by RM Alexander
She was the real deal, and was worth the nagging urge to protect her. He knew he never could, not completely. Maybe that was part of it too.
He walked into the kitchen, the men joking and laughing. She may be independent, but she had good instincts about people. A vision of her liplocked with Paul Schotter crossed his mind, and Alex grimaced, amending the thought.
Paul aside, Cami chose a good team of people to man the sanctuary, and Alex was proud of her.
He doubted Paul would be around for long. She was too smart for that, too.
Sometimes, he had to remind himself.
“Hey, everyone. Cami’s ready for us to get back to work.”
Scott grinned. “Hi, Alex. You and boss lady back on talking terms?”
Alex smiled, “Oh, man, we always were. Who told you otherwise?”
“Rumors float around here too, bro. She and Liz were huddled in the corner over there before we got slammed with that storm.” He took a loud swallow of a coke, wiped his mouth with a back of a hand.
Alex raised both eyebrows. “They were? About me?”
“Don’t know, couldn’t hear, bro. You oughta just tell her how you feel. Man up.” Derek settled the can on the counter, the other men chuckling.
“I ain’t telling her anything. When Cami’s ready …”
“If you’re waiting for her to be ready, you’ll be waiting a long time.”
Alex smiled and turned to face Liz. “And you aren’t going to say a word to her.”
Liz laughed. “Like I didn’t already know you were hot for her, Alex. The only one that doesn’t see it is Cami, and if you wait for her, you’ll never get anywhere. You’re going to have to take the reins, cowboy.”
“Right now, the only reins I’m taking is getting out there and getting to work before she comes in here on a tirade with us all.”
“Whipped.”
“Wimp.”
“Coward.”
The chorus of voices laughed and chortled, and he took a good hit at the shoulders he could reach as they passed by.
Liz stopped short. “Alex, you’ve been crazy about her since we were kids. I don’t know why Cami doesn’t see it, but I do know you’d have a chance if you’d just tell her how you feel.”
He smiled, fidgeting with the Stetson in his hands. “I understand what you’re trying to do, and I appreciate it, but Cami’s … Cami. If she were interested, she’d let me know. She’s not interested, and I’m not about to make a fool out of myself, possibly ruin what we do have, by declaring the feelings everyone is so convinced I feel.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Are you telling me you don’t?”
“I’m telling you I respect her enough to give her what she wants. And what she wants isn’t me.”
“Then you are making a fool out of yourself. You don’t even have to work on it.”
“Thanks, Liz.”
“Anytime, Alex.”
Outside, Alex accompanied Cami through the outdoor enclosure, and she noticed how quiet he was. Maybe the apology wasn’t enough. But that’s not like him. She hitched a leg over a fallen tree, knowing she wouldn’t remove it. Regellius and his penmates would have a ball climbing and sharpening their claws against the wood. Natural enrichment was the best. Swinging the other leg, she glanced over a shoulder, catching him watching her, a strange sort of smile and even weirder gaze clouding his eyes. Dropping to the ground, she turned as he strode to the tree and stopped short of hurdling it.
“Everything okay?”
He shrugged, leaning against the tree with crossed arms. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Don’t know. You’re acting ... off. Ever since you came back outside.”
He shook his head. “You ever wonder if there’s something to everyone’s suspicions about us?”
She nearly choked. Where’d that come from? Cami leaned against the tree. “What, Alex, I’m not ...”
“Hey, forget it. Just a question. It’s not important.”
“No, wait. It’s just, we’ve always been friends. I thought that was it for us.”
“Yeah, I know. And you’re right. But sometimes, you’ve got to wonder what everyone is seeing.”
“Do you?”
“Me?” He took his hat off, ran a hand over thick strands of hair. “I guess. Sometimes. I mean, are we missing something?”
“You think we are?”
“Maybe.” Cami backed up as he hurdled over the tree. Alex pushed a hand through her hair, traced a cheek, and her legs wobbled. “Don’t you ever wonder if we’re missing out on something with one another?”
