Jeff grinned. Ashley’s heart froze for a second, before attempting a land speed record in thumps per second. Jeff occasionally joked and he smiled fairly regularly, but he didn’t grin much. There were almost dimples in his cheeks and great crinkles by his eyes. If he did that grin thing too much, he could generate enough heat to melt the polar ice caps.
Sensible, she reminded herself as she finished helping Maggie with her coat and rose. She had to be sensible. She wasn’t looking for a relationship with a man. She preferred her life to be simple. When she was finally ready to get involved again, she wanted someone who could love her best. She had a feeling that Jeff wasn’t in a position to open his heart to anyone. So why go looking for trouble?
“Here you are.”
She turned and saw Jeff holding up her coat for her. As she slipped into it, she accidentally brushed her cheek against his hand. Fire burned from the point of contact. She sighed. It seemed like she wasn’t going to have to look for trouble. It was finding her all on its own.
* * *
Four-year-olds found everything about the zoo endlessly fascinating. Jeff watched in amazement as his charges raced toward the giraffe exhibit. The kids were as excited by the drinking fountains and benches as they were by the animals.
“What are you thinking?” Ashley asked. “Having second thoughts?”
“Never.”
“I’m glad, because you’re great with the kids.”
He risked glancing at her, taking in the perfect smoothness of her skin and the laughter lurking in her hazel eyes. She was endlessly pretty, he thought, and more than appealing. He was finding it more and more difficult to spend time with her and not give in to his need. He’d come close a couple of times, compelled by a desire that grew so quickly, it was difficult to contain.
When he’d first brought Ashley home, she wanted to know who he was and what he was doing in her world. Now he wanted to ask her the same question. Who was this woman who had made a place for herself in his cold and empty life?
“Jeff, Jeff, pick me up so I can see ’em!”
The instruction came from a blond little boy named Tommy. For reasons that weren’t clear to Jeff, the boy had latched on to him from the second they’d been introduced.
Jeff bent awkwardly and lifted the boy in his arms. “There you go.”
The slight weight shifted as the kid squirmed to get a better look at the giraffes strolling through their compound.
“Are the elephants next, Mommy?” a familiar voice asked.
“Yes, Maggie. In just a few minutes. Aren’t the giraffes pretty, with their long necks?”
Maggie glanced at him as if to say her mother simply wasn’t getting it. Cats and elephants were the only animals that interested Maggie.
“Can I touch ’em?” Tommy asked.
Jeff shrugged. “Do you want to keep all your fingers?”
Tommy’s blue eyes widened. His hands curled into fists. “They eat fingers?”
“No, but they bite. Animals in the zoo aren’t pets. We have to treat them with respect because they’re wild creatures.”
The boy regarded him solemnly. Tommy had a stain on the front of his flannel shirt and a cowlick that sent a lock of hair up toward the heavens.
“Are you Maggie’s daddy?”
The question caught Jeff off guard. He lowered the boy to the ground. “No.”
Two of the kids pushed to get closer to the fence, keeping visitors away from the animals. In the process, one of the kids, a girl in pigtails, landed on her butt. Before she more than opened her mouth to scream, one of the mothers pulled her to her feet and distracted her by pointing out the baby giraffe.
Jeff looked at the group of children and parents. They moved and interacted with a grace and rhythm he couldn’t understand or copy. He was very much the outsider, but he couldn’t decide if he wanted to be anything else.
“Elephants next,” Cathy, the preschool teacher, called. “Let’s go this way.”
The children yelped with excitement and hurried after her.
“Not exactly special ops in the jungle, huh?” Ashley said as she stepped next to him. “So, is this more or less challenging than your last security job?”
