Chapter 9 #2
“Caffeine,” she practically moaned, making Obi-Wan’s cock twitch in his pants. He could imagine her moaning just like that, with pleasure, under entirely different circumstances. He was glad he was sitting, and that his flight suit had some extra room in the crotch.
She immediately reached for the cup and took a sip, closing her eyes and moaning for real as the sugary coffee hit her taste buds.
Obi-Wan couldn’t take his gaze off her. Couldn’t stop his mind from picturing the woman with her hair spread out on his pillow as he watched her from between her legs.
Her green eyes opened and her gaze met his. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Obi-Wan echoed.
They stared at each other. It felt as if they were the only two people in the world at that moment. Sparks shot between them, an intense connection that felt so right.
Her cheeks pinkened, and she looked down at the screen in front of her.
“Whatcha doin?” Obi-Wan asked, taking another sip of his own coffee, just to keep himself from scooting over next to her and tasting the coffee she was drinking straight from her lips.
He couldn’t help but remember their kiss in his Jeep.
It had thrown him off balance with how amazing it was.
So much that he’d kinda taken a step backward, unsure about what the hell he was doing.
But after several days of not being able to talk to her like he wanted, like he had the night he’d taken her to Anchor Point, he was over his reticence.
To his surprise, Zita would no longer meet his eyes. She kept them glued on the screen in front of her as if it held the answers to world peace or something.
“Zita?”
She sighed. “Don’t read into this, okay?”
“Ooooh-kay,” he drawled, truly interested now.
“I was looking at open paramedic jobs in the area. I do it everywhere I work,” she added quickly, “just to see what’s out there. What other states pay, things like that.”
Instead of freaking out over her possibly finding a job she might want in this area, the idea made him feel all warm inside.
Shit, things were moving too damn fast, and he hadn’t even really begun to pursue her. It was either a really bad sign…or a good one. He couldn’t decide which at this point.
But maybe he was getting ahead of himself. He couldn’t deny that checking out the competition, seeing what other companies offered, was a great way to get a pay raise or more benefits from her current employer.
“That’s smart,” he said. “Find anything interesting?”
She looked up at that. “You aren’t upset? Thinking I’m some psycho who’ll become a stalker or something?”
Obi-Wan snorted. “I just had the shittiest conversation with the only woman around here who I’d remotely classify as a stalker. If anything, I’d like for you to be a little more interested in my lame advances.”
She grinned. “Advances? Have you made any?”
In response, Obi-Wan nodded to the coffee sitting next to her. Then said, “And I seem to remember a kiss that knocked my socks off that I can’t stop thinking about.”
“You too?”
Those simple words made Obi-Wan feel ten feet tall. “Yeah.”
“Well, um…not really. I mean, I haven’t found anything super-interesting yet, but I just started right before you sat down.”
“You thought about working for the government? I know there are some paramedics working for contractors on base. Army and Navy.” He wasn’t even going to bring up the possibility of working for private security companies that contracted with the military to provide medical support for their personnel in high-risk environments, often overseas.
He couldn’t stomach the thought of this woman being in some of the awful places he and his team had been on missions.
“Really?”
“Really,” he confirmed.
“I might be interested. Honestly, while working as a set medic used to be fun and exciting, as I get older, it’s not so much anymore.”
Obi-Wan could understand that. Just as he opened his mouth to see if Zita wanted to get together for their movie marathon before they left for the western part of the state, the one woman he didn’t want to see again walked into the break area. Carmen. And of course, she was shadowed by Silas.
For once, though, she didn’t make a beeline for him. She actually pretended as if she didn’t see him at all, smiling brightly at everyone else and saying good morning as if she was best friends with all the grips, lighting techs, and extras milling about.
“What’s up with her?” Zita asked. “I’ve never seen her in the break room before.”
Obi-Wan sighed. “She’s pissed at me. Probably trying to make me see what I’m missing by turning down her generous offer of sleeping with her after her going-away party this afternoon.”
“Good grief,” Zita said with an eye roll. “It’s not a going-away party. I mean, nothing special has been planned. Just the usual food that’s delivered in the afternoons. She probably ordered a cake to make herself look more important.”
