As Zack reached around her for the reins, she jumped with some surprise. Despite agreeing to let him ‘drive’, she obviously hadn’t been expecting him to reach around her as he did. He certainly wasn’t shy about it. For as surprised as she was with his hand reaching around her for the reins, she was twice as surprised when he anchored his right arm around her waist. He gently nudged the horse with his heels, having learned his lesson after riding a friend’s horse. Sam seemed undecided about where to put her now free hands, consciously aware of the man’s arm around her waist. She finally rested one hand on the saddle horn and the other on the cantle beneath that. They rode a short distance on the trail in the woods before reaching the clearing about one hundred yards from the visitor center. Zack sent the horse into a canter, just about startling Sam.
As they approached the visitor center, Jackie, Bogart, and Monroe watched the riders on the horse approaching at a fast pace. Zack slowed the horse and stopped near his friends. All three seemed to be paying more attention to the woman ranger than Zack. Sam wore a strange smile on her face and attempted to cover her flushed cheeks.
“That was fun,” Zack announced, then swiftly slid off the horse without using the stirrups, although he had little trouble holding onto Sam’s knee as he dismounted.
Sam seemed excessively giddy now and couldn’t even look at the others. “I, uh, picked up a hitchhiker,” she announced, then finally found the courage to look at Jackie, Monroe, and Bogart.
“Sam brought fudge,” Zack informed them.
As Sam dismounted, Kirk suddenly appeared near them and approached. “Did someone mention fudge?”
Sam appeared surprised and glanced at Zack. “Is that Kirk?”
Zack grinned and nodded. “His stomach has good hearing,” he replied.
Sam stared at Kirk as he approached them. Her expression dropped at the sight of the large man. “Jesus, he’s big,” she gasped a little too loudly.
Jackie tensed slightly and eyed the guys as Sam opened her saddlebag. They all shared the same concerned looks. They had to play nice or risk seeming suspicious. As Sam turned with the brick of fudge wrapped in foil within a plastic bag in her hand, Jackie immediately smiled.
“Did you want to stay for lunch?” Jackie asked and just about cringed at the offer. It was the polite and least suspicious thing to do.
“I have my lunch with me,” Sam announced, “but I’d love to have someone to eat with for a change.”
“There are some clean tables in the visitor’s center,” Jackie reported, then nodded to the main building. “Grab your lunch and join us. We have water, soda, and iced tea.”
“Thanks,” Sam replied, then extended the brick of fudge to them.
Kirk reached for it.
Monroe glared at Kirk and took the package from Sam. “We’re not falling for that trick again,” he snarled at his brawny teammate.
§
In order to keep up appearances, the guys joined Sam for lunch in the visitor’s center. Gil and Nevada were the only two who remained mysteriously absent. Someone had to stay with Marco, and someone had to watch the perimeter. Nevada was more than happy to remain on prisoner detail since she was anti-social anyway. Gil just happened to have a better stake-out position when Sam called, so he stayed out to keep watch for intruders. Sam seemed typical for someone who had gone without social interaction for a while. Initially, she was slightly introverted, but she was soon happily striking up conversations with the guys. Despite Zack’s unique ability to avoid people and socialization in general, Sam seemed to keep her attention focused on him. The rest of the team found humor in Zack’s forced socialization and his obvious discomfort for the role he had to play.
Once lunch was over, and the fudge was devoured, it was time for Sam to take her leave. She was grateful to use their bathroom before leaving since she didn’t often have an actual toilet while out patrolling away from the ranger’s station. While she was in the ladies’ room, all eyes were on Zack, and his teammates seemed to be sharing strange smiles.
“What?” Zack demanded with some irritation by their stares. “I played nice.”
“She likes you,” Monroe teased.
“What are you talking about?” Zack snapped back while shooting a glare at Monroe.
“She was flirting,” Monroe pressed, finding humor in Zack’s inability to read women.
“I’d think I’d know if a woman were flirting with me,” Zack remarked and attempted to ignore the looks he was receiving.
