Page 90 of Scandalous Lover

“Now this is something I never imagined seeing at The Sands.”

I turn to smile up at Sam, who’s standing a respectful eight inches behind my left shoulder. I want to lean back into him, but, of course, I don’t.

Good thing, too, because Fran appears on my other side a moment later and the last thing we need is to be caught canoodling by her a second time in one day.

“Isn’t this amazing? I can’t wait to see the website banner the graphic designer can make with these tiger cub shots.”

“No!” The word flies out of my mouth, drawing attention from everyone in the vicinity. I look down, embarrassed by my outburst.

But I’m not standing down. “No, Fran. These crazy wedding people can splash baby tigers all over their own socials, but these pariahs aren’t going anywhere near yours. This is an absolute scandal waiting to happen. Do you knowwhat animal rights groups think about the practice of flying baby tigers around the world just so people can pet them? It’s created a whole black market for cubs and the enormous problem that is fully grown tigers in the suburbs once they’re not cute and cuddly anymore.”

Fran huffs. “It’s okay, the couple didn’t buy the cubs. It’s a tiger sanctuary and they paid for the whole decade of?—”

“I know,” I interrupt, waving off her excuses. “You told me. But no one on the internet is going to stop to ask. They’re going to see the opportunity to get a leg up on your rotting corpse and take you down.” I let out a huff of my own. “Ask me how I know.”

Fran sighs. “Dang. I never really thought about it like that. I guess that’s why we need tiger sanctuaries in the first place, huh? To adopt all the unwanted tigers after they grow up?” She looks disappointed, and I can tell she’s going to heed my warning. “But we can still, you know, snuggle them? If no one takes pictures?”

My face breaks into a huge grin. “Oh, yeah. You couldn’t keep me away.”

Fran gets permission to step over the low fence and, after making sure every camera is still busy taking pictures of the newlyweds and their adorable grandchildren, I follow. Glancing back for Sam, I find him smiling at me. I gesture with my head, and he follows me into the pen.

“I’ll keep an eye out for the paparazzi,” he says in a low voice once Fran is fully occupied with a cub on the other side of the enclosure.

Propriety be damned, once I’m in a pen with six baby tigers, I fall straight to my knees. One of the cuddly cubs crawls right into my lap, looking sleepy and absolutely freaking adorable. I hold the little guy to my chest and coo.

When I look up, Sam’s kneeling beside me.

“Aren’t they the cutest?” I ask.

He nods, but only looks at me.

I almost can’t stand the adorableness when a cub crawls up Sam’s leg and he scoops it into his arms. I give mine another little snuggle and look down to see that it’s fallen asleep in my arms.

“This is the most internet perfect moment that I’ve ever had, and I can never, ever let anyone see me doing it. Isn’t that ironic?”

Sam’s watching his cub with much less adoration than I feel. “So, you get to enjoy it in the moment. Make a memory that you’ll never forget.”

“I guess so. I guess this is how I need to learn to live. Like moments are enough even if I’m the only one witnessing them.”

“What if I’m there witnessing them as well?” Sam asks and I look up. He’s not watching his sleeping cub at all. All of the adoration in his gaze is directed at me.

I have to look down again as I feel myself blush. “That’d be pretty good too.”

When I look back up, he’s smiling.

“I’m not going on the trip with the others. I’m staying here on Faraday. I’m going to have the whole house to myself,” I say in a low voice.

I watch his eyebrows raise and his smile morph into more of a smirk. “You know, I always have my whole house to myself.”

My breath catches as memories of our yard work party flash through my mind. When I meet Sam’s gaze again, I can tell he’s thinking about the same thing.

“Well, now we have options.”

Sam lets his now squirming cub escape and we both watch it crawl over to a young wedding guest who squeals in delight.

When I look back at him, he’s already watching me.

“I’m not ready to let go yet.” I mean the tiger cub, but the words fall heavy between us.