Chapter 21
ALEX
“I didn’t know they were coming.” I paced the length of the kitchen.
Zina uncrossed her legs and then recrossed them the other way. She didn’t believe me. I could tell by the way her jaw set. The softness I’d seen in her just last night was gone.
“I’m sorry. We’ll figure this out.”
“No, you’ll figure this out.” She finally spoke. “And by the way, why is the parrot here?”
I glanced toward the bay window where the girls had insisted I set up Shiner Bock’s cage.
“Char thinks Dolly might be allergic and wanted to see if moving him out here would make a difference. As for the penguins, fine, I’ll figure this out on my own.
” So far all I’d been able to do was put the penguins up in the front half of the warehouse.
I’d had to use the shelving units to separate them from the dogs.
The old Phillips warehouse was turning into a bit of a zoo.
“All the time we spent planning the adoption event.” Zina let out a loud sigh. “Wasted.”
“It’s not wasted. You still found homes for a few of the dogs, right?” I tried to remind her of the good that had come out of the day.
“Buster. We found a home for Buster and that’s it.” She held a puppy in the crook of her arm. I’d never meant to make more work for her. All along the only thing I’d wanted to do was help her out.
“Well, at least that’s one dog who’s going to a good home.” I gave her my best winning smile.
She frowned back. It had taken all afternoon and into the evening to get the penguins and the puppies settled. Gramps had gone to bed a couple of hours ago while Zina and I had still been shuffling kennels around in the warehouse.
“You hungry?” I asked. “I can whip up something for us to eat.”
The look she gave me let me know she had less faith in my ability to make dinner than she did in my ability to remedy the penguin and puppy situation.
“What? I’ve been feeding myself for years. I think I can handle it.”
“You burned macaroni and cheese.”
“First of all, that wasn’t totally my fault. And second, I’ve never burned a quesadilla.”
“You seem pretty sure of yourself. Go for it.”
I’d show her I could succeed at something, even if it was only heating up two tortillas with some cheese between them.
Determined to prove myself, I scoured the fridge for possible ingredients.
I hadn’t had to fend for myself at the station.
They had cooks to take care of feeding the masses.
But before that I’d been pretty good at managing on my own.
I grabbed the eggs, cheese, some sausage left over from breakfast, and the tortillas.
Zina rose from the table, the puppy sound asleep in her arms. “I’m going to go put him in the basket and wash up. Try not to catch the place on fire while I’m gone, okay?”
“Very funny.” I let my gaze linger on her retreating behind.
When she disappeared from view, I pulled the cutting board out of the cabinet and chopped up half of a green pepper I’d found in the fridge.
Next, I dropped a pat of butter into a skillet and sautéed the peppers, then got to work on the eggs.
By the time Zina came back I was just putting the finishing touches on two sausage, egg, and pepper quesadillas.
“Wow, the smoke alarm didn’t even go off.” She smiled as I slid a plate in front of her.
“One gourmet quesadilla. Can I get you anything else?” I’d already poured the remains of the orange juice into two glasses and cut up whatever fruit Gramps hadn’t eaten yet into a quick fruit salad.
“This actually looks really good. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” I took a seat next to her and let my gaze linger on her as she took the first bite. Her shoulders didn’t seem as tense and she didn’t look like she wanted to kill me anymore.
“Mmm. This is good. Maybe you’re not such a failure in the kitchen after all.”
“One bad experience and I’m going to have to live that down the rest of my life, aren’t I?”
“Your ‘bad experience’ was burning mac and cheese.” Zina held a triangle of quesadilla up to her mouth. “That’s pretty hard to overcome.”
I shook my head. “I had to rescue Barbie from my nieces.”
“So you admit you get easily distracted by women?” She swallowed the bite in her mouth and took a sip of juice.
“Not all women.” I couldn’t help but notice the way her throat moved as she swallowed.
I’d had my lips on that same spot. Was it just a few hours ago?
Thinking about how it had felt to lie next to Zina in the big bed upstairs made me shift in my seat.
This thing between us, whatever it was, seemed to flip-flop back and forth between frustration and desire.
I didn’t know which feeling was sitting closer to the surface with her tonight.
“Hmm. I suppose Barbie is one of a kind. Good thing she’s not here tonight. This is really good.”
I smiled at the compliment. “So do you have any specialties?”
“What, like in the kitchen?” The tilt of her head, the way she glanced over at me, told me she was flirting. Maybe desire was winning and I’d convince her to stay over again tonight.
“Sure. In the kitchen . . . or feel free to name any talents you might have in other rooms of the house as well.”
“Other rooms?” She grinned back at me. “Like I’m great at starting a load of laundry?”
“Not what I meant.” I watched as she took a particularly large bite. Melted cheese oozed from where it sandwiched between the tortillas.
“Oh, I know what you meant. I just don’t like to play into your conversation traps.” She hitched a brow as I wondered what she meant by that.
