Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
"You didn't think I'd let our game end without a winner, did you?"
Tassy's competitive spirit came back to the fore. "You wish." She stood up and surveyed the shelves. She remembered seeing something earlier...aha!
Lucius' lips twitched when Tassina returned to her seat with a tiny sand timer in hand.
"Ready?" Tassy challenged.
"Any time you are."
Tassy flipped the timer, and Lucius reached for his pen. It took only a second or so to write down his guess, but when he glanced at Tassy, it was to see her gnawing on her lip as she seemed to cross something out with her pen.
Tassy frantically started scribbling when she realized her time was running out. Aaargh. Of all times for her to be indecisive, why did it have to be when her pride as an amateur detective was on the line?
"Time's up," Lucius murmured.
They flipped their papers to reveal their answers at the same time.
'Walt' was written in bold block latters on Lucius' paper.
But on Tassy's paper, on the other hand...were a lot of crossed-out names until finally, she had written down...INNOCENT.
Tassy's words burst out in a defensive rush as soon as she saw Lucius start to smirk. "I'm just being true to my principles! Suspects must be presumed innocent until—-"
The billionaire cut her off, saying in a pained voice, "I never thought someone could be so smart—-"
Tassy didn't know how to react to this. If his words were a compliment, why didn't it sound like it?
"—-and unbelievably naïve at that same time."
Oh, so that's why.
Because it was really an insult disguised as a compliment...or was it the other way around and he was complimenting her by way of—-
Aaargh!
Who knew she could be so darn indecisive...that she ended up annoying herself?
"You had it right the first time," Lucius was telling her with a dark look on his handsome face. "And aside from erroneously citing Monet, Walt also took pains to describe the arrangement of the books in hopes of bolstering his alibi. Unfortunately for him, the arrangement he had described was based on the Dewey Decimal System, and that - like Monet - had only existed years after the Regency period."
Tassy only had two words after listening to Lucius' deductive reasoning.
Oh dear.
She had never taken the time to think about what turned her on...until now.
Lucius frowned when he saw the way Tassy was staring at him. "What is it? Do you disagree?"
She quickly shook her head.
"Then..."
Tassy bit her lip. She didn't want to lie, but she was too shy to tell him the truth.
"It's alright," Lucius said gently.
"It's just..."
"You can tell me anything." A wolf in sheep's clothing he once again was, and the disguise was starting to feel like second skin to him.
"It's when you talk like that," she finally said. "It reminds me of the first time I listened to you speak..."
Lucius remained bemused...until he saw her cheeks start turning pink, and that was when it finally hit him.
Unpredictable as always.
Tassy finding smart talk a turn-on was something he didn't see coming yet again, but he definitely wasn't complaining. Where Tassy was concerned, he was beginning to realize he wasn't keen on leaving anything to chance. He wanted her obsessed with him...as much as he was already obsessed with her.
And that was why—-
"Can I test it out?" Lucius asked.
Tassy blinked. "Test what out?"
"I want to perform a controlled experiment based on a stimuli-response matrix. I'd like to see if any patterns emerge in order to establish baseline thresholds, calibrate variables, and of course, achieve maximum results in terms of neurochemical excitation."
Tassy had no idea what the billionaire just said, but—-
"Yup." Whatever it was he wanted to test, it already had her toes curling and her heart pounding, and she wanted to hear more of it.
Lucius couldn't remember being with a woman who made him want to laugh and kiss her at the same time.
His Tassina was everything he hadn't even known he wanted.
She was it for him.
And to make sure that he was also everything to her—-
Tassy could only gasp when Lucius suddenly grabbed her hand, and it was all she could do to keep up with his brisk pace as he led her out of the room and back to where Constable Dill was waiting for them.
"Constable, please have Mr. Walt Cranberry arrested."
Since Lucius was still on the move, this time leading them up a set of stairs, it was now both Tassy and the constable doing their best to match his long-legged stride.
"He's definitely from the future since he's made references that have yet to exist during the Regency period, namely, Monet and the Dewey Decimal System."
"Uh, you have correctly identified the culprit, Your Grace. Congratulations." Constable Dill was starting to feel nervous. It was protocol for all park employees like him to know who all of Foxtown VIPs were, but...nothing in the rule book had prepared him for this. Why was Lucius Young heading up the second floor?