Page 5

After lunch, Lucius accompanied Sidney to the bird sanctuary for the one o’clock show. She’d wanted to check it out, but the reservation system said it was full so she’d hoped to be able to at least see some birds to sketch or take pictures of without having to see a show. He’d simply winked at her and told him he had an “in” with the people who ran the sanctuary.

Angel’s Sanctuary for Birds was a combination bird hospital and refuge that many birds called home if they weren’t able to be released into the wild after treatment and rehabilitation. Among the huge cages were a macaw and an eagle, as well as a vulture, a condor, and several owls. The show featured live presentations with the larger birds and short talks about conservation and the birds’ habitats.

They approached the big red barn that contained the bird hospital and he knocked before opening the door.

“Hey, Jess,” he said, smiling at a woman standing at a desk and looking at a computer.

“Hi, Lucius, who’s your friend?”

“This is Sidney. Sidney, this is Jess. She and her husband Evan run the hospital, along with Cael, who is the resident vet for all the animals in the park.”

“We also have a new assistant,” Jess said, coming over and shaking Sidney’s hand. “Her name is Maggie. She’s learning the ropes and is going to help with the one o’clock show today. Are you going to sit in for the show?”

“We’d love to if there’s space,” he said.

A look passed between Jess and Lucius, and Sidney wasn’t sure what it meant, but Jess smiled and nodded, then said, “You bet. Would you like to see behind the scenes before you find a seat?”

“That would be awesome,” Sidney said. “Can I take pictures? I’d love to sketch the birds, but there’s probably not enough time.”

“You draw? That’s awesome. Take whatever pictures you’d like!”

Jess took them to the bird cages and talked about each of the birds. Sidney snapped pictures of each one, loving the bright colors of the scarlet macaw and the unique condor, who looked very suspicious thanks to his bald head and dark eyes.

Lucius was quiet next to her, watching as she took pictures and asked questions of Jess, who was very sweet and knowledgeable.

Sidney couldn’t help but sneak peeks at Lucius.

He was so freaking sexy. She didn’t think she’d ever seen a sexier guy in her life. And that he also seemed interested in her? Well, that was downright amazing.

When she’d seen all the birds and taken tons of pictures, they sat in on the thirty-minute show and she got a great picture of the macaw flying over the audience.

“This is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen,” she whispered to Lucius.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”

She sketched quietly for a few minutes as Jess and Maggie talked about the macaw that was named Zephyr, and was a permanent resident of the sanctuary after being injured and brought to them for treatment.

When the show was over, they headed out of the sanctuary. As she tucked her sketchbook into her bag, she said, “Have you watched the show often?”

“Just when it first opened,” he said. “I never paid much attention to the birds, but seeing them through your eyes while you took pictures and sketched Zephyr gave me a new appreciation for them.”

She smiled at him. They stopped at the carousel where she took a few pictures of the horses when they’d stopped turning, and then they journeyed to the petting zoo.

“Don’t want to take pictures here?” he asked as he leaned on the top rail of the fence that enclosed the small animals.

“I think I’d like to live in the moment for now and not be on my phone taking pictures,” she said. “Maybe I can come back another time and sketch the babies. That little goat is super cute.”

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the rail, and then he relaxed and flashed her another sweet smile.

She was not melting into a puddle every time he smiled at her.

“Would you like company? When you come back?”

“I’d love it.”

He glanced at his watch and said, “We should hustle back so you can go on the tour.”

“I can’t believe how fast the time’s gone,” she said. “I’m really excited to see the animals. Thank you so much for arranging this for me.”

“Absolutely,” he said. “It’s my pleasure.”

She liked that word. Pleasure .

It made her think about dark rooms and beds.

And could Lucius smell any better?

He smelled like he wore an expensive cologne, the kind that was sandalwood and spices.

She shivered as she caught another whiff of his cologne.

It should be illegal for a guy to smell so good.

When they reached the tour waiting area, he introduced her to the guys behind the kiosk.

“The keys are in the Jeep, you’ve got the full hour,” Benjamin said. “We’ll radio when the three p.m. tour starts.”

“Thanks, guys,” Lucius said.

He escorted Sidney to a blue camo-colored Jeep and helped her into the passenger seat.