“Zack,” Jackie announced with a sigh, unwilling to let her comrades continue their torment of her partner. “She was definitely flirting with you.”
“Anyone else find that weird?” Kirk asked while downing the last piece of fudge.
“Personally, I have no idea what any woman would find appealing about Zack,” Beck insisted, then shrugged. “Especially an intelligent woman like that.”
“Fuck you, Beck,” Zack scoffed, then stood and snatched his camera from the counter. “Excuse me; I have photographer things to do.”
As Zack headed for the visitor’s center door, Ross called after him. “Stick around to thank Sam for stopping by and bringing fudge,” Ross announced.
Zack didn’t respond to Ross as he headed out the door. Sam returned from the ladies' restroom, which was on the other side of the large lobby. She immediately noticed Zack’s disappearance and looked somewhat disappointed. It only seemed to prove the point the guys were attempting to make. Sam wasn’t suspicious of Zack; she liked him.
“Thanks for letting me join you for lunch,” Sam announced to the guys.
She was greeted with a round of thanks for the fudge. Jackie then walked her to the door. Sam now seemed uncomfortable.
“Zack had to leave, huh?” Sam asked, seeming somewhat disappointed.
“He’s not the most social person,” Jackie informed her, then managed a tiny smile. “I’m kind of amazed he stuck around as long as he did.”
Sam stopped Jackie just before the door, now that they were out of earshot of the others. “I was kind of curious. How is it Zack lives with you, you know, being you’re married to someone else?” She immediately backtracked the question. “I mean, it’s really none of my business; I’m just trying to understand the situation between you two.”
Jackie managed a humored laugh. “I suppose it can seem strange to some,” she replied, then more or less answered truthfully. “Zack served in the military with my father, so he’s always been a large part of my life. It’s made us close. I guess you could say he lives a bit of the nomad life, but he’s slowly transitioning to a more stable home life, especially now that he’s trying to bond with his kids.”
“It’s kind of ironic,” Sam remarked.
“What’s that?” Jackie asked.
Sam frowned and shrugged. “Every guy I’ve ever taken an interest in is never emotionally available,” she reported, then sighed. “It’s a curse of mine.”
“Well, I wish I could tell you you’re wrong about Zack,” Jackie remarked, then sighed. “But he’s about as emotionally unavailable as they come. Bonding with his son has been a very good experience for him.” Jackie then frowned. “I just wish his daughter would warm up to him, but she shares a lot of his less charming traits.”
“That’s too bad,” Sam remarked then hesitated. “I mean that she hasn’t warmed up to him.”
“She tends to keep her emotions buried pretty deep inside, too,” Jackie remarked. “Although everyone believed her reserved boyfriend was what she needed most, I often wonder if she’d do better with someone more outgoing.”
“Sounds like Zack needs that too,” Sam remarked.
“Zack’s done the ‘outgoing’ girlfriend type,” Jackie remarked. “Unfortunately, they’ve been outgoing in a bad way.”
“So he has a type?” Sam teased, then seemed a little embarrassed.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Jackie replied with a tiny sigh. “I suppose mild to moderately psychotic would be his
preferred type.”
Sam managed an embarrassed laugh. “Good to know,” she replied, then seemed defeated but forced a tiny smile. “Thanks for the talk, Jackie. I appreciate it. If you’re in the area, feel free to drop by the ranger’s station any time. I don’t mind the company.”
It was painfully obvious Sam was extremely lonely, despite her insistence that she enjoyed the solitude. Eventually, everyone looked for some form of human bonding. Jackie never had that problem. She’d rarely been alone a day in her life. Growing up, her father’s military buddies were always in and out of her life. Now that she was an adult; that was still the case.
“Well, I do want to check out that tower one of these mornings,” Jackie replied. “Maybe I’ll drop by after I’ve taken some photos.”
“I’d love to see them,” Sam announced, then finally left the building.
As Sam walked outside, she paused when she saw Zack nuzzling with the horse, who appeared to be enjoying a good ear scratching. Sam hid her smile and approached.
