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The greeter consulted her schedule book and smiled up at Ethan. “You’re right on time. They’re in a great mood today, really playful. One of our trainers will be right in to get you. Will it be the two of you?”
Ethan shook his head and nudged Sam forward. “Just the lady. I’ll watch.”
“Oh that’s a shame. You know you’re allowed to divide the time, right?”
“I do, but I want her to have it all.” His attention was all for Sam, and under the scrutiny of his eyes and that damned smile she got all weak in the knees. “Besides. I like to watch.”
He winked, and her stomach did a little flip. Was he just being generally perverse, or was that a teasing nod to her because he’d busted her watching his movie?
The girl gave them a peculiar look but paged someone, and shortly after a similarly dressed woman with her hair in a high ponytail came in to collect them. She introduced herself as Juniper and gave Sam a quick rundown of safety protocols and time restraints. Sam nodded along like she knew what to expect, but she still had no idea.
They were soon back outside, and now she found herself amongst a dozen cages of varying size. With only a few exceptions, they were all full of lions. She’d expected it from the name on the polo shirt and the roar she’d heard earlier, but it was still amazing to see so many of the animals together in one place.
A male lion lounged lazily on the ground, his wide mouth parting in a huge yawn that showed off an impressive set of canine teeth. She definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be on the wrong end of those. He shook his mane and made a snuffing sound. Sam started to wonder about all the safety details Juniper had laid out for her, and suddenly it all sank in. She was going to go into one of the cages.
She swallowed hard and hoped like hell lions couldn’t smell fear.
Juniper was giving her and Ethan a brief history of the lions, talking about how they’d previously done live shows at the MGM, but to keep the lions in better health it was decided they wouldn’t continue to move them regularly. The lions, they were told, were directly descended from the lion in the MGM motion picture opening sequence. Sam nodded, but she barely heard any of it.
“Okay, here we are.”
They’d stopped in front of a glassed-in area in the shade, and Sam scanned the space for the lionesses and big papa lions she’d been seeing, but it took her eyes a moment to focus on what was in the stall.
“Oh my God,” she gasped.
Ethan put a hand between her shoulders, his fingers massaging the base of her neck. “See. Throwing you to the lions.”
Inside the space was a swath of blankets on the floor, and rolling around on them were a half-dozen lion cubs. They weren’t newborns, but still small enough to retain their spotted coats. Juniper led Sam into the cage, leaving Ethan outside, and any words the woman was saying were blotted out by the white noise of total excitement that overcame Sam.
She nodded whenever Juniper told her anything, but none of it actually processed. Sam was guided to the blankets where she sat with her back against one of the glass walls, and Juniper proceeded to collect the wandering lion cubs and deposit them on Sam’s lap one at a time. When all six were nestled around her, Juniper stepped back and said, “Enjoy!”
The little furballs squirmed on top of her, pawing at one another and at Sam, letting out mewling growls that were only slightly more menacing than those of their kitten cousins. One of the cubs lolled its front legs out and promptly fell asleep on her lap, while another began to happily gnaw at her fingers.
Sam didn’t even realize she was crying until the first tear slid down her cheek. But she was also laughing. She turned her face towards the glass wall. Ethan was braced against it with one arm and smiling at her, snapping a photo with his cell. When he saw her looking, he glanced up and met her gaze, his grin faltering when he saw the tears.
But her smile had to be unmistakable. Sam couldn’t remember another time in her life she’d felt such a pure sense of euphoria. The tears weren’t out of sadness or fear.
She was so happy, the emotion was too much to keep inside, and the only way to get it out was to cry.
Petting the sleeping lion in her lap, she laughed to herself and tried to think of the reasons she’d had for telling Ethan she didn’t want to go to bed with him.
Funny thing was she couldn’t remember a single one.
Chapter Nine
It was a shame Ethan couldn’t make money by impressing Sam. In the five minutes she got to spend with the lion cubs, he would have become a millionaire.
When she looked at him with tears in her eyes, he almost melted. He’d never had a woman favor him with an expression of such sheer joy, not unless it was the result of physical pleasure. And while he’d have liked to give that to Sam too, the emotional response he got from her was more moving.
He’d made someone happy. Profoundly, genuinely happy, and he was willing to bet not a lot of people could honestly say they’d been able to do that for another person.
At least he couldn’t think of a lot of examples from his past.
It was a funny thing, making another person happy. He had planned the cub visitation with help from the Hard Rock’s concierge, and just thought it would be a fun, unique Vegas experience for Sam. A relatively inexpensive afternoon date she would find memorable. He’d have been lying if he hadn’t hoped a little it would soften her stance on sleeping with him, but it hadn’t been the ultimate goal. A large part of it was him distracting himself from his bigger problems, and spending time with Sam had the happy side effect of taking his mind off things.
Then she’d given him that look.
The happy, blissfully innocent look that made him tingle in places he had long thought were dormant. He was feeling feelings because of her, stuff he never thought he’d feel again, and all thanks to one teary smile.
