Page 74 of Talk Birdie to Me

“No cheating,” he said as they stalled just past a flock of flamingos near the entrance. “You have to pick.”

Geena was taken aback. She wasn’t used to having her preference be a deciding factor. When she’d been with Ricky, everything centered on what he wanted to do. She could do whatever she wanted on her own, of course. But their dates had always defaulted to his choices.

“Monkeys. And apes,” she said. “But I want to see Gary’s old pals, too.”

Cody paused in front of a black bear rolling around on its back. It looked a bit like a giant furry baby playing with its feet.

Part of her wished she had brought her camera. She’d left it behind so she could be fully present and enjoy the animals.

And the company.

Cody had been clear that he wanted this tour to be an actual date. Despite trying to