Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“Those controls haven’t been used in years,” he said absently, and it made me think about his deceased wife, that beautiful woman with dark hair and bright green eyes like Ollie.
I touched the nail polish icon and a color palate came up. I selected a frosted purple color. Two symbols came up that I didn’t recognize.
“If you’d like your nails filed, choose the right. If you want artificial nails put on, choose left.”
I chose right. Multiple hand and feet photos came up and I chose a hand with squared tips. Zane tapped the robot hands on his shoulders, and they retracted into the wall and he waited while the life-like hands came out on my side of the wall and first filed and then cleaned, buffed, and polished my nails. The results were great. I decided to come back later and get my toes done.
On the middle floor where I’d spent all my time so far, were the three bedrooms (Zane’s, Ollie’s, and Jaya’s room) as well as two living areas (one mixed living and dining) and one that was like a home theatre and the two balconies. He explained that Ollie’s room used to be the master bedroom but after the women died, he had the space altered.
I didn’t let myself have the emotions my brain and heart tried to let me have about that fact.
He took me down a level to the ground floor and this floor was awesome. There was an unused space that Zane said was formerly his office. He said he took it down when Ollie was born to ensure he spent all home time focused on his son. He muttered that he might set it up again and I thought maybe I read guilt on his face for his having to leave me the day before.
The bottom floor had another large living space furnished with sofas and chairs as well as a big screen and fireplace. There was a large library by the entrance to the home, which was warm and inviting and contained a lovely marble desk. There were three guest bedrooms. Everything was clean, bright, and lavish, but the furniture was plush and masculine and looked made for getting comfortable on.
The rest of the bottom floor was astonishing. It felt like an indoor waterpark underneath a massive glass dome that looked to be an addition onto the castle-like home. There were play and workout areas with what Zane had said was gym equipment and to the side was an indoor playground. Off to one side was a hall that fed to a vast greenhouse that I could see was filled with plants, fruits, and vegetables. Beyond that, there was the huge indoor swimming pool under a glass dome that felt like a waterpark.
He took me to a big industrial-style kitchen, and I could tell it was all automated. On one end stood both a traditional-looking Earth-style stove (but with twelve burners) and a big wood burning oven that looked both modern and not. The ceiling had robotic claws like I’d seen in the storage room where we went when the power was down. These were dangling down over a long counter.
“She had it put in so she could watch a class and learn, with Jaya, how to cook, but it never happened,” he said as I looked at the equipment. I didn’t say anything, but gave him a look of sadness.
“We don’t typically cook. Our automation equipment does that upstairs and has for generations. But, I remember you saying on one of your talks with that girl… Lacey, I believe… that you liked to bake things.”
I perked up. “Yeah. I’m a bit of a cupcake aficionado.”
He smiled. “Cupcake? What sort of dessert is a cupcake?”
“A little round cake of any flavor with any sort of frosting meant for one person. But I usually eat at least two. Hence my J-Lo butt.”
“Hence your what?”
I shook my head. “I like cupcakes. You can tell I like cupcakes a lot by the size of my butt. My… bottom. You know…” I flushed bright pink. “Books and cupcakes. My jam.”
He smirked at me, then said, “My son was quite enamored with your love of books. I find myself quite enamored by your love of cupcakes.” He chewed his bottom lip and wiggled his eyebrows.
Was Zane Zenith telling me he liked my bubble butt?
I blushed brighter pink.
“And Ollie is making jam right now with his great uncle and my father. He’ll bring some home.”
“Oh,” I said. “Jam. It’s an expression. My jam equals my meaning it’s my kinda thing. You know? It’s my jam…”
He opened a door and took us outside to the backyard. “Oh. I see.”
“I like jam, too. Don’t get me wrong.” I snickered. “I’m feeling all sorts of spoiled being carried everywhere,” I told him, admiring the yard, the colors, the gemstones that were everywhere. The ones in the yard were mostly orange, green, and blue.