He dropped his head against hers, Cami’s face tingling as he breathed softly against her skin. “Might be worth exploring.”
She smiled with pursed lips. “Alex, what are you doing? This is so not like you.”
“How do you know? Maybe it’s a lot like me.”
“Never with me.”
“Could be with you.”
His lips grazed a cheek, and she shied backwards. “What are you doing?” The words escaped in a hoarse whisper.
He stepped closer, not giving her an inch. “Do you want to find out? With me?”
“Alex?”
Something cracked, loud and snapping, in the distance and the trance lifted as they turned toward the house.
“What was that?” Everything in her head felt fogged and jumbled.
Every muscle in his body tensed, and she sensed the change electrifying the space between them.
Alex took her hand. “Sounded like gunfire. Who’d be shooting?”
Her eyes grew wide, the realization hitting her like a ton of bricks. Of course gunfire. She should have recognized it, it was part of her training before the cats came, just in case of the worst. She was no marksman, but no one forgot what a shot sounded like. “The cats.”
With Alex at her side, matching each step, she raced to the house, the moments before lost.
Chapter Sixteen
The men and women of the sanctuary gathered on the lawn in front of Cami’s house as she and Alex came up, both breathing heavy.
“What … happened?” she asked between labored breaths.
“Cato, ma’am. He went after Neptune, hard. We had to tranquilize him.”
She began walking backwards, studying her ranch hand. “Tank, that makes no sense. Cato’s hot headed, and it doesn’t take much to egg him on, but tranquilizing him?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, taking off towards Cato’s den. The cat slept hard in a pile of orange and black fur. “How much did you give him, Tank?”
The man jogged up behind her. “Just one dart, ma’am.”
“He shouldn’t be so out from one dart for so long. He should be moving by now, he’s the smallest cat we have.” A nagging unease swallowed her stomach. “What happened before he went after Neptune? They were supposed to be separated.”
“Not sure. I didn’t see it, ma’am. Didn’t seem like anything happened, they were quiet and then he went after Neptune with everything he had.”
She shook her head. “Where’s Nep?”
“He’s over …” Tank’s voice trailed as he leaned back and then to the side, searching the pens. “He was right there.”
“Alex.” She raced around the perimeter of the pen to Neptune’s side.
“I’m right behind you. Tank, how’d they get in the pen together? We had them separated. Especially with Cato.”
“I don’t know man. They were just together. I didn’t put them together.”
Her heart pulsed angrily. Something was wrong.
On the opposite side of the cage, Neptune sat, licking a paw, blood staining the fur on his face. “Hey, Neptune baby. Let me see.” The cat rumbled a warning. She stooped lower. “I know, Cato was being a jerk, wasn’t he? Can I see, baby?”
The cat snarled, nose curled, teeth bared.
“Alex,” she slowly stood, careful not to aggravate the feline further, “got a problem here. Neptune is injured, but he won’
t turn his face so I can see how badly.
Alex brought over the tranquilizer gun over. “Do we need to sedate him?”
She nodded. “I think so. Tank, go get Jessica. We won’t have long to work.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He ran to the veterinarian building as Cami readied herself. This part of the job was one she could do without. Sedation echoed too much of death, an image that never sat well with her. Anything happening to the cats, the thought made her shudder and blood curdle. With Tank and Jessica in sight, she nodded to Alex, and watched as he took aim. Neptune protested in ear-splinting anger, and rose to his feet, pacing the enclosure, displaying a gash near his left eye.
She pointed to it, and Jessica nodded. “It’s close to his eye. It looks nearly shut, if there’s damage, he could lose sight.”
She nodded, and watched as the cat stretched out and laid his head down. Eyes closed, breathing slow and steady. Jessica and Cami rushed to the enclosure’s well concealed entry door, opened it and rushed to Neptune’s side. She stroked his fur as Jessica examined his face. “How’s it look?”
