Page 21 of What the Heart Wants (Desires of the Heart 1)

“No, let’s just head to the shop across the street and pick something up. We are going to have a quick bite and head out,” I say as the elevator door closes.

“You aren’t going to tell me where we are going, are you?” she asks looking up at me through her lashes. I chuckle and shake my head. “No, you will find out in an hour.”

Kyla lets out a sigh and we make our way to the coffee shop beside the office.

“We will be there in no time,” I say as we move for the barista to take our order.

Well, I hope she likes it.

Kyla

We get something more comfortable for me to wear, which is a nice pair of jeans that I wouldn’t have spent that kind of money on, and a tank-top with a long-sleeved sweater to wear over it. Since I wasn’t wearing my skirt, my blouse felt too fancy to wear for whatever he had planned.

By the looks of it, we had to dress comfortable, so I didn’t think it was a fancy dinner or anything.

I watch the buildings go by as we slowly make our way to the outskirts of the city. I sit up, really curious as to where we are going. I never went to this side of the city, so I couldn’t say what was over here.

Ethan drums his fingers on the steering wheel and bobs his head to the music. It’s the most relaxed I have ever seen him.

I get so lost in staring at him that I don’t realise we have pulled up somewhere.

A smile comes over my face when I see that we are at the zoo.

“The zoo?” I ask curiously.

He nods his head and turns to me when he turns the engine off.

“Yeah, that alright? I booked us a day to be a zookeeper. They have some pretty great animals here,” he says, and I can hear the excitement in his voice.

I nod my head and smile, joining in on his excitement.

“Great, let’s go. We have the whole day,” he says climbing out of the vehicle and then coming over to my side.

“This is exciting. I love animals but, I hate to admit, I have never been here,” I say smiling at him sheepishly.

Ethan looks at me with his mouth dropped open. “How have you never been to the zoo? Didn’t you grow up in this city?”

I shrug but don’t meet his eyes. “I just didn’t have the time.”

I hope that he doesn’t ask for more information. I’m still not ready to tell any of them more because then they would ask to see the scar, and I’m not quite ready for that.

Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything. I am unsure if he knew that I wasn’t ready for him to pry but, either way, I appreciated him not questioning me further.

Ethan paid for us to spend the whole day meeting the animals. The excitement bubbles up my throat as I think about everything that I get to see.

“You guys are in luck because we have just received a few sloths,” the instructor says as she starts to show us around.

“Wow really? I’ve always wanted to see a sloth,” I say grinning.

“Yes, they came in a couple weeks ago, and we have you booked in to spend some time with them. First, we have a personal tour,” she says as we start walking through the zoo.

Some of the animals we are only able to just see. We watch as some play, or sleep. No matter what they do, I feel excited. I can’t stop smiling.

Since it’s the middle of the week, there isn’t really anyone here. I’m glad that we went on a weekday so that we can have more time to spend with the animals.

I hold Ethan’s hand the whole time and lean into his side as we stand and watch the animals.

“This is perfect,” I whisper in his ear as the lady takes us to the sloths.

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