Page 50 of Keeping Zita

Of course he did. He was being kind of an ass, assuming she didn’t do any research for her job, when he and his fellow Night Stalkers spent hours, days, or weeks doing the exact same thing. “You’re right. It was stupid of me to assume you didn’t do any research.”

She leaned sideways and knocked against his arm and shoulder teasingly. “I do research, but I admit that I went a little overboard with Fallport. I had a week of downtime before we came out here. What else was I supposed to do?”

“True.”

“We can come back, right? I mean, if we have time? I want to eat at the diner and have a drink at On the Rocks. And of course, get coffee in the mornings from Grinders.”

“Of course. Besides, Edna said the motel doesn’t have breakfast. So I think everyone staying there will be descending on the diner in the mornings before we head out to the set.”

“We’ll have to be sure to get here early to beat the rush,” Zita said.

Which wouldn’t be a problem for Obi-Wan, as he was a morning person. Kind of had to be in his line of work.

Zita looked at her watch and sighed. “We probably should go find the high school.”

Obi-Wan nodded and stood, holding out his hand. Zita grabbed it, and instead of letting her go once she was standing, he curled his fingers tighter around hers as they headed for the parking lot, where he’d left his Jeep.

To his delight, she didn’t pull her hand out of his grip. And when Obi-Wan glanced at her, he saw Zita was smiling.

The schedule they’d been emailed said after the meeting at the gym, food would be served buffet style, catered in for the cast and crew. Obi-Wan would’ve preferred to have Zita to himself, but tonight was the official start of her renewed duties. She’d be “on” anytime the film crew was together. It was going to make for some long days, and possibly nights, when they were filming some of the scenes that took place after dark.

Making a mental note to make sure she stayed hydrated and ate enough, Obi-Wan tightened his fingers around hers.

This next week would be intense, but he was looking forward to continuing to share his military knowledge to make the movie more authentic, as well as spending as much time as was feasible with this woman who’d taken over his thoughts.

The meeting with the crew who’d be working in the forest was informative, and it made Obi-Wan even more excited to get to the set and see Logan Striker in action once again. The man was a very talented actor, and Obi-Wan had no doubt he could bring the role of the downed pilot to life in a way not a lot of other actors could.

It was late by the time they got back to the motel, and as much as Obi-Wan wanted to invite Zita to his room, mostly because he wasn’t ready to say good night to her, he refrained. She needed her sleep, as tomorrow would be a long filming day.

Grubbner had laid out the schedule, and the next three days each would be about twelve hours of filming, give or take, depending on how the scenes went. Day four, the choppers would be brought in, and that was Obi-Wan’s big day. He’d already approved the choppers and the uniforms, but he wanted to make sure the pilots chosen weren’t amateurs, that they really knew what they were doing.

The only not-so-great part of the meeting tonight was Silas Graves. He’d stood in the back of the room and pretty much glared at everyone. He was Logan’s replacement bodyguard for the rest of the shoot, but he didn’t act much like a bodyguard. Instead of being alert and monitoring the room and entrances for anyone who might be a danger to the famous actor…Obi-Wan could’ve sworn most of his attention was on Zita. Which was very odd and concerning.

But Zita being Zita, she’d brushed it off, saying the man had no reason to focus on her, especially since Carmen wasn’t there. Everyone knew Silas had developed a crush on the actress, and gossip maintained the two had slept together right up until the day she’d left town. But since she was back in California, Zita was convinced Silas’s interest in her would wane. She was almost never around Logan, so his bodyguard had no reason to be worried about her any more than he was worried about anyone else.

Obi-Wan wasn’t so sure. He’d seen the same kind of intense concentration many times before. In those determined to do US soldiers harm overseas. They’d study the movements and routines of soldiers to determine when and where to strike, either with roadside bombs or a coordinated attack.

Not that he thought Silas was going to put an IED in Zita’s path…but since he wasn’t sure what the man was planning, Obi-Wan vowed to be vigilant at all times. To protect Zita from anything the man might do to hurt her. Just because Carmen wasn’t around, didn’t mean Silas wasn’t still loyal to the woman.

He might’ve been impressed with how seriously the man took his job, except that loyalty seemed misplaced. He and Carmen had only known each other for a short period of time, and Silas seemed to be taking his job too far.

But then again, it was about the same amount of time he’d known Zita. Obi-Wan was feeling extremely protective of the medic…and he wasn’t even sleeping with her. Not because he didn’t want to—he did, very much—but because he was interested in more than a short-term fling. He had no idea how anything long-term would work between them, considering their jobs and the not-so-small fact that they lived thousands of miles apart, but the protective feelings were definitely out in full force.

Which was why he sat in that meeting watching Silas like a hawk. And why he saw when someone had to elbow the man to let him know the meeting was over, and Logan was about to leave the gym. Silas had to rush to catch up with his charge. Thankfully, he was staying at the Chestnut Street Manor B&B with Logan, so Obi-Wan and Zita didn’t have to deal with avoiding him at the Mangree.

Now back in his room, he lay awake in his bed, hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. The place was quiet. Almost too quiet. He was used to the noise that was a constant around his apartment. Doors opening and closing, cars driving by, the occasional siren. But the quiet here in Fallport and the Mangree was absolute. He couldn’t hear cars driving by on the road not too far from the rooms, and his neighbors on either side of him were probably asleep, since they all had to head to the site where they’d be filming early in the morning.

The quiet gave him too much time to think. And the main topic swirling around in his head was Zita Darlington. Her enthusiasm for the quaint town of Fallport was adorable. And the way she’d licked her fingers after eating the cinnamon roll from the bakery was sexy as hell. As was the dot of foam on her lip after sipping her frou-frou coffee drink.

Without thought, his hand went between his legs. He’d just meant to adjust his hard cock, but the second he touched himself through his boxers, Obi-Wan couldn’t stop. He closed his eyes and imagined Zita was there. Snuggled up against him, her head on his shoulder as her hand caressed him lazily.

Obi-Wan groaned. He’d gotten off more than once with thoughts of Zita in his mind, but after spending all day with her, laughing, watching her charm Edna and everyone else she met, he felt almost desperate to experience everything the woman had to offer. Would she be shy in bed and willing to let him take the lead? Or was she more aggressive? The type to demand what she wanted?

Truthfully, Obi-Wan found both a turn-on. He liked to take control in the bedroom, but he could easily see himself lying back and letting Zita have her way with him. He pictured her straddling him with a lustful look in her eye and a sexy smile on her lips as she took his cock in hand and notched him between her legs.

A groan left Obi-Wan’s lips as he lifted his hips and shoved his briefs to his thighs. The material restricted his movements, but he didn’t want to take the time to shove them all the way off. He was too close.

Palming his balls with one hand and stroking himself with the other, Obi-Wan kept his eyes closed as he dreamed his hands were Zita’s. That it was her caressing him, driving him to the brink. It was no surprise that it took no time at all for the familiar feeling of an impending orgasm.