Page 41 of Tiger Queen

I wasn’t sleepy yet, so I went downstairs to get some dessert. With a bowl of ice cream in hand, I wandered around the downstairs of the house. There was a hunting room with taxidermy animal heads mounted on the walls. I avoided that and went into a room which was filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and thousands of books. Anthony was inside, sitting in one of the leather chairs with his laptop. He smiled when he saw me.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were working,” I said, turning to leave.

“No! Not working at all. I mean, not really. I was just checking up on the GoFundMe page and social media.”

Next to his chair was a square table and a chessboard, and another chair on the other side of that. I sat in the open chair and said, “How much money have you raised?”

He spun the laptop around and grimaced. “Eighty-four bucks.”

“That’ll pay for half a tub of vitamin C powder,” I said hopefully. “That’s better than nothing.”

“I guess. But it’s not what we’re hoping to get. David says it may take months to find homes for all these animals. We threw in a bunch of our own money to keep this place afloat until then, but I don’t know if it will be enough.”

Anthony was usually enthusiastic and upbeat, so it was jarring seeing him gloomy about our prospects. To try to cheer him up I said, “I didn’t expect to see a room like this in Crazy Carl’s house.”

Anthony looked around the room and chuckled. “Dad liked the idea of having a library full of books to make it seem like he was worldly. But he wasn’t much of a reader, no.”

“How are you handling his death?” I asked gently. “David seems okay, and Jake wears his emotions on his sleeve so it’s obvious he’s hurting. But I can’t get a read on you.”

Anthony closed his laptop and ran a hand through his messy hair. “I’m doing okay, I guess. It still hasn’t sunk in that he’s gone, you know? I thought I would cry at the funeral but I was totally stone-faced. Maybe it would have been different if there was a body in the casket. One last chance to see him and get closure.”

He met my gaze and smiled. His blue eyes were so much like David’s, but different too. He had long eyelashes, and his eyes were softer. They were beautiful even in his sadness. I wished there was a way for me to comfort him.

There is, a voice in my head whispered.

I rose from my chair, stood facing Anthony, then leaned down until my hands were on the arms of the chair. I kissed him softly, and he leaned into my lips with passion and desire.

“What was that for?” he asked me, sounding exactly like David when I had kissed him earlier today.

“Because I wanted to kiss you.”

I sat in his lap and kissed him some more. He may not have been as jacked as his brothers, but his body was firm and hard underneath mine, and I wondered what he looked like nude. I wanted to find out.

After making out for a few minutes, I said, “Want to take this party upstairs?”

“I do.” He sighed, but it was a sigh of regret instead of happiness. “But I kind of want to take things slow.”

“Oh.”

“I just like to get to know someone first, you know?” he quickly added. “It’s nothing with you. Shit. You’re amazing, Rachel. I just don’t want to rush it.”

“That’s okay, I understand,” I said.

I started to rise, but he pulled me back down and kissed me again. Harder this time. A kiss that held a promise in it.

“Is that okay?” he asked softly.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Just making sure.” He grinned. “Goodnight, Rachel. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” I said, although it still felt like I was being rejected because I had jumped the gun.

19

Rachel

We spent the week working to prepare the eight big cats for pickup. In addition to the normal daily duties around the zoo, I had to medically examine each outgoing animal so I could provide the ECAP with a full medical profile. That was the scariest part for me. I was terrified the examinations would turn up something that would make the organization change their mind about the animal pickup. Some undiagnosed disease or condition that would reflect poorly on me.

---