Terms and Conditions(Dreamland Billionaires #2)(96)

My excitement only grows as we near the massive princess castle in the middle of it all.

Declan places a palm on my bouncing thigh. “Are you okay?”

I grin. “Just excited.”

His forehead wrinkles as he frowns.

“When was the last time you visited the park?” Zahra turns her body so she can look back at us.

My smile falls. “We’ve traveled here once for business.”

“You’ve been to Dreamland one time, and it was for business?” Her face is one of absolute horror.

Declan’s hand on my thigh tightens in a silent look at me gesture, but I don’t. I don’t want to see the pity on his face.

I consider lying but think better of it. “My mom didn’t have enough money to get us tickets. With flights, hotel, and admission fees, you could buy a month’s worth of groceries for the same price as a trip here.”

“What does your mom do?”

“She’s an art teacher.”

Zahra grasps onto Rowan’s arm. “We need to offer teacher discounts. And children of teacher discounts. And discounts for adults who have never been to Dreamland as a child.”

He shoots her a look. “At that rate, we won’t make any money.”

“There are grown adults out there who have never been to Dreamland, Rowan. Now is not the time to be stingy.”

He looks over at Declan for help, but Declan is solely looking at me.

“I didn’t realize you had never been here before.”

I shrug. “You never asked.”

The hand on my thigh squeezes harder. I shift my gaze toward Declan, and the look on his face sends a shiver down my back.

“Would you like to check out the park?”

“For work?”

“No. For fun.”

The idea makes me laugh. “You hate this place.”

“I’m willing to pretend that I don’t for a day.”

“What about prepping for our walkthrough with Yakura?”

“The park will still be here tomorrow. We can talk business then.”

Heat spreads through my chest. I wrap my arms around his neck and give him a squeeze. “I’d love that.”

Declan speaks up to the rest of the group. “Plans have changed.”

Zahra squeals with delight, and like that, our day is completely altered because Declan declared it so.

All for me.





Zahra is the best tour guide ever. Turns out she has been a part of Dreamland since she was a child, so she knows everything about the place. With her knowledge and Rowan’s ability to help us skip any lines, there is nothing stopping us from exploring the whole park in a day. Well, nothing but me. I try my hardest to keep focused, but I am distracted every few feet by the different flower and plant displays. The array of colors captures my attention, and I can’t help stopping each time to check out the perfectly designed topiaries of different Dreamland characters.

Declan looms over me like a shadow, assessing my every move.

I turn toward him with heated cheeks. “What?”

“I should have known you would care more about the plants than the rides.”

“Because look at this! It’s art!” I throw an arm up at the sculpture of Iggy the Alien, Brady Kane’s iconic first character. The entire thing is made up of trimmed green leaves and a ball of wire.

“Art?” His voice has a hint of amusement despite his blank face.

Zahra bounces over to us. “You know, if you’re interested, we could take you to check out the horticulture department.”

My eyes widen. “Really?”

She smiles. “Sure. It would be no big deal.”

“Oh my God. I’d love that!”

“With the way you keep taking photos and gawking at their plants, they’ll probably feel like rock stars.”

“That’s because they are rock stars.”

She pulls out her phone and taps away at the screen. “Do you have any free time tomorrow? The head of the department is going to be there and would be happy to show you around. They might be a little busier than usual because they’re prepping for the Flower Festival, but they’d love to show you the behind-the-scenes action.”

I gasp. “The head of the department wants to show me around?”

Her chest shakes from withheld laughter. “Yes. Said so himself.” She flips her phone so I can see the text chain with my own eyes.

Declan clears his throat.

Shit. This isn’t a personal vacation, remember? Today is already enough of a deviation from the protocol. The last thing Declan needs is me becoming distracted by things that aren’t important right now. I can come back and visit Dreamland whenever, but we only have one shot to convince Yakura to work with us. Plants can wait.

I shake my head. “Uhm. Actually, tomorrow doesn’t work for me. Tell him I’m sorry and maybe next time I can make room in my schedule for a visit.”

Her smile falls. “Oh. No worries.”

Declan tugs on my elbow. “Why are you saying no?”

“Because we have our walkthrough to prepare for. Yakura will be here in a couple of days and we need to be ready for anything he might throw at us.”

“It’s not going to be anything different from what you’ve seen today.”