He stood up then held out his hands to her. “Come on.”
* * *
Vivi looked around her eagerly. She hadn’t realized how much she needed to get out of the house until they’d driven away from the palace. They were in the back of another luxurious black car.
Wolfe glanced over at her. “I hope I’m doing this right, I’ve never been on a date before.”
She tentatively touched his hand with hers. “I’m sure it will be wonderful. Just being with you is enough. Anything else is icing on the cake.”
He studied her for a moment then gave a nod.
She stared out the window. It was amazingly beautiful here. Lots of white buildings and palm trees.
“I still can’t believe that there’re no skyscrapers here.”
“No one is allowed to build them. You’re only allowed to go up a maximum of five levels.”
She liked that.
They went around a bend in the road and before her sparkled the ocean. White sands. Blue water.
They drove into what seemed to be the main business area. People were walking along the street. Most of them men, but then she began to spot the women among them. She just hadn’t noticed them before because they were often surrounded by at least two men.
They pulled up outside a building. It was white like all the other buildings. She couldn’t see in the window properly as there were several people walking past. He turned to her and undid her seat belt. “Right, the rules.”
She barely refrained from rolling her eyes. “Yes?”
“No moving away from my side.” He frowned. “I don’t want a repeat of the other day with Aleki.”
“I won’t leave you,” she reassured him.
“Damn straight you won’t. But I’m going to make sure. If you need to go to the bathroom, tell me. We’ll use a family stall. There’s always one in every bathroom here.”
“Wolfe, don’t you think you’re being a bit overprotective? I’m sure I’ll be fine peeing by myself.”
He frowned and shook his head. “Nope. Not happening. Exit on my side, it’s safer.”
“What are we doing?” she asked, as he guided her to the building in front of her.
“Shopping.”
“Shopping? For what? For you?” They walked into the shop and she was surprised by the rows of toys.
“No. For you.”
She paused and he turned, his eyebrows raised. “Wolfe, I don’t need anything else. You’ve already bought me so much.”
“You haven’t made any changes to the playroom.”
“What?”
“Or used any of the toys, other than the painting and crafting stuff.”
Oh. She hadn’t, had she? But she was just learning about all this. Part of her wasn’t sure she felt comfortable playing with any of those toys. But then, what had she played with as a kid? As much as she could remember, before her mom died, she’d loved getting out in the sandpit and building castles. Or using building blocks to make forts.
Maybe she did want something else to play with. But she also didn’t want to spend any more of his money.
“We need to get you things you want. I got you things I assumed you might want instead of waiting and asking you.”