Page 16 of Just for the Cameras
“Jesus Christ, I almost flew out of the cart. Who gave you permission to drive this thing?”
She grips her head and turns to me, fury in her eyes. “That was my hair you pulled on.”
“When?” I ask, adjusting myself back in the seat and trying to figure out a way that I can wedge myself in to guarantee I stay in the cart at all times.
“Just now.” She rubs the side of her head.
“That wasn’t rope?”
“No, that was my hair, and I do not appreciate having my hair pulled.”
I pause and slowly give her a once-over, letting my eyes travel over her khaki pants, up to her tucked-in shirt, to the curve of her breasts, and all the way up to that gorgeous face of hers. “Clearly you haven’t had the right guy tugging on your hair, then.”
Her eyes widen in shock as she flips her ponytail away from me. “Ew, don’t be disgusting.”
“There’s nothing disgusting about pulling on a woman’s hair. Especially when done correctly.”
Chin held high, she counters, “Well I can tell you right now, there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that you know how to do it correctly.” Leaning in a touch closer and lowering her voice, she adds, “Instead of arousal and excitement, all I feel is animosity and exasperation.”
That response grates on my nerves, because I know how to pull on a woman’s hair. I know how to wrap it around my fist and tug just right to make her back dip and her head arch back. I know how to make a woman scream my name while I hold on to her tightly and fuck her until she comes.
I know what the hell I’m doing…Maple. “Anyone ever tell you there’s a thin line between love and hate?”
She scoffs. “Ugh, get over yourself.” Straightening up, she brings her attention back to the zoo, clears her throat, and says, “This is the Exploration Zone. It’s a family-friendly area of the zoo where kids can roam and explore our more human-friendly animals such as chickens and goats.” So she’s just going to act like she didn’t almost send me flying off the golf cart? Okay. “Be grateful this is not where you were assigned. You could have been assisting with coop revitalization, cleaning the kid disease off every touchable surface, and battling it out with the goats for superiority.”
“Yeah, but does the family farm come with an irritable shrew?” I ask under my breath as I gaze out toward a carousel.
“No, but it’s surrounded by booger-eating children.”
“Can’t decide what’s worse.”
She huffs something under her breath and slams her foot down on the pedal.
“Whoa.” I grip the roof again. “Can you rein in the crazy-ass driving?”
“Just attempting to get this done so I don’t have to sit close to you anymore.”
“I would prefer the same, but if you run down a child licking an ice cream cone, it’s not on me.”
I feel her glance in my direction and then, to my surprise, she slows down while driving us past a small theater before she pauses in front of the Flamingo Lagoon.
“This is where you’ll be spending all of your time. As you can see,there’s room to expand the exhibit, but as discussed before, we need to find the funds first. That’s something we can discuss later.”
She continues to drive to the left side of the park, taking her time now and pointing out sections of the zoo, rattling off facts, and attempting to keep me interested as I scan the exhibits, watching kids pointing their sticky fingers, parents scolding children for licking ropes that section off areas of the zoo, and trash being tossed toward a trash can and not quite making it. Jesus, it’s not that hard.
When we reach the African region, I spot OC on a golf cart as well, chatting it up with his zookeeper. The man is animated, using his hands as he speaks, clearly entertaining the zookeeper as he dips his head back and laughs.
“Shame he wasn’t assigned to me,” Maple mumbles.
“Yeah, shame. You would have had to learn how to fake laugh to deal with his company.”
Her eyes fall on me right before she lets out a roar of a laugh, one so obnoxious that it rattles the windshield of the golf cart, only for her to quiet down within an instant. With zero emotion on her face, she deadpans, “I think I could have handled it.”
Fucking cheeky smart-ass.
Continuing with the tour, she says, “This is the African savanna, one of our most notable exhibits because of its size. It allows animals like our giraffes, zebras, and ostriches to live in a more natural setting. I’m unsure why it’s included in the fundraising race, since they have so much more space and better resources, but I’m not running the zoo.”
Sensing some bitterness toward the savanna.
