Page 101 of This Bitter Sweet Temptation
“Oh, that’s awesome.” I smile. “Would it kill them to indulge her?”
“Believe me, most of them do. As much as school policy allows. Just wish she was this well rounded with math.” He grins and shakes his head. “You talk to her, the only math anyone ever needs is basic arithmetic. She’ll go out of her way to remind you AI will take over physicists soon anyway. That’s better than the calculator excuse I had as a kid.”
I don’t tell him she’s absolutely right. I haven’t done more than basic arithmetic and reading graphs since high school. With AI in the mix… Oh man.
The bad news is it’s also going to drive some people off the deep end. I remember the trouble that came knocking at Margot’s door and shudder.
“Anyway,” he says. “Do you have news for me?”
“Actually, yes,” I say. “I called Jasper Fairfax this morning.”
He turns to fully face me, focusing with a bearish intensity I find wickedly sexy. “And? How was it?”
“I told him I’ve decided to wait and explore my options. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear, and I don’t know if it’s what you love hearing, either, but—”
I link my fingers together awkwardly.
“Nile, it’s not about me. You know that,” he says. “I’m surprised you shut him down. It’s a good thing, though. You have to do you.”
“Well, it wasn’t easy. I had to go with my conscience—and yeah, I guess I had Gramps whispering in my ear.”
He nods.
“I’m glad you did. I’ll make peace with sticking around a little longer.” He rests his elbows behind him, against the railings, the wind ruffling his hair.
My art brain switches on.
He’s so effortlessly interesting, begging to be immortalized.
I wince. “I’m sorry about that. Kit, too. She must miss you like crazy. I hate that I’m keeping you here.”
Actually, part of me isn’t sorry at all. If I’m stuck with a giant, at least it’s one who cooks and looksthisgood.
A girl has eyes.
And this girl enjoys what she sees every time his eyes flash sternly.
“She’ll survive.” Holden smiles. A real one. “That was always part of the deal. I knew what I was getting into when I accepted.”
“You were pissed about the terms and conditions,” I point out.
“I still agreed to the lawyer’s fine print, didn’t I.” He hesitates, frowning and glancing back over the rocky shore. His throat moves, but he doesn’t speak.
I can practically sense him holding back what he really wants to say.
“Go ahead. Tell me.” I rest my shoulders against the edge of the sliding door, folding my arms.
“What?”
“You obviously have something brewing. So say it.”
He snorts, but he relaxes again. “Kit won’t like hearing it’s an open-ended commitment. When I’d travel with your grandfather, he was rarely away for more than a week. This is longer than anything she’s used to.”
I wait as he pauses, chewing his lip, piecing together what he wants to say.
Yes, we’ve changed, opened up a bit, but not everything. There’s still plenty about his home life he hasn’t mentioned.
Kit’s a huge part of that, I know, and with an active little mind beyond her years buzzing away, I wonder what other trouble she gets into.