“It’s not good, Cami. The slash clipped Neptune’s bottom eyelid, the gash is fairly wide.”
“His eye?”
Jessica was silent for moment and then sighed. “It looks like his sight will be okay. We can hope, but we will need to stitch the eyelid and his cheek. We better hurry to the clinic before he wakes up. I’ll have to put him under some anesthesia.”
“Alex? Tank? We have to transport him to the clinic, we’re going to need a hand here.”
The two men entered the enclosure.
“How long as he been out, Alex?”
“About ten minutes. We’re going to be pushing it.”
Cami stepped back, allowing the men access to the animal. “What do you think, Jessica? How do you want to do this?”
“Putting him under a second time is too risky. We’re going to have to put Neptune in the back of the cart. Alex, tie this clothe over his eyes, Tank, secure the paws with this rope. If he does waken, he’ll be groggy for a few minutes, I should be able to make it.”
The two men followed Jessica’s instructions, and all four hoisted the tiger, grunting and stumbling against the cat’s dead weight as they carried him to the cart.
Neptune secured, Jessica raced to the clinic with Cami and Alex jogging behind.
She sat on one of four plastic chairs in the waiting area of the clinic, Alex at her side. The cat was under sedation, Jessica working furiously on him. Cami tapped her foot against the floor, fidgeting with her fingers, playing with the ponytail.
Alex grazed the top of her hand with a few fingers. “He’s going to be fine.”
She nodded and smiled. “I know. I just don’t understand what happened. How did he get in the same pen with Cato? What set Cato off? Even with Cato’s temperament, this is extreme.”
He leaned back, an ankle resting on a knee. “You think it was set up?”
“I don’t know, but what else? No one here would have been that careless, especially not with Cato. He’s too volatile.” Her gut screamed what she struggled to admit. It was a set up, all the way.
“Then it would be related to the brick we found, and those emails.”
She shrugged. “Maybe, I don’t know.” Cami watched as Alex pulled out his phone. “Who are you calling?”
“Who else?”
She nodded. Tommy. Only now, she couldn’t argue. This time, the ones threatened were her cats. She rose, pacing, sure she resembled the feline residents, mind circling, ravaging thoughts eating at her. Who? Paul?
The thought sprung out, pulsating anger gnawing at her stomach. Cami closed her eyes as he began talking on the phone, willing the thought to pass, torn with contradictions. It could be him, I don’t trust him. But, oh, why couldn’t he prove me wrong?
Tommy pulled out of the driveway, report taken. Alex edged next to Cami on the concrete walkway, arm easing around her waist. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, hands tucked into the back pockets of her jeans. “Yeah. I just hope Tommy can find something, you know? If someone is coming after the cats, to intimidate me, I can’t allow that.”
“What do you want to do?”
Sighing, she stared at the ground before lifting the gaze to penetrate his. “Increase security. We’ll find more men to watch over things, and I want another tower built. Maybe two.”
“Can you afford to do that, Cami? We’re already adding that underground housing. More men will mean more salaries to pay, and the cost of the towers. Those projects are going to cost in the tens of thousands.”
The fire in her eyes captivated him. “I’ll figure it out. I took on the responsibility of caring for these cats, and that means protecting them, if need be. Right now, it needs be.”
His jaw set, desire punching his stomach. “Okay, done. Do you have any names you want me to talk to?”
Cami shook her head. “I’ll have to go through the applications. I’ll let you know. And Alex?”
He faced her, eyebrows raised.
“What happened out there …”
“We’ll talk soon, I want your head with me, not on rescuing your animals.”
She nodded, and turned away.
Watching her go, he smiled. At least he’d gained her attention. “I’ll be trying that again. Soon.”
