“Oh, I suppose next you’re going to say I could change my own name, too? Or just never have moved here?”
Toni laughed out loud. “What? You moved here? I thought it must be an old family thing – come on, if you chose to be the Silver man in the Silver everything, that’s all on you. What, did you move here just so you could complain about it?”
“You’ve got me!” Jack threw his head back and grinned up at the sky, his eyes shining. “My life is so terribly perfect, I have to seek out these embarrassments where I can. Every week, I order in a new set of silver cutlery just so I can complain when I unwrap it.”
Toni’s laughter escalated into an unladylike gurgle, which she hurriedly stifled.
They paused on the edge of another path to let another battalion of BMXers past. Toni tried to see if Lexi or Felix were among the group, but they all passed by so quickly she couldn’t tell if they were there or not.
Like all the paths in the grounds, so many wheels had grooved the dirt that the track itself was almost a foot lower than the surrounding brush and walking trails. Jack held out his hand to help Toni across once the last of the bikers had sped away. Blushing – again! – she took it. His hand was warm, and large, the slight roughness of calluses brushing against her skin.
Toni licked her lips, trying to find something to say to distract herself from the feeling of his skin against her own.
“Is that what you do, then?” she joked. “Professional silverware-appraiser and gnasher of teeth?”
She closed her hand over itself as he let it go, holding on to the feeling of his fingers pressed against hers.
“Nothing so exciting, sorry. I’m – I guess you could say I’m in management. My company looks after a number of wildlife preserves around the world. Places that might otherwise be leveled for construction, no matter what sort of natural beauty would be destroyed.”
“That sounds exciting to me,” Toni said. “You must see so many amazing places. I’d love to see more of the world.” Her mouth ran on ahead of her brain, which was still occupied by how hot the man walking beside her was. “This vacation is the farthest I’ve been from home in years, and it’s only a half a day’s drive from the city!”
Toni blushed. Why had she said that? Maybe her life wasn’t the most exciting, but that wasn’t the sort of thing you broadcast to hot guys you were trying to impress.
She sneaked a look sideways. Jack was smiling ruefully.
“You want to know the truth?” he said, gesturing to encompass the woods around them. “I’ve only been back here for a week, and this is already the most time I’ve spent in the outdoors in years. Turns out that being CEO means flying around the world to see the inside of a lot of conference rooms, and not much else.” He chuckled. “The only time I get to actually see the parks my company looks after is if my assistant organizes a publicity shoot at one of them, and even that’s just…”
His voice faded away. Toni could imagine what he was going to say. A photo shoot would mean being surrounded by a team of people, photographers, makeup artists, journalists – the opposite of the solitude of open spaces you wanted when you were exploring the wilderness.
“That sounds worse than never seeing the parks at all,” she said, musing aloud. “All that wilderness to explore, and you’re stuck in front of a camera all day.”
“That’s exactly it! And at the end of the day everyone hightails it to the nearest hotel. For more meetings .”
Toni bit back a laugh. It was probably deliberate, but Jack sounded genuinely upset – and a little bewildered – that being successful had led to him being promoted out of his favorite part of the job.
“If you’re in charge, can’t you … I don’t know, de-promote yourself? Or give yourself a new job, one that requires lots of important looking at trees?”
Jack laughed. “Manager in charge of
Toni laughed out loud. “What? You moved here? I thought it must be an old family thing – come on, if you chose to be the Silver man in the Silver everything, that’s all on you. What, did you move here just so you could complain about it?”
“You’ve got me!” Jack threw his head back and grinned up at the sky, his eyes shining. “My life is so terribly perfect, I have to seek out these embarrassments where I can. Every week, I order in a new set of silver cutlery just so I can complain when I unwrap it.”
Toni’s laughter escalated into an unladylike gurgle, which she hurriedly stifled.
They paused on the edge of another path to let another battalion of BMXers past. Toni tried to see if Lexi or Felix were among the group, but they all passed by so quickly she couldn’t tell if they were there or not.
Like all the paths in the grounds, so many wheels had grooved the dirt that the track itself was almost a foot lower than the surrounding brush and walking trails. Jack held out his hand to help Toni across once the last of the bikers had sped away. Blushing – again! – she took it. His hand was warm, and large, the slight roughness of calluses brushing against her skin.
Toni licked her lips, trying to find something to say to distract herself from the feeling of his skin against her own.
“Is that what you do, then?” she joked. “Professional silverware-appraiser and gnasher of teeth?”
She closed her hand over itself as he let it go, holding on to the feeling of his fingers pressed against hers.
“Nothing so exciting, sorry. I’m – I guess you could say I’m in management. My company looks after a number of wildlife preserves around the world. Places that might otherwise be leveled for construction, no matter what sort of natural beauty would be destroyed.”
“That sounds exciting to me,” Toni said. “You must see so many amazing places. I’d love to see more of the world.” Her mouth ran on ahead of her brain, which was still occupied by how hot the man walking beside her was. “This vacation is the farthest I’ve been from home in years, and it’s only a half a day’s drive from the city!”
Toni blushed. Why had she said that? Maybe her life wasn’t the most exciting, but that wasn’t the sort of thing you broadcast to hot guys you were trying to impress.
She sneaked a look sideways. Jack was smiling ruefully.
“You want to know the truth?” he said, gesturing to encompass the woods around them. “I’ve only been back here for a week, and this is already the most time I’ve spent in the outdoors in years. Turns out that being CEO means flying around the world to see the inside of a lot of conference rooms, and not much else.” He chuckled. “The only time I get to actually see the parks my company looks after is if my assistant organizes a publicity shoot at one of them, and even that’s just…”
His voice faded away. Toni could imagine what he was going to say. A photo shoot would mean being surrounded by a team of people, photographers, makeup artists, journalists – the opposite of the solitude of open spaces you wanted when you were exploring the wilderness.
“That sounds worse than never seeing the parks at all,” she said, musing aloud. “All that wilderness to explore, and you’re stuck in front of a camera all day.”
“That’s exactly it! And at the end of the day everyone hightails it to the nearest hotel. For more meetings .”
Toni bit back a laugh. It was probably deliberate, but Jack sounded genuinely upset – and a little bewildered – that being successful had led to him being promoted out of his favorite part of the job.
“If you’re in charge, can’t you … I don’t know, de-promote yourself? Or give yourself a new job, one that requires lots of important looking at trees?”
Jack laughed. “Manager in charge of
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