Obi-Wan chuckled. “You think she ordered it? I’m thinking she had her sidekick do it.”
“True. I can’t imagine her lowering herself to order anything from anywhere.”
“What’s up with her bodyguard, anyway? I’ve never seen one hanging around Logan,” Obi-Wan asked.
Zita closed her laptop and leaned forward, her elbows on the table as she gave him her complete attention.
“He has one, but it’s his own guy from California.
A professional who knows how to stay in the background.
Doesn’t bring any attention to himself like Silas does, who seems to love the spotlight as much as Carmen.
And I think his services were provided by a local company.
That’s often how it works, unless the talent wants to bring their own men or women with them.
Sometimes that’s the case with ultra-famous actors and actresses.
But Carmen, while very popular, isn’t quite on the same level as some of the people Henry has worked with. ”
“Interesting.”
“And I think he’s sleeping with her too,” Zita said, before taking a drink of coffee.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, the gossip on set really is pretty amazing. I overheard two of the boom handlers talking about how they heard Silas telling one of the camera operators all about it.”
“Why in the hell would she want to sleep with me then? If she’s already getting some from Hulk?” Obi-Wan asked.
Zita giggled. “Because you’re way better-looking than him.
And you’re not a blue-collar worker like he is.
I mean, a Night Stalker or a bodyguard? There’s no competition.
Although, now that I think about it…it kind of sounds like a romance novel trope.
She probably has delusions of being fought over by the two of you. Or maybe a threesome.”
Obi-Wan wrinkled his nose in disgust. “For the record, I’m a one-woman kind of man. Not into sharing.”
“Good to know,” Zita said with a vague grin.
The sound of a chair clattering to the floor caught both their attention, and when Obi-Wan turned, he saw a woman standing next to a table, her hands around her throat in the telltale nonverbal signal that she was choking.
Before he or Zita could move, Carmen was behind the woman, grabbing her around the sternum. She began yanking at her chest area, screaming at her to “spit it out” as she did so.
“For fuck’s sake,” Zita swore, quickly jogging over to where Carmen and the choking woman were struggling.
They were surrounded by people, everyone staring in disbelief at what was happening, which Obi-Wan knew was pretty normal.
He saw it all the time on missions. When the shit hit the fan, a lot of people froze instead of getting away from the danger.
Or wanted to watch whatever destruction was happening around them.
Zita grabbed Carmen by the arm and yanked her away from the woman.
Carmen lost her footing and stumbled before falling to the floor.
Zita didn’t waste any time checking to see if she was all right; she put her own arms around the choking woman, placed her hands in the correct position, just above the belly button and under the rib cage—instead of over her sternum—and proceeded to pull inward and upward on the woman’s diaphragm.
She was so focused on dislodging whatever was stuck in the woman’s throat, she didn’t see the little drama unfolding behind her.
Silas helped Carmen off the floor—then moved toward Zita with a bloodthirsty look on his face.
Obi-Wan got to him just before he could put his hands on her.
“Back off,” he growled in a low, menacing tone.
“She touched Carmen. Threw her to the floor.”
“Because she was doing the Heimlich wrong!” Obi-Wan told him. “Anyone could see that. All she was doing was hurting the woman and wasting time. This is what Zita does. She’s a fucking paramedic, remember?”
Silas’s eyes narrowed. Now he took an aggressive step toward Obi-Wan.
Before he could do anything, the woman who was choking coughed.
Obi-Wan looked at her just in time to see a piece of food go flying out of her mouth and land with a wet plop on the floor. Zita immediately stopped what she was doing and put her arm around her waist, helping her stay upright as she continued to cough.
After a few seconds, the woman’s cheeks began to pinken, and she lost the blue tinge that had formed around her lips.
“Oh my God,” the woman said between coughs. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“Don’t talk. Just breathe. You’re okay now.”
The woman nodded, and just like that, the people around them became unstuck. Telling the woman they were glad she was all right, commenting about how it happened so fast, and thanking Zita for being there and knowing what to do.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Carmen demanded. She had her hands on her hips and was glaring at everyone. “I was the one who reacted first, while the rest of you just stood around looking like idiots! I was doing just fine until Dr. Doody here decided she wanted all the attention.”