline and really be freaking the F out.
Zane closed and locked Chili’s crate and sat across from me and dug into his breakfast.
“That shirt… what is it made of?” I asked and reached across the table to touch it at his elbow, making a snap decision to try to make myself irresistible so that tonight, at the latest, he’d make me Mrs. Zane Zenith.
Zane swallowed what was in his mouth and shrugged. “Not sure. Why?”
I reached further across the table, running my hand up his bicep to his shoulder and running out of room, stood, reaching further to run my hand across his chest to where the shirt was opened.
“It’s so silky,” I said, my hand stopping on his bare skin.
He blinked twice, and then smiled wide, with dimples.
“And this? This is…” He ran his hand up my back to the back of my neck and gave a little squeeze and then tugged my ponytail, “a very nice view.”
Oh, shoot; it dawned that I was leaned forward enough that he was staring right down the front of the white camisole that I wore under the light cardigan.
My hand flew to my chest, covering the gap that let him see my bra. I backed up and sat down, my face going hot and likely as red as my hair.
He looked pleased with himself as he drank a sip of coffee.
Shit. If I’m seducing him, I should be showing skin.
For a second there, I wished I’d had my Jessica Rabbit costume with me.
CHAPTER 22
ZANE
It was late afternoon and he was on his way home after meeting with Nova at the police headquarters for the capital region. Zane felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders at what’d revealed itself. Or what was possibly revealing itself. There wasn’t 100% proof yet, but he felt sick in his gut and to say it weighed on him was an understatement.
First, there was the trip to the office with Tanya, Ollie, and Chili and the outing was amusing. Ollie talked non-stop during the ride to the office about his favorite books, his favorite animals, and seemed intent on having her learn as much about him and his father as quickly as possible. Ollie told Tanya of Zane’s favorite food (steak), his favorite color (red), about their visits to the sea to Uncle Daxx’s house. About a trip they had taken to the Rosa Waterfalls when Ollie was just three.
He’d read her two books before they’d even left and showed her a thick book of his drawings on the ride that he’d spent the month putting together with story ideas.
And then when they got into his office building, Zane took them into his office to wait while he did some things in the lab, opening the closet filled with Earth technology that Zane had been studying, so that Tanya could show them to Ollie and explain how they worked, which interested Ollie greatly.
Zane got into his current pet project, to translate written word from Phallyxian to English and vice versa as quickly as his voice translation software worked, and had lost track of time when he realized he should get everyone some lunch, so turned around and headed through the glass doors separating his office from his lab.
They had an Earth television set up with a colored mat on the floor and Ollie and Tanya were both hopping and jumping and following motions of pictures on the screen, a loud song assaulting his ears. Both of them were barefoot.
Tanya giggled and Ollie looked to be heavily concentrating as they tried to follow the motions of the characters on the screen. Neither of them was very good at it, but seemed to be making a party of it. The song ended and showed a replay of the two of them dancing and announced Tanya as the winner.
“I win this time, but you did great!” She told him. “High five!”
“You didn’t let me win,” Ollie said, astounded.
“What?”
“My friend’s big brother told me if you let me win at everything you might be a fake. You just won against me six times.”
“I’m sorry, honey, but I am serious about any dancing game. If you keep practicing, you’ll win against me fair and square. Until then… let’s be good sportsmen after a good competition.”
She held her palm up and Ollie hopped and slapped her palm. Zane jerked in surprise but realized it was some sort of action she’d evidently taught him.
He leaned against the doorframe.
“Is it time to feed Chili again?” Ollie asked her. The two of them were still oblivious to Zane’s presence.
They’d brought six temperature-controlled bottles of fuschilla substitute milk with them. Overkill, because Zane had insisted, they’d only be a few hours, but Tanya had remarked that it was important to be prepared when caring for a newborn. Zane fought an eyeroll at the way she talked as if the thing were her baby, not a pest she’d named.