Page 16 of Lumi

I nodded.

“That’s three correct answers. And then there’s the question about what part of your looks that you like the most.” Lumi chewed on her inner cheek and gave me a speculative glance. “That’s a hard one. I know you like your hair, your eyes, and your smile, but I think your favorite part about your looks is how fit your body is.”

My lips tugged upward again. “Also true.”

“Good. Your pet peeve is when people complain about little insignificant things. We’ve talked about that and how you see truly horrible things at work that make you want to strangle people who complain about the weather.”

“That’s five correct answers. Well done. Only two left.”

“All right.” Lumi drew in a deep breath. “Your biggest ambition in life is to own a Ferrari, and the thing you wish people knew about you is that you can burp the alphabet.”

I laughed. “Now, ye’re just guessin’.”

“You like Ferraris.”

“I do, but it’s not my biggest ambition in life to own one, and I think I have more interestin’ skills than my gift for burpin’.”

Lumi leaned back on the sofa like me and pulled her legs up. “Enlighten me then.”

“Well.” My eyes went to the ceiling. “I always wanted a big family. So far, it hasn’t worked out, but I wouldn’t mind meetin’ a nice lass with children and maybe have one or two of my own with her. That would be ideal. And the thing I wish people knew about me is that I’m not as scary as I look.”

Lumi gave a small snort. “What people? I’ve never thought you looked scary.”

“Some people do, though. I’m tall, muscled, and have tattoos. There’s been a few times when mums pulled their young ones closer, and I almost wanted to turn and say, ‘Hey lady, I’m a guard, not a biker.’”

“Hmm.” Lumi handed the paper to me and curled up in a comfortable position. “Your turn.”

Taking the paper, I cleared my throat. “This is goin’ to be a piece of cake. Let’s see. One, ye were born in England — London — on September the first. Ye have at least two nicknames, as I call ye princess because ye remind me of Jasmine fromAladdin, but at work, they call ye the golden goose. Yer favorite color is yellow because it was yer mom’s favorite color.”

“Impressive. That’s three out of three.”

“Yer favorite food is sushi and yer favorite season is summer. The part of yer looks that ye like the most is either yer beautiful shiny hair or yer long lashes.”

“My hair,” Lumi confirmed.

“Now, yer pet peeve is easy too, because ye’ve scolded me about this more than once. Ye hate when people are late, and ye get mad if they break a promise.”

“Of course. It’s a lack of respect for others.”

“About yer biggest ambition. That’s an interesting one. Is it to be the richest woman in the world?”

Lumi hesitated, but then she nodded. “Sure.”

“Seems I know ye a lot better than ye know me. So, the last question is, what ye wish people knew about ye?” I thought about it. “To be honest, I think ye prefer for people to know as little about ye as possible.” I yawned and felt my eyes get smaller. “But if ye had to pick one thing, maybe it would be for people to know that ye have a terrific singin’ voice.”

“I don’t.”

“Ye do! I heard ye sing that time when Kit and I babysat ye, remember?”

“That was more than ten years ago.”

“All I’m sayin’ is that I remember ye had a beautiful voice.”

Lumi turned to her phone on the table. “That is as good an answer as any I can give.” Picking her phone up, she turned off the recording and looked at me. “You’re tired, Damian. How about we go to bed?”

“Ye don’t mind?”

“No. Your eyelids are getting droopier and droopier. I might not be able to sleep, but I can bring my laptop to bed. I do that sometimes anyway.”

“Thank ye.” I placed my left hand behind her neck and leaned over to kiss her hairline. “I’ll be more fun tomorrow. I’m just so bloody tired right now.”

“It’s fine. We’re stuck with each other for the next week anyway; we’ll have plenty of time to talk.”

I nodded but didn’t tell Lumi that my reason for doing this experiment was to get answers to things that confused me about her. The money offered had given me an excuse, but the truth was that I would have paid seven thousand for a full week with Lumi.