Chapter 11

M aggie didn't get any subbing jobs for the following week, which she actually didn't mind, because it meant she got to spend nearly every day with Alistair at the park. She had a few students to tutor in the afternoons, but otherwise, the days had been spent helping Alistair with the animals in the park's petting zoo. She got to feed and play with baby animals, including the pygmy goat that kept trying to eat her shoelaces.

She'd spent most nights at his apartment too. Though she'd offered for him to stay at her place, he'd said he was on-call with the animals and couldn't be too far from the park. While she would have enjoyed having him stay at her place, she honestly didn't care where she slept as long as she woke up in his arms.

There was genuinely nothing better.

Well…except for how much he rocked her world every time they were intimate. No man had ever touched her the way he did, elicited the pleasure that he seemed to always give her, or made her feel so cherished.

Friday had come quickly, the days a blur as they spent time together when she wasn't tutoring and he wasn't busy with the animals that were too dangerous for her to help him with. She was falling hard for Alistair, and why not? He was sexy as hell, so sweet and charming, and she enjoyed spending time with him.

But despite all of that, she still felt like there was something he was keeping from her. She couldn't put her finger on it exactly, and she sometimes felt like she was being paranoid, but something didn't seem quite right between them. It's not like she expected he'd tell her everything right away, of course, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was a secret between them and it was a doozy.

She'd spent Thursday night at his apartment, where he'd knocked her socks off in bed before they'd fallen asleep snuggled up on the couch watching a movie. She didn't have any kids to tutor, so the day was theirs until they had to get ready for the wedding.

She picked up her phone from the kitchen table and grimaced.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You made a face."

She tilted the phone and blew on it. "There's still freaking glitter from my sister's bachelorette party on my phone."

Wednesday night, she'd joined her sister and her friends and several family members at a bar for drinks and dancing, then one of her friends had decided to throw glitter on everyone. Maggie was still finding pieces of it stuck to her phone and purse.

He sprayed cleaner on a paper towel and handed it to her, and she took off the case and carefully wiped everything.

"So what's on tap for today?" she asked. "Baby animals, I hope?"

He grinned and set a mug of coffee in front of her. The mug was one of a set that he had which had elephants on them. She really loved it because it was a soft gray color and the handle was the trunk.

"I'm taking you on a tour of the park."

"Really?" Her eyes went wide.

"Yep. Your private tour with me includes all the behind-the-scenes things that regular patrons don't get access to. First, we'll start with the safari, just you and me in a Jeep, then we'll visit the bird sanctuary and aviary hospital, followed by a ride on the carousel again if you want, plus hanging out with the baby animals, and finishing up with the burger of the day. Then we can come back here and get ready for the wedding."

"Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing!"

"We're scheduled to do the tour at nine," he said. "The VIP tours are starting at eleven today, and I didn't want to have to rush."

"I can't wait."

"Tell me honestly," he said, arching a brow. "Are you more excited about the VIP tour or getting back to the petting zoo?"

She made a face and said, "I can't help that I love the petting zoo."

"Everyone does," he said with a chuckle. "We should add it to the tour."

"That would be so fun. I think it would be awesome to be part of the tours, to be able to teach people about the animals and share interesting details about them. I don't think I'll ever get tired of learning new things and sharing that knowledge."

"I can tell why you wanted to become a teacher," he said. "Maybe a job will open with the tours and you can be part of them."

"That would be so cool. I can't go too long without a sub job, though. I only have so much money in savings to carry me. If I don't get work in the next couple of weeks, I'll pick up some shifts at my parents' plant nursery."

He hummed and took a drink of coffee, but didn't say anything.

There he went again. Looking like he was going to share something with her, but stopping himself.

Okay, stop being paranoid.

She shook off the thoughts about Alistair hiding something from her and asked him questions about the tours and the animals while they finished their coffee. After cleaning up, they walked across the park to the safari tour, where a young man was standing near one of the smaller blue-colored camo Jeeps.

"Hi, I'm Alfie," he said to Maggie as he handed the keys to Alistair. "Everyone's ready, so you can go at your own pace since you have loads of time. If you want to take photos, the camera is in the bag."

"Thanks," Alistair said.

"Who's ready?" she asked as Alistair helped her into the Jeep.

"The people who feed and care for the animals," he said. He got behind the wheel and turned it on. "The tours are on the weekends and that means everything has to be finished up earlier than other days, when there aren't tours running so early. It wouldn't matter to you and me if there were handlers in the paddocks, but Alfie was just letting me know that the work was all done."

"They must have started really early," she mused.

