Page 51 of Blossoms of the Heart
Chapter 11
Tai
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“You’re here early.” I broke the silence.
“Lot’s on my mind.” She shifted from one side to another.
“Looks like you’ve been doing lots of reading.” I gestured to her desk and the books on it.
“Had to, I’m kind of stuck.”
“Really?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Stuck, probably as intended.”
“What do you mean?”
“It think the samurai purposely wanted to confuse people.” She pressed her lips together.
Well, at least she was talking to me.
“So you can’t read the journal?”
“I can read most of it and fill in the blanks for the other stuff, but I’m at a part where everything is jumbled with all the languages. I’m worried I’ll lose the meaning.”
I didn’t envy her. That was the part of this gig that I didn’t want to get involved in. With the way how I used to love archeology and learning from Akito, I could have followed suit and joined him in the academics behind it too, but I wasn’t cut out for it.
Too boring for me. Simple as.
“Maybe you’re thinking about the wrong things,” I pointed out.
She pushed out her full lips. Lips I knew were as soft as they looked. “Really, like I got the wrong idea?” Double meaning that I didn’t miss.
While she frowned, I couldn’t resist the smile that tugged on my lips.
Then she had to torture me further by folding her arms under her breasts. The motion drew my attention straight there.
She noticed and flushed, but she kept the pissed off look going.
“Here’s me helping.” More like me trying to not be in her bad books. I would have hated to start our working relationship on the wrong foot. “If our samurai’s trying to be confusing, maybe there’s a reason for it.”
“Can’t think what that would be.”
“Well maybe when we go back to the cave you’ll get some clues.” We planned to go Monday.
“Sure.” She looked me up and down then turned to go back up the steps to her workstation.
Of course my eyes landed on her curvy ass in that skirt as she took the steps. When she turned back to look at me, she caught me watching.
Caught again and I wasn’t going to pretend that I wasn’t looking.
With the trap set, I moved to follow her, thinking up things I could talk to her about.
She bit back a smile when I stepped up the last step and walked up to her desk. My eyes locked on to the way she ran her fingers over the row of journals. Slow and purposeful. I thought of her hands on my chest last night while on the bike.
That touch had set me on fire.
