Page 36 of Keeping Zita

“Why in the hell would she want to sleep with me then? If she’s already getting some from Hulk?” Obi-Wan asked.

Zita giggled. “Because you’re way better-looking than him. And you’re not a blue-collar worker like he is. I mean, a Night Stalker or a bodyguard? There’s no competition. Although, now that I think about it…it kind of sounds like a romance novel trope. She probably has delusions of being fought over by the two of you. Or maybe a threesome.”

Obi-Wan wrinkled his nose in disgust. “For the record, I’m a one-woman kind of man. Not into sharing.”

“Good to know,” Zita said with a vague grin.

The sound of a chair clattering to the floor caught both their attention, and when Obi-Wan turned, he saw a woman standing next to a table, her hands around her throat in the telltale nonverbal signal that she was choking.

Before he or Zita could move, Carmen was behind the woman, grabbing her around the sternum. She began yanking at her chest area, screaming at her to “spit it out” as she did so.

“For fuck’s sake,” Zita swore, quickly jogging over to where Carmen and the choking woman were struggling. They were surrounded by people, everyone staring in disbelief at what was happening, which Obi-Wan knew was pretty normal. He saw it all the time on missions. When the shit hit the fan, a lot of people froze instead of getting away from the danger. Or wanted to watch whatever destruction was happening around them.

Zita grabbed Carmen by the arm and yanked her away from the woman. Carmen lost her footing and stumbled before falling to the floor. Zita didn’t waste any time checking to see if she was all right; she put her own arms around the choking woman, placed her hands in the correct position, just above the belly button and under the rib cage—instead of over her sternum—and proceeded to pull inward and upward on the woman’s diaphragm.

She was so focused on dislodging whatever was stuck in the woman’s throat, she didn’t see the little drama unfolding behind her.

Silas helped Carmen off the floor—then moved toward Zita with a bloodthirsty look on his face.

Obi-Wan got to him just before he could put his hands on her.

“Back off,” he growled in a low, menacing tone.

“She touched Carmen. Threw her to the floor.”

“Because she was doing the Heimlich wrong!” Obi-Wan told him. “Anyone could see that. All she was doing was hurting the woman and wasting time. This is what Zita does. She’s a fucking paramedic, remember?”

Silas’s eyes narrowed. Now he took an aggressive step toward Obi-Wan.

Before he could do anything, the woman who was choking coughed.

Obi-Wan looked at her just in time to see a piece of food go flying out of her mouth and land with a wet plop on the floor. Zita immediately stopped what she was doing and put her arm around her waist, helping her stay upright as she continued to cough.

After a few seconds, the woman’s cheeks began to pinken, and she lost the blue tinge that had formed around her lips.

“Oh my God,” the woman said between coughs. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Don’t talk. Just breathe. You’re okay now.”

The woman nodded, and just like that, the people around them became unstuck. Telling the woman they were glad she was all right, commenting about how it happened so fast, and thanking Zita for being there and knowing what to do.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Carmen demanded. She had her hands on her hips and was glaring at everyone. “I was the one who reacted first, while the rest of you just stood around looking like idiots! I was doing just fine until Dr. Doody here decided she wanted all the attention.”

“I didn’t have time to explain that your hands were in the wrong position,” Zita said calmly. “You never would’ve dislodged what she was choking on by pressing on her sternum. That’s for CPR, not choking.”

“You’re a liar! I know what I was doing! I’ve been trained in first-aid. I was doing just fine until you assaulted me so you could take over.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Carmen was pissed she didn’t get credit for saving the woman’s life? What a bitch.

In response, Zita shook her head in exasperation and walked back toward the table where she’d been sitting.

“I’m not done talking to you!” Carmen sneered.

Zita continued to ignore her.

Silas took a step toward her, and Obi-Wan got between them again. “Don’t even think about it.”

The look the large man gave him was full of menace and hate. Which was pretty interesting, considering they hadn’t shared more than a few words in all the time they’d been on set together. But then again, if the man was sleeping with Carmen—and feeling possessive and protective of her—it was no surprise he believed every word that came out of her mouth. Namely, that she’d been cheated out of the accolades that came with saving someone’s life.