He shifted the Jeep into gear and pressed lightly on the gas. The Jeep lurched a little and she grabbed the dashboard to steady herself.

"Sorry, sweetheart," he said with a chuckle. "It's a touchy vehicle."

They rolled forward to a tall gate, which opened slowly. Once they were through the gate, it shut behind them, which he said ensured that each VIP tour group had privacy for their time with each paddock and no one was rushed.

He stopped at the elephant paddock and parked. "Normally we would take a photo of the VIP at each paddock and then they're given a free souvenir album afterward. Would you like me to take your picture?"

He helped her from the Jeep. She looked at the tall gate and the elephants beyond that were milling around in the paddock. "Could you be in the picture?"

"I can try to take one like that," he said. "Let me see if I can figure something out."

He pulled a black bag out of the back seat and set it on the hood, then removed a professional-looking camera, which he handed to her. He rummaged in the bag for a bit, and then took the camera from her. After he turned it on, he fiddled with it for a minute and then said, "Got it!"

He set the camera on the hood of the Jeep, then moved to the other side so he could look through the viewing screen. "There's a timer function. I wanted to see if the hood was too low. Go stand by the gate and let me see."

She walked to the gate and turned to face him, feeling awkward and kind of silly. When she smiled, he said, "That's perfect." There was a snapping sound, and she said, "Hey! You're supposed to join me."

He peered at her over the camera and said, "Test picture."

"Yeah, right."

He pushed a button and then hurried to her, putting his arm around her. "It'll beep at three seconds."

She put her arm around him and smiled at the camera. Behind them, she could hear the elephants milling around and she was so tempted to turn and see what they were doing. The camera beeped and she focused and smiled, then had to blink a few times at the bright flash.

"Let me make sure it's a good picture." He moved back to the camera and she turned to face the paddock, where three elephants milled around. One was very close to the gate and let out a low grunt, which sounded a lot like a question.

"Do they have names?" she asked when Alistair joined her.

"No, the only one with a name is Tank."

"They're so cool," she said. "All right, what's the spiel for the elephants? I want the whole VIP tour experience. Even though I heard everything you said when you gave the tour to the kids, I still want the whole kit and kaboodle."

He put his arm around her and kissed her temple with a chuckle. "You got it." He spent a few minutes telling her interesting facts about the elephants and answered her questions.

When they returned to the Jeep, he said, "Next up is the wolves. They're the largest group in the park."

"Cool." She waved at the elephants and one of them lifted his trunk. "Holy cow it looks like that guy is waving at me."

Alistair cleared his throat and said, "That doesn't surprise me. They're used to the Jeeps, plus they know that I feed them and give them snacks, so he was probably hoping for an apple."

"Aw, I bet he's bummed."

The Jeep moved away and headed down a dirt path to the next paddock, where a big pack of wolves were hanging out. After the wolves came the lions, then the gorillas, then the bears, and finally the non-predator animals including Tank the moose. After the picture, she watched through the bars as the deer and antelope roamed and Tank seemed to be supervising everyone.

When the tour was over, they returned the Jeep to Alfie, then headed to the aviary, where she got to meet Auden and Jess, who ran the sanctuary and hospital. Maggie was fascinated by the birds that called Angel's Sanctuary for Birds their home.

"I heard you're a teacher?" Jess asked as they reached the small open auditorium where they held educational shows about the birds.

"Yep. Substitute teacher."

"We were just talking about creating a job for someone to lead some of the classes so we can do more of them."

"That would be neat," she said.

"We'll reach out to Alistair if that ends up being something we can do."

As they walked away, heading toward the petting zoo, she took Alistair's hand.

"What do you think about maybe working here?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said. She glanced up at him, smiling at the way the sunlight made his hair look like it had hidden gold highlights. The park's polo shirt he was wearing fit him perfectly and highlighted his muscular arms and chest. Every time she saw him in that shirt, she wanted to peel it off him and explore all that sexy skin.

He swung her around and pressed her gently against a tree. She gasped and stared up at him in surprise.

"You're the sexiest female I've ever met in my life," he said gruffly. His hands were planted on either side of her, the cords of his muscles tight. Leaning in, he feathered kisses up her throat and let out a low growly sound. "You smell fucking amazing."

She hooked her hands over his forearms as her body lit up. Tilting her head to give him better access to her neck, which felt like it was directly connected to her clit, she said, "You're sexy too. I can't help that just being around you turns me on."

He chuckled and pulled her close for a hug, spinning to rest his back against the rough bark of the tree. "Precious Maggie, you are my whole world."

She listened to his heart beating as she rested her head on his chest.

"You're mine too."