Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (151 page)

Julie grinned and nudged her mom
playfully. “Mom, I’m not twelve.”

She laughed. “Right. Pardon me for
forgetting that my little girl isn’t so little anymore. Anyway, I’m
making breakfast. How do pancakes sound?”

“
That’s nice of you, Mom,
but we’re kinda beat. If you don’t mind, we’d kinda like to sleep
for a few hours.”

“
Sure, but don’t sleep all
day. I’ve got some plans for us. I figured we can go
to—”

“
Mom,” Julie said, “we’re
tired, and you worked all night. Can we talk about the plans
later?”

She smiled again. “You’re right. We
could all use a little shut-eye. Sweet dreams, you two.”

* * *

A while
later, after a nice, long nap, I peeked out the window, only to see
Julie’s truck sitting in the driveway, good as new. Even the back
window had been replaced.
That was so nice
of Jesse,
I thought.

A few minutes later, a horn beeped,
indicating that my mom was there to pick me up.

“
Thanks, Julie,” I said. “I
gotta go, but it’s been…interesting,” I said, smiling knowingly at
her as I grabbed my overnight bag and rushed out the
door.

“
Right,” she said. “It was
a howling good time. We’ll have to give it another shot
sometime.”

We both laughed at her punny-ness as I
walked out the door.

Chapter 8

A few days passed, and I hadn’t heard
from or about Jesse. I was so worried about him that I couldn’t eat
or sleep. Not knowing whether he was alive or dead, the anxiety
overwhelmed me. I tried calling him a few times, only to get no
answer.

When my phone finally rang with a call
from his number, I was ecstatic. “I’m recovering nicely,” he
assured me. “Don’t worry.”

I thanked him countless times for
fixing Julie’s truck, silently thanked God that he was okay, then
hung up the phone.

After that, we talked sporadically but
texted each other every day. I thought it was best to let him
recover at his own speed. I would have paid him a visit, but his
mother didn’t want anyone stopping by until he was fully
recuperated. “Doctor’s orders,” he joked, though it was technically
true.

* * *

Before I knew it, a month had passed
by.

Jesse had a job at the zoo, and when
he told me they were hiring, I filled out an application,
interviewed well, and managed to land a part-time position. If
nothing else, I had all my dad’s lectures and all that Discovery
Channel and Animal Planet documentary knowledge to go on when it
came to dealing with animals—not to mention I’d survived a mountain
lion attack and a run-in with a huge pack of human-harassing
wolves.

My first day of work at the zoo was
also Jesse’s first day to return after his injuries. He’d told
everyone that he had a “family emergency” to deal with, and nobody
was the wiser.

I smoothed out my brown,
short-sleeved, button-down shirt. It was part of my uniform and had
the logo name of the zoo and my name embroidered on it, and it
looked kind of cute for safari wear.

As I stood there trying to get a grip
on my new job responsibilities, Jesse walked into the room with an
adorable baby raccoon in his arms and a bottle of milk specially
made for the little creature. His shoulder-length hair was tied
back, and while I tried not to stare, I couldn’t help it; he was so
absolutely gorgeous that I was sure I’d never want to take a sick
day off of work. His uniform was the same as mine, but it looked so
much sexier on him. The material stretched across his broad chest
and across his muscles, not too tight but just perfect, revealing a
tribal tattoo around his bicep. I hadn’t seen it at the party under
his jacket, but I wanted to know what it meant, if anything. I
decided it best to leave that conversation for somewhere outside
the workplace.

“
This is Herman,” Jesse
said.

The little raccoon was furry and had a
bushy, ringed tail, as well as the blackest band of fur around his
eyes, just like a mask.

“
He’s so cute!” I
squealed.

“
Yeah. We’re trying to
rehabilitate the little guy. The zoo receives hundreds of orphaned
and injured wild animals every year. We do our best to fix them all
up and release them back out into the wild as soon as we can so
they don’t become too dependent on humans or lose their natural
survival instincts. If you kneel down on the floor, you can feed
him,” he invited.

“
I don’t know, Jesse. I
mean, I’ve never fed a raccoon before. I’ve only fed
Max.”

“
It’s easy. I’ll start, and
then you can jump in.” He set the baby on the floor and held the
bottle at a downward angle.

The little raccoon stood on his legs
and gripped the bottle with its little paws, perhaps the most
adorable thing I’d ever seen—well, besides Jesse’s eyes and Max
when he was a puppy.

“
Okay. Ready to take over?”
he asked.

I gazed up at him and smiled.
“Sure.”

He knelt behind me and touched my
shoulder as I fed the critter. “You’re doing good.”

The raccoon lapped away at the bottle
with its little pink tongue, but it was difficult for me to
concentrate on feeding Herman with Jesse’s hot breath raining down
on the back of my neck. Still, I tried to tune out the gorgeous
creature behind me and pay more attention to the cute one in front
of me.

“
Tilt it a little higher,”
he said, touching my hand.

His hand lingered on mine, and I felt
a jolt of electricity. I’d never felt such chemistry with anyone
else before. No words could describe it. My heart was racing like a
rabbit’s as his hand rested on top of mine.

Finally, he slowly lifted that
scorching hand away. “You’re a real pro,” he said, “and Herman
likes you.”

I smiled. “So…what else can you tell
me about the zoo?”

“
Hmm. Well, we have 190
animals representing 80 species here, and there are all kinds of
exhibits, special events, and educational programs. If ya want,
I’ll give you the grand tour later.”

After we fed the raccoon, Jesse took
me to a different room, where five ducklings were frolicking in a
shallow, heated pool, playing with a stuffed mama.

“
What happened to their
real mom?” I whispered, as if the fuzzy yellow things could
understand me and might be offended.