“My conversation traps? Say more.” Leaning back against the chair, I crossed my arms over my chest. Zina’s mind was an interesting playground.
She didn’t respond the way I expected her to most of the time.
It was refreshing and if I were being completely honest with myself, which I rarely was, it was also a bit intimidating.
“You know . . . where you send some flirty bullshit my way and expect me to volley it back to you.”
“Oh.” Wasn’t I charming? I’d always thought so. Most women seemed to like the banter, the flirty foreplay. Maybe it wasn’t me that was the problem. Maybe it was Zina.
“It’s okay.” She set her elbows on the table. “I kind of like it.”
“You like what? The flirty bullshit?”
“Bullshit, bullshit,” Shiner Bock piped up.
Zina laughed. “No. The quesadilla.”
Damn. I should have seen that burn coming. Ready for a complete change of subject, I tried to get to know her a little better. “So you grew up in Ido?”
She shook her head. “My dad was in the military. I was an Army brat. We moved here when he retired so my mom could be closer to her family in Mexico.”
“And you’ve lived here ever since?”
“Yeah. Except for my stint in the Army.”
“How long did you serve?” Trying to get personal info out of her was like trying to milk a bull.
“Only a few years. I had to file for a dependency discharge to come home and take care of my brother.”
“Zeb?”
Zina nodded. “He was in the service too.”
“I really thought he would go all the way to the NFL. He was good.”
“Better than good.” Her mouth set in a grim line. “I wish he had. Then maybe he wouldn’t be so messed up.”
“What happened?”
“I told you he’s got PTSD. I think anyone who’s been stationed in a war zone ends up with some level of trauma. But Zeb wasn’t the same man when he came home.”
“I’m sorry.” Against my better judgment, I reached out and put my hand on hers.
She tried to laugh off my concern. “Sorry for what? It’s not your fault.”
“Of course not. I just mean I’m sorry he’s had to . . . I mean, sorry both of you have had to deal with this.”
“He’s family. You do what you’ve got to do, right?” She shrugged and nibbled on her last triangle of quesadilla.
Family. Do what you’ve got to do. She made it sound so simple, so cut-and-dried. Here she’d given up her military career to come home and take care of her brother, and I balked at the idea of having to deal with my grandfather for a few weeks.
“So who takes care of you?”
“What?” Her eyebrows drew together.
I wanted to kiss away the little wrinkle that furrowed her brow. “Who has your back? Who’s your family?”
She leaned back from the table. “Lacey for one. She and Bodie are about the only family I’ve got left. We do all right around here though. Sometimes family doesn’t necessarily mean the people who share your blood, you know?”
I nodded like I knew what she meant, but the truth was, I hadn’t been very good family to anyone—not the people I shared genes with or anyone else for that matter.
“Thanks for the late dinner.” Zina pushed back from the table and carried her plate over to the sink.
I scarfed down the last couple of bites and joined her next to the sink. “Do you want to stay over tonight?”
The blank look she gave me made me rethink the invitation.
“I just thought, since it’s late and you’ve got the puppies here . . .” Hell, maybe I’d misread the entire situation. She seemed pretty into me last night.
She closed her eyes for a long moment and rubbed at her temple. “Sorry, it’s been such a strange day, I forgot to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“I’ve been forbidden to return to my place, so we’re going to . . . well, we’re going to be roommates.”
A heaviness settled in the pit of my stomach. “Excuse me?”
“With everything going on I forgot to mention it. Seems someone tossed a brick through my front window last night and Bodie won’t let me go home. Looks like you’re stuck with me until I get the dogs out of here.” She caught her lower lip with her teeth. “Is that okay?”
“Okay? Um, yeah, of course.” An image of the men from the restaurant this morning played through my head. I needed to talk to Bodie, tell him what I’d overheard. “Are you all right?”
“It’s a little unnerving knowing that someone has it out for me.”
“Come here.” I held my arms open and she snuggled against my chest. “Gramps and I won’t let anything happen to you. Not while we’re around.”
“I can look out for myself you know.” Her voice was muffled against my shirt.
I pulled back to meet her gaze. “I have no doubt you can. But as long as we’re working on this wedding, we’re part of a team, right? Which means we’re in this together.”
“Until you leave for your next job.”
“What are you talking about?”
Zina looked away. “Your gramps said you got an offer to work for Munyon. Something about checking out some investment property he’s looking at and joining his team?”
“It’s not a done deal.” I needed the wedding to go well before anything was finalized.
“But you’re considering it?”
“I’m keeping my options open.” I’d be an idiot not to jump on it. Munyon owned land around the world. I could go to work for him and enjoy the benefit of a paycheck while still not having to settle down anywhere.
She pulled my head down and pressed her lips against mine.
“What was that for?”
“I guess I’m keeping my options open too.”
My mouth spread into a smile. “Does this mean you’re not going to make me sleep on the couch?”