“You boys getting along?” she teased, then approached the side of the horse and tightened the girth she had previously loosened.
Zack moved away from the horse’s head as if he’d been caught doing something wrong. “Just ‘guy talk’,” he casually replied.
“Not sure if that’s good or bad,” Sam remarked, then glanced at Zack, almost unable to make eye contact with him while hiding her smile. “I thought you’d be back up in your tree already.”
“If you’re heading back that way, I thought you could give me a lift,” Zack remarked.
Sam glanced at Zack with some surprise, then immediately hid her smile. “Uh, yeah, sure,” she replied. “But if it’s okay with you, I’d like to drive this time.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Zack remarked with little emotion. “I’ve been told I’m an aggressive driver.”
Sam chuckled at the comment then mounted the horse. She removed her foot from the stirrup and extended her hand to him. Zack grabbed her wrist, although she was prepared for it this time, and swung on the horse’s back behind her. Despite that he wasn’t ‘driving’, he still anchored his right arm securely around her waist. Even though she had been anticipating the action, she was still taken somewhat off-guard by it. They rode at a leisurely walk across the clearing and eventually into the woods. It only took a few minutes, even at a walk, to reach the area where she’d found him.
“I believe this is your stop,” Sam teased, then seemed to curse herself for the bad joke.
Zack appeared hesitant to dismount. He then placed his foot in the stirrup, despite not needing it to dismount last time, and reached around her with his left hand, catching onto the saddle horn. As Zack moved from the horse's back, he placed his knee on the saddle behind her and stood in the stirrup to her side, positioning himself securely. Sam eyed his action with bewilderment. Without warning, Zack placed his hand to her face, kissing her passionately and with some aggression. Sam immediately tensed at the aggressiveness of the kiss. Zack broke off the kiss and met her moderately stunned gaze. She seemed almost shocked.
Zack immediately looked away as if realizing his mistake. “Sorry,” he announced, then frowned. “I took some bad advice.”
Before Sam could even respond or react, Zack jumped backward off the horse. He no sooner landed on the ground when he returned to his tree. Sam finally snapped out of her shocked state and watched him scale the tree with little to no effort.
“I’ll, uh, see you around,” Sam replied, then kicked the horse and took off across the woods, in a hurry to get away as fast as possible.
Zack sat on the thick branch, leaned back against the tree, and groaned with some irritation. He then tapped his ear transmitter. “Jackie, you copy?”
“Yeah, Zack,” Jackie replied over his earpiece.
“You were wrong about Sam,” he snapped with irritation. “She wasn’t flirting, and she’s certainly not interested in me. Next time, keep your advice to yourself.”
“My advice?” Jackie announced over his transmitter. “What advice? What did you do?”
“Zack out,” he scoffed and angrily tapped his ear transmitter.
Chapter 36
Zack lay on his back on the tallest rock formation within the lion’s enclosure and watched the sunset. The top of the tall, faux rock gave a fantastic view of most of the sanctuary. The habitat itself had a tall, chain-link fence covered in fake vegetation to conceal it, giving the impression of an open enclosure while keeping the predatory animals secure from their would-be prey. Jackie stood at the bottom of the rock formation and looked up at the man who was quite possibly sleeping. Zack looked a little too ‘at home’ in the predator’s habitat. It was almost fitting, except the fences that kept in the wild cats would never contain Zack. Jackie groaned, knowing Zack was purposely ignoring her calls over his transmitter, and she was forced to climb the man-made rocks to the top. Despite that she now stood over him; he didn’t bother opening his eyes.
“What do you want?” he snarled.
“Why the hell are you mad at me?” she demanded and sat down beside him.
Zack opened his eyes and sat up, glaring at her. “You told me the ranger was flirting with me,” he scoffed. “I foolishly made the first move, and now she probably thinks I’m some sort of pervert.” He angrily held up his finger as if making a point. “And, although that may be true, I’m only a pervert among close friends.”