“
She was hit by a truck.
Her four babies were lost and confused, following around humans
because they didn’t know what else to do.” He paused to look down
at the chirping quintuplets, then continued, “We’re gonna get them
big and strong, then release them back into the wild.”

“
Gee, Jesse, it’s amazing
what you are all doing here.”

Jesse picked a little fluffy chick up.
It was so touching to see that big, strong, muscular man holding a
defenseless little bird, and it melted my heart all over again.
“Shh. Don’t be afraid,” he told the baby. “I’m not gonna hurt
you.”

As he gently and sweetly patted the
little animal’s head, I saw a softer side to him, a side that
showed that he genuinely cared for the animals. I grinned from ear
to ear as I watched him place the little one down with its paddling
brothers and sisters.

As promised, Jesse did give me a grand
tour. He seemed to know everything about the place, and I enjoyed
our walk around the place.

At the aviary, an outdoor enclosure
filled with birds, he pointed. “One turkey vulture and two bald
eagles live here.”

“
Ew! Sorry, but the turkey
vulture isn’t as pretty as her bald eagle friends,” I
said.

His gaze shot up to the
repulsive-looking bird. “Maybe not in everyone’s eyes, but I named
her Beauty Queen.”

I laughed
at the irony as I gazed up at the large, dark brown bird with a
red, bald head and neck like a turkey’s
.
“I’m sure she appreciates you flirting with her,” I
joked.

“
She came to the zoo as a
juvenile with a broken wing,” Jesse said. “There were
complications, and the vets here weren’t able to save her wing, so
we can’t release her. She’ll be a permanent resident, and I’ve
grown quite fond of her. You know what they say.”

“
What?”

“
Beauty is in the eye of
the beholder,” he said with a smile. “She’s a sweet
bird.”

“
I’m gonna love working
here,” I said.

“
Yeah, I never get tired of
it. I love my job. It sure beats flipping burgers.”

“
I can tell you’re
passionate about it.”

He smiled sheepishly, obviously
uncomfortable taking compliments, even though he deserved a million
of them.

“
These birds are so big,” I
said, gazing up at his feathered friends.

“
Beauty Queen has a
wingspan of about five feet—at least the wing that’s still
good.”

“
She’s a vulture, right? I
bet she’s got bad breath after eating all that dead
meat.”

“
Maybe, but she can’t help
what she was born to eat. It’s just the way nature works. No one
can help the card we’re dealt. Just like us, these birds and all
the animals in this zoo and in those woods out there have to live
and make do with what their bodies want as a food source. Maybe she
despises eating carcasses, but she’s stuck with it. It’s eat or
die.”

“
Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t
be so quick to judge,” I said. “She probably thinks we’re gross for
eating pizza.”

He laughed. “I’m not that much older
than you, but I’ve learned it’s best not to judge anyone until
you’ve walked in their shoes—or flown in their feathers, as the
case may be.”

“
I absolutely believe that.
So anyway…what’s next?”

“
How about some lions and
tigers and bears?” he joked. “And…wolves?”

“
Sorry, but I’ll pass on
the wolves,” I said, clutching my heart.

“
Bad memories,
eh?”

I let out a breath. “Yeah.”

“
I’m so sorry about all of
that.”

I bit my lip. “You know what? Let’s
not drudge up old memories. I really don’t wanna talk about
it.”

“
I agree. Let’s let bygones
be bygones and just…start over.”

“
I think we deserve a clean
slate.”

All of the sudden, the door opened,
and in walked a short redhead with her hair tied back in a
ponytail. “Hey, Jesse,” she said, “there’s a guided tour waiting
for you.”

He looked at me, then back at her.
“Taylor, this is Jeanie, my best friend in Big Bear Lake. We’ve
been through a lot, and I don’t know what I’d do without her.
She’ll show you the ropes while I’m gone. See ya later,” he said
and walked out the door.

I grinned. “See ya.” As soon as he
stepped out of the door, I turned my attention to Jeanie. She had
natural red hair and beautiful blue eyes, though not nearly as
beautiful as his, for it would have been impossible for anyone to
replicate those gems. I sighed when I realized his best friend in
the world also had the perfect figure, with not an ounce of fat on
her.

“
So…how’s your first day
treating you, Taylor?” she asked, making it obvious that someone
had already told her my name.

“
Great.”

Getting straight to the point, she
blurted, “I saw the way your eyes sparkled at Jesse before he
left.”

I arched a brow but said
nothing.

She continued, “It’s best to stay away
from him.”

I couldn’t believe she was marking her
territory already. “And why’s that?”

“
He’s a player, that’s why.
Jesse has dated half the girls in this town.”

“
Isn’t that what dating is
all about, trying to find the right person? I mean, I’ve dated lots
of guys, and—”

She shrugged. “Fine, honey. It’s your
heart that’ll get broken, not mine.”

I wasn’t sure what to stay. I wanted
to tell her to butt out because it was my chance to take, but
instead, I just kept my mouth shut.

She shot me a serious look. “Look,
Jesse’s a great friend to have, but if you step out of the friend
zone, it will go all to hell. Trust me. I know
firsthand.”

“
I’ll keep that in mind,” I
said, assuming she was just jealous.

At that moment, our almost-heated
conversation was stopped when our boss, Ms. Aikers, walked in and
met Jeanie’s gaze. “I need you to check all the enclosures and make
sure every animal is in its place.”

“
What’s up?” Jeanie
asked.

“
Somebody was attacked and
killed by an animal. The sheriff is out front. We have to make sure
none of our animals have escaped, especially the bears. This is top
priority, and I’m putting every employee on top of it.”

“
Oh my gosh! Who was
killed?” she asked.

“
A tourist, hiking in the
woods.”

“
That’s gonna be front-page
news,” she said. “The media is gonna swarm this place if it’s got
anything to do with us.”