Declan 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, Brady Kane’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.
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.