Page 37 of Hooked
She left, and Tayla perused the walls of the sushi place again. “Emmie, you should ask about hanging some of her work at INK. Ox might go for some of her stuff too.”
“I was just thinking that. I already had that guy from the music studio asking if I ever exhibited local artists. He was fishing, but it’s a cool idea.”
Daisy said, “You could ask for some of Cary’s photographs too if you wanted.”
Tayla frowned. “I didn’t know Cary was a photographer.”
“Oh yeah. He’s amazing. It’s part of the reason he started climbing.” Daisy smiled. “You should ask Jeremy about it.”
“I might.” Tayla looked around the restaurant. “You know, SOKA could sell this kind of stuff too. Art. Lifestyle stuff. Right now they’re focused on clothes, but that could translate into more of a lifestyle curator, you know? Art. Home goods. Interesting accessories.”
“You should bring it up if they ask you about it at your interview,” Daisy said. “I think companies are looking for that kind of initiative these days. Shows you have a creative mind.”
Tayla sipped her sake. “Fashion is innately creative.”
Emmie added, “And if you want a reference about all the cross promotion you’ve done at INK, I could totally give you one. You’re awesome at all that kind of stuff.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So when’s the interview?”
“I sent them a couple of dates next week that would work for me. I’m waiting to hear back.”
“And while you’re waiting, we can grill you about your date.” Emmie rubbed her hands together. “I’ve been waiting for this.”
“What are you talking about?” Tayla asked. “You were waiting up for me on Saturday night.”
“And you told me nothing!”
“I told you it was nice.” It was so much more than nice. “What else do you want to know? Daisy helped him set it up. Don’t tell me you haven’t already talked about it.”
“Actually, I kept my mouth shut,” Daisy said. “I was sworn to secrecy, and I take that seriously.”
“I need to hear it from you,” Emmie said. “I’ll start slow. Is he a good cook? I’ve never seen him cook.”
“Yes. We went on a picnic and the food was great. He may have bought some things though. Not sure. Don’t care.”
“A picnic by the lake? That could be romantic or loud.”
“It was romantic. Very. He did an excellent job setting it all up.”
“That was all him, by the way,” Daisy said. “I just helped bring stuff.”
“The tent was amazing.”
“Tent?” Emmie’s eyebrows went up. “My, my. Is the city girl going wild? You were in a tent?”
“It was one of those luxury safari tents like they have at music festivals. There were flush toilets very nearby.”
“That explains it.” Emmie waited for Mika to set the sushi down, thanked her, then refocused on Tayla. “So you had dinner by the lake. I saw the pics on Instagram. You went hiking before?”
“We went for a walk. Not a hike.” Tayla chose a piece of tuna with her chopsticks. Yum.
“It looked like you went on a hike.”
“It wasn’t.” Or… was it? There hadn’t been a path. They’d been walking in dirt and there were lots of trees and flowers. Damn it, Jeremy had tricked her into a hike. He was getting way too good at this.
“Now the real question.” Emmie leaned forward. “Is he a good kisser?” She narrowed her eyes. “Wait, do I want to know if Jeremy’s a good kisser? Is that weird?”