He got behind the wheel and started the engine. “Usually, VIP guests sit in the back, but you’re extra special.”

“This is awesome. I’m so glad I came here today.”

“Trust me, sweetheart, I am too.”

The first stop was the elephants. He took her picture with a professional camera at the gate of the paddock, and then stayed by her side as she took her own pictures and sketched a bit of one of the elephants. They spent a long time at each paddock, only moving on when he’d asked her multiple times if she was sure she didn’t want to stay longer.

The truth was that even though the animals were amazing up close, she was mostly enjoying her time with him.

She couldn’t really understand how her feelings were so strong for him when they’d just met. She felt like she was half in love with him already, which seemed impossible.

But…it also felt very right.

She hadn’t believed in love at first sight until she’d met Lucius.

She sure as heck believed in it now.

They spent the longest at the last paddock, where Tank the moose, deer, and antelope hung out near a pond and grazed on the grasses around the large space. She leaned against the brick wall by the gate and sketched the big moose.

“I wouldn’t want to meet him outside of the paddock,” she said. “He looks like he could do some damage with those horns.”

“He’s a gentle giant,” Lucius said. “Unless he’s in a bad mood, and then watch out.”

She laughed.

He leaned over and peeked at her sketch of Tank.

“You’re so good at drawing.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I love it so much. And having a chance to really sketch like this is more than I could have asked for. This has been so incredible.” She gave his biceps a squeeze and for a moment she swore his blue eyes turned amber.

But just as quickly as she thought she’d seen them change, they were blue again. A pretty summer sky blue that matched his lightly tanned skin and dark blond hair.

His walkie beeped, and he lifted it and pressed a button.

“Lucius.”

“The next tour is about to start, where are you guys?”

“We’re at the last paddock.”

“Good. Do you need more time?”

He gave Sidney a questioning look, and she said, “I’m good.”

“We’re finishing up.”

Hanging the walkie back on his belt, he said, “We have time if you’d like to stay a little longer.”

“You don’t have to go back to work at all?”

He paused for a moment, then said, “No, why?”

“Well, I was…maybe not done hanging out with you if you’re free.”

“I’m very free,” he said, his voice dropping a little lower. “In fact, I was going to ask if you’d like to go out to dinner with me tonight.”

A date too? Holy crap.

“I’d love to.”

“Great, there’s an awesome little steak house not too far from here. It’s casual. I can pick you up, unless you’d like to just hang with me until dinnertime?”

The chance to hang with him for a few more hours and then go on a date? Hell yes.

“I’d love to hang out with you.”

He leaned over slightly and smiled down at her. “I’m not done spending time with you either, Sidney.”

She loved how he said her name. Like it was his favorite word.

Hers was currently Lucius.

They stood like that, inches apart and neither moving, for what felt like an eternity. Then he leaned back and gestured to the Jeep. “We can go get a snack and hang out while you work on your sketches,” he said. “You’ll also get a souvenir photo album that we can pick up at the security office in an hour or so.”

“Sounds good to me.”

She tucked her sketchbook into her bag and followed him to the Jeep. In minutes, they were on their way back to the front of the tour, where he turned off the engine and left the keys in the vehicle. After taking out the memory card from the camera, he offered her his hand and said, “I need to drop this off at the security office and then we can hit up the ice cream stand, or the candy shop or the kiosk that sells popcorn if you’re in the mood for that.”

“I did want the ice cream earlier, but now I think that popcorn sounds perfect.”

She took his hand, loving how warm he was and how much she liked touching him, even something small like holding his hand.

She’d never been so affected by a guy before, but she liked it.

She liked him.

She couldn’t believe she’d taken a chance on coming to the park for the tour and to sketch animals and ended up meeting an amazing guy.

Could he be her Mr. Right?

He sure seemed like it.

If only she could kiss him and find out if he was a good kisser. Because that mattered. But she was sure judging by his full lips that she’d love kissing him. And doing other things.

As her mind strayed to other, sexier thoughts, she had to stop her train of thought before it got too far off the rails and focus on Lucius, who was telling her about when he’d moved to New Jersey and started working for the park.

“I’m glad you came to New Jersey,” she said as they reached the security office.

“Trust me, sweetheart, I am too.”