Chapter Seventeen
With Alex and Liz watching over the sanctuary, two new men coming later in the day to interview for security, and the rest of the team busy with building the towers, Cami was on her way out. She needed a break, even if it was only a couple hours. A chance to clear her head, allow an emotional break. Caring for the sanctuary felt like walking on the proverbial eggshells the last couple days, always looking over a shoulder, staggering out to check on the cats every morning almost before she woke to make sure they were healthy. Alive. Sometimes even during the night.
And then there was Paul. He’d been calling her every day, asked her out, asked about the sanctuary and the cats. The night before, he’d even asked if everything was okay. She’d been keeping her answers quick, light, dismissive, and knew she couldn’t put him off forever.
Two fingers rubbed hard against an eyebrow. “If only you’d come up with something, Tommy. Prove it was Paul. Or wasn’t.” She chewed a thumbnail. Wasn’t her suspicion enough to dismiss a relationship? She guessed it was. “But proof would be so nice.”
She pulled into the movie theatre parking lot. It’d been ages since she’d gone to a movie, and longer since she’d gone alone. Now it just sounded like a nice two hour retreat. No thoughts. No company. No worrying about who was wanting or feeling or wishing what. Cami smiled and stepped out of the car.
Ticket in hand, she stood in line for the popcorn and a pop, then headed for theatre B. Taking a seat in the balcony, she settled in, waiting for the lights to dim.
“Cami? I thought that was you.” Paul eased into the chair next to her, blond hair teasing an eyebrow, smile easy.
She sucked her lips over her teeth. “Hi, Paul. I’m surprised to see you. Following me?”
He laughed and nudged her shoulder. “No, but I’m glad I ran into you. I was beginning to think you were avoiding me.”
She popped a fluffed kernel in her mouth, eyes focused on the black screen at the front of the theater.
He leaned to the side of the chair. “Ouch. You have been. Did I say something?”
“No, you didn’t say anything. Just trying to figure out what you’re doing.” She scooted as far from him as the seat would allow. “I’m not sure what your intentions are.”
He smiled. “I thought that moment in your kitchen was pretty clear. Did I step over the line?”
The lights dimmed. “I think the movie is starting.”
“Yes, I think you’re right.” Paul leaned towards her. “But you didn’t answer my question.”
Another piece of popcorn. Couldn’t the guy take a hint? “No, you didn’t step over th
e line with the kiss. That’s not my concern.”
“Then what is, Cami?”
Previews lit up the theatre and she glanced at him through the peripherals. “We can talk later. I kind of came here for a break from everything.”
He paused, and Cami felt his eyes on her. “Is it okay if I sit here?”
She shrugged. “You can do whatever you like.”
“Ouch again.”
The long wave of previews bled into the feature. Cami stared at the screen, fighting the urge to look at Paul, feeling his attention shift between her and the movie. She wanted to scream at him, feel repulsed by him, smack him. Instead, the attraction nudged her, and she considered getting up and leaving. The slow tug of his fingers reaching for hers stalled her, and Cami turned to face Paul in the dimness.
“Whatever it is, I want you know, I don’t regret that kiss. I’d like to do it again. Do I have your permission?”Brows furrowed as she studied him, and she held frozen as he eased forward to brush his lips against hers. “You’re captivating.” He turned back to the movie, leaving her confused and uncertain.
Paul walked her across the dark parking lot to her car. Cami leaned against the cold metal as he stood, reaching to take her hands, lifting his head to meet her gaze. “Did you like the movie?”
“I did. More than I thought I would.”
“Did you mind the company?”
“Not as much as I thought I would.”
“Cami, what is it? What do you see when you look at me?”
She shrugged, pulling her hands away. “I don’t know. Maybe that’s the problem.”
“Can I tell you what I see?”
She tilted her head to one shoulder and waited.
He stepped forward, a hand pressing against the car frame, the other on her arm. “I see a women who knows her passion. One who is more than happy to be resigned to a life dedicated to animals that will keep her locked to this area. But I also see a woman who is afraid to feel that connection with people, even though she wants to find the right man.”