Jackie stared at him with a strange look, latching on to the part of the conversation that struck a chord with her. “First move?” she asked with some concern. “What do you mean?” A concerned look crossed her face. “Please tell me you didn’t just grab the poor girl and kiss her.”
“Well, that would be the first move, now wouldn’t it?” he demanded, then shook his head. “This is why I prefer letting the woman make the first move. At least then I know what’s expected from me.”
Jackie groaned softly, placed her hand over her eyes, and shook her head. There were times Zack could be impossibly clueless, and it usually involved women. “I said she was flirting, Zack,” she insisted, then shot a look at him. “That doesn’t mean she was looking for you to jump on her.”
“How the hell am I supposed to know what you mean if you don’t say what you mean?”
“Only in your world would ‘flirting’ possibly mean ‘take me now’,” Jackie snapped back.
“This coming from the woman who handcuffed a federal agent to a bed the third time they’d met,” Zack scoffed.
“Okay, that was different,” she huffed and recalled the erotic moment with great fondness. Jackie returned to reality. “And it was the fourth time.”
“How was that different?” he demanded.
“I handcuffed Holden to the bed in order to escape being taken into federal custody,” she insisted.
Zack rolled his eyes and avoided looking at her. “So we’re going to pretend you didn’t hump him, huh?”
Jackie felt her cheeks redden at being called out. She now wished she’d never told Zack about that incident. “It’s still different,” she insisted. “Sam isn’t one of your ‘hit and runs’, Zack. She’s not Katya or any of your other fuck buddies.”
Zack shot a glare at Jackie. “I don’t find that amusing,” he snapped.
“It wasn’t meant to be,” Jackie replied, then held her breath a moment and sighed. “I sincerely doubt that Sam is looking for a hook-up, and, if she were, she most certainly isn’t looking for a ‘hit-and-run’. She wants the whole sexual-emotional experience.”
Zack frowned and looked away. “I don’t do that,” he remarked. “Not since Maggie.”
“I think you should apologize to Sam,” Jackie informed him.
“Will that be enough?” he asked while eyeing her. “I feel really bad about kissing her like that. She seemed pretty upset by it.”
“You can only apologize,” Jackie insisted and drew a calming breath. “It was a misunderstanding.”
�
��Should I go up there right now?”
Jackie stared at him with horror in her eyes. She sometimes wondered what went through his head. “Yeah, I’m sure that won’t freak her out in the least,” she muttered, then groaned. “No, just wait for her to come back this way in a day or two. You don’t want her to feel cornered, especially if she’s fearful of you now.”
Zack groaned and lay back down on the rock. “Women are complicated,” he muttered. “It’s no wonder I can’t connect with my daughter. You’re all crazy.”
§
The following morning, Jackie emerged from her dormitory-style bedroom, still dressed in her sleep shorts and a tank top, looking disheveled after a mildly rough night. She had her towel and shower kit in hand and headed for the locker room and shower area. Most of their safe houses had individual bathrooms with showers or tubs. She wasn’t used to the dormitory-style shower facilities, particularly the co-ed kind. The facility only had one shower room. Jackie felt reasonably confident the showers wouldn’t be in use by the other guys this early in the morning. Zack was already up and about for nearly an hour, so she wasn’t worried about him occupying the showers. Kirk wouldn’t be up until noon if left to his own devices, and the rest of the guys were probably just dragging themselves out of bed right about now.
Jackie knocked on the closed locker room door. When there was no response, she tried the door. Since it wasn’t locked, the shower was available. She entered and locked the door behind her. The locker room was less than impressive, with several rows of old lockers containing benches. The concrete floor was coated but bland, and the walls were basic cinderblock. It reminded her of gym class in high school. Jackie walked past the rows of lockers and headed for the shower area. The communal shower area didn’t contain a door, although there was a short privacy wall before the large shower area just beyond it. By the time Jackie heard the showers running, it was already too late. She nearly ran into Monroe, who was wearing only a towel around his waist, as he emerged from the showers.
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