Chapter 23
T he adrenaline from the ride made Charlotte bouncy as they exited Sullivan Slade’s Adventure. She’d been on it dozens of times and it never got less joyful, not even when she knew every twist and turn. And she’d stopped herself from looking at Gregory every thirty seconds to see if he was having a good time, but now she gave him her full attention as they followed the exit tunnel back into the park. His hair was askew in all possible directions and his cheeks looked a little pink.
“What did you think?” she asked.
“That. Was. Awesome! ” Gregory said in a spirited tone she wasn’t sure she’d ever heard him use before.
“Isn’t it?!”
“I can see why it’s one of your favorites. I need to start a Sullivan Slade rewatch when we get back home.”
Gregory calling Lake Sterling home didn’t escape Charlotte’s notice, but she didn’t want to call it out. They had a million more things to see anyway.
As if Gregory heard her mind jumping to the next item on her list, he asked, “What’s next?”
“Well,” she answered, “we covered a lot of ground in that line. Should we find something else with an even longer wait so we can get into more deep conversations?”
“Ha,” Gregory chortled. He chortled! Being at this theme park had a tendency to make adults lighter and freer and she was seeing it unfold in front of her eyes.
“We’ll see about that, but first,” he said, “I believe I owe you a cup of coffee. Hidden Jungle has coffee, right?”
“It does, though it’s nothing fancy.”
“Nothing fancy is fine. You can amend the deal to be for any kind of beverage.”
“Perfect.” Charlotte grinned. “And it’s conveniently by the Jungle River Cruise so that can be our next ride.”
* * *
Over the last two-plus months of working together, Charlotte had witnessed Gregory relax. Whether she was guiding him through the Wintertide Trail at Lands and helping him spot the hidden creatures, or they were sharing the conference table in the office bickering about popcorn flavors, his edges had softened. And here at Dreamland, she could see the final walls coming down.
Gregory’s increasingly carefree vibe was making him hotter than ever.
She’d been sneaking stares at him finishing an ice cream float from behind her sunglasses, thankfully of the mirrored variety. He caught a drip of the pineapple soft serve from the corner of his mouth with his tongue and Charlotte entertained a brief fantasy of licking ice cream from Gregory’s skin and had to press her legs together. In fact, she thought, it was the perfect time to stand and refill her water bottle. She held the empty bottle up to Gregory and said, “I’ll be right back.”
Charlotte wound through the seating area at Hidden Jungle to the refill station with Gregory at the forefront of her thoughts. He’d been up for anything she suggested as they explored the park, deferring to her expertise and advice, letting her divert from their plans and get to Hidden Jungle hours later than they’d planned. Charlotte didn’t need or want her partner to be subservient or anything, but having someone who listened and went with the flow was such a stark difference from her past relationships, especially with Chad.
Not that she and Gregory had a relationship of any kind. Nope. They were work colleagues. She was probably going to leave for Paris after Memorial Day. So many reasons not to have feelings. She was only appreciating his flexibility and that she was having the best day possible with him. That’s it , she thought, it’s about seeing him open up so much and be less rigid, more himself .
She couldn’t stop the smile stretching across her face as she returned to the table and saw Gregory leaned back in his chair, taking it all in without a tense line in his body.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked, his own lips curling.
“I’m at Dreamland,” Charlotte said. “Why wouldn’t I be smiling? Glad you liked your float. I told you pineapple soft serve is where it’s at.”
“I was skeptical, but yeah, that was amazing. Much better than plain ol’ coffee. I’ve already made a mental note about bringing something like it to Lands.”
Charlotte shook her head. “Of course you have. We’re going to have a ton of mental notes to go through when we get back, aren’t we?”
“Well, this is a research trip, isn’t it? You took away my notebook, but you can’t stop this.” He tapped his forehead with his finger.
“It is research, you absolute dork.” Charlotte nodded. “And speaking of, shall we continue?”
“One second.” Gregory pointed behind her shoulder. “Is that a photograph of the esteemed members of the Institution of Travelers?”
Charlotte kept looking at him, rested her head on her hand, and gave him a look. She knew what picture he was talking about. If she turned around, she’d see herself in a photo with other Dream Mechanics who worked on Hidden Jungle. They’d put on explorer costumes and pretended to be members of a fictional group invented for DreamUs parks, the Institution of Travelers. That Gregory knew the name told her he really had watched interviews about Hidden Jungle. “I’m aware of that photo, Gregory. I didn’t expect you to be, though.”
He bit his lip. “I did my research.”
“Looks like your research techniques have improved since your first visit to Lands.”
“Rude,” he joked. “Now, about that hat you’re wearing in the photo, is it a—”
“Time to go.” She held out her hand to take his empty cup but instead Gregory grabbed her hand with his.
“Please help me out of this chair, I beg you. I’m having an excellent time but my body is not used to the kind of abuse a day at a theme park preceded by a very early flight inflicts.”
He said true words. The combination of walking, standing in line, jostling from rides, and then blending all of that with popcorn and ice cream had unusual effects on the body. She put all her weight into pulling him into a standing position and he stumbled forward; he steadied himself by wrapping his other arm around Charlotte.
“Oof. You’re stronger than I thought,” he said as he lingered in the half-hugging position. Charlotte was conflicted; she wanted to lean into it and make it a full embrace but she also wanted to maintain boundaries. He must have read the confusion because he pulled away first and acted like nothing had happened.
“Let’s go see this zoetrope you mentioned,” he said. “Then I’ll know what a zoetrope is.”
She nodded. “And you’ll wonder how you ever lived without knowing. This way.”