Page 37 of Prickly Romance

“Speaking of sign language, Kenya’s already talking about signing us up for classes.” His expression remains stone-cold, but his eyes soften. “I’ll sign Belle up for it too. It would be good for her to know more than one language.”

“That is very kind of you.”

He arches an eyebrow. “I’m glad you’re here, Sazuki, but I’m guessing you didn’t accept my invitation just so we could talk about sign language.”

“No.” I turn fully to Alistair. “I want your coding expertise. More precisely, your patterning algorithm.”

He rubs his chin. “You’re entering the coding space?”

“No. It’s—”

Dejonae’s laughter rings out, temporarily distracting me.

I glance into the living room again.

The children are on the floor playing cards. Niko is still tucked against Dejonae’s side.

“What does deaf mean?” Belle asks, setting down a yellow card into a pile.

“It means she can’t hear,” the boy with the glasses says smartly.

“Then how can she play with us?”

Dejonae grins. “She can play just like you can.” Turning to my daughter, she signs, “Play this card, Niko.”

Niko sets down her card.

Dejonae screams. “UNO!”

Niko signs, “One.”

My lips twitch. When I return my attention to Alistair, he’s looking at me.

“Were you saying something?” I ask. “My apologies. Can you repeat it?”

“No need to apologize. I’m hyper-aware of where Belle is at all times too.” He pauses. “I’m also hyper-aware of Kenya.”

A self-conscious wave crashes into me.

I tug my collar away from my neck and pretend not to have heard. “My team and I are working on a sound wave prototype. Unfortunately, we hit a road block a few weeks ago. I believe the answer is in the programming.”

“Who’s your engineer?”

“Adam Harrison.”

“Brilliant guy,” Alistair says.

“Indeed, but programming is not his forte.”

“So you want me to help you design the coding for this gadget?”

“Precisely.”

“I’d like to, Sazuki, but I’m not sure I can handle the demand on my time.” Alistair stares into the distance. “Between Fine Industries, Belle’s Beauty and my family, I’m booked out.”

“If it is too much strain on your schedule, we can license your technology. I will hire someone to take over the research.”

He inhales deeply.

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