Page 8 of Keeping Zita

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

The truth was, he was envious of Casper and Buck. He’d had no siblings growing up, which meant that he was used to a very quiet home. But lately, his apartment seemed even emptier than usual. It was also getting tougher to remain satisfied with his life. Going from one mission to the next with nothing else to really occupy his time, no one waiting for him at home.

That was part of the reason he’d taken the job of military advisor for the film. He was bored. And while he’d never take a woman to his bed solely out of boredom, he couldn’t help but admit that having someone in his life would certainly break up the monotony.

But…was that fair to anyone who caught his interest? For boredom to be the catalyst for a decision to date? He didn’t think so.

Not to mention, he felt horrible that he was bored in the first place. He had a high-adrenaline job. One that many people would kill to have. He got to do what he loved most, fly, almost every day. Not only that, but he got to serve his country in a way that made him proud.

It felt shitty to be even the slightest bit dissatisfied with all that he had.

Thankfully, the flight checks took his mind off his gloomy thoughts. He was a professional, and no way would he get behind the controls of the multimillion-dollar chopper without having all of his attention on what he was doing.

When he and Buck got in the air, all his worries disappeared. He reveled in the feeling of flying. Of sitting next to one of his best friends, doing what they did best. By the time they landed, his good mood was restored and his morose thoughts from earlier were pushed to the back of his mind.

That night, when he arrived at his apartment and checked his email, he had a message from the script supervisor, asking for his approval of the changes he’d suggested that morning. It read much better now, more believable. Obi-Wan was pleased. It was fascinating to be on the inside, to see how movies got made. It was a lot more work than he’d envisioned and involved way more people than he ever imagined.

To his surprise, he also had an email from Carmen St. James.

Obi-Wan hesitated to open it, an uneasy feeling swirling in his belly. Most people would be thrilled to have an email from a famous actress…but he wasn’t most people.

Reluctantly, he clicked on the message…and winced as he read it. It started polite and unremarkable, but she quickly moved on to what she really wanted—him.

Hi Obi-Wan. Lol! Your name is cute. It was very nice to meet you today. I’d love to get to know you better over the next couple of weeks. I’m only in town for my scenes, and then I’m headed back to California. I have another film to prepare for, one where I’m in every scene, unlike this one. I’m told that there’s a good chance it’ll get nominated for an Oscar.

It seems as if I’ll have some down time while I’m in Virginia and would love to see some of the sights around here. But I need a guide. Someone who can protect me when I’m recognized and can keep my fans from becoming too intrusive. I’m sure with your training, you can easily do that. I think the two of us could have a no-pressure, mutually beneficial, no-strings friendship while I’m here. I’m putting my unlisted phone number at the end of this message so you can contact me. What goes on between us will stay between us.

Yours, Carmen

Obi-Wan pressed his lips together in irritation. He’d told the woman he wasn’t interested in dating. And yet, she wasn’t listening. Which only annoyed Obi-Wan even more. She wasn’t being subtle about her intentions either.

Once upon a time, Obi-Wan might’ve taken her up on the offer. Would’ve loved to spend a couple of weeks having no-strings sex with a beautiful woman. But that no longer appealed to him.

And just like that, his thoughts turned back to Zita. The paramedic.

For some reason, she appealed to him more than he understood. He’d seen the appreciation in her eyes when she looked at him, but she certainly hadn’t acted on whatever she was feeling. She was professional, and he appreciated the warning she gave him about Carmen before they’d met with the actress.

In short, if he was interested in dating anyone, it would be her.

Obi-Wan also wanted to be the pursuer. Not the pursue-ee. It was old fashioned, especially in the current day and age, but he liked the challenge. He also liked the anticipation of a slow courtship. The dance of attraction. Of flirting. Of getting to know someone before falling into bed.

Maybe it was because the first serious girlfriend he’d ever had growing up had made him work hard for her attention. He’d given her notes, and flowers, and taken her out to lunches and walks and dinners. Hell, it had taken him two months of asking just for her to agree to a date.

But the satisfaction he’d felt when she’d finally said yes had been so emotionally powerful. And he’d spent the rest of their relationship doing everything he could to make every moment they had together meaningful in some way.

Of course, he was older and wiser now, and he knew relationships weren’t nearly as easy as they were when he was a kid. Adulting often got in the way of the grand gestures. And while he still enjoyed the grand gestures, there was something to be said for the smaller ones too.

He saw how Laryn smiled when she’d reached into her pocket one day and found a sticky note from Casper. Or how happy Buck was to wake up to a simple pot of coffee that Amanda had made the evening before, setting the timer so it was ready for him when he got up for PT.

Obi-Wan wanted a confident woman—but not a pushy one. A sensual partner, not a promiscuous one. An independent companion who was happier sitting at home in sweats or meeting friends in a bar, than getting dressed up for fancy social outings.

And he had a feeling Zita was all of the former, while Carmen was all of the latter. Which wasn’t exactly fair, as he didn’t really know either woman. But Obi-Wan had pretty great intuition, and the email in front of him simply confirmed most of what he’d already thought of Carmen St. James after only one meeting.

He deleted the email without a second thought, then went on to delete the other forty-seven spam and scam emails he’d received during the day as well.

Tomorrow would be another long day. Hell, most of the next month would be long. Morning PT with the team, then home to shower, and then off to the movie set. Afterward, he’d drive straight to the base for meetings and flying time, then back to his apartment to do it all over again. It was a grueling schedule, but nothing he wasn’t used to, especially while on a mission. At least he’d get to sleep in his own apartment every night.

As he got ready for bed, Obi-Wan couldn’t help but feel a bit of anticipation for the upcoming weeks. Despite the monotony of watching take after take of the same thing, he still enjoyed being on the set of Broken Wings today, and he couldn’t wait to see the rest of the movie unfold. He was especially looking forward to going to western Virginia and the mountains, where the scenes with the choppers were being filmed. The most intense parts of the film featured the crash and the rescue of the main character. That was where his expertise would be needed most, and he was looking forward to seeing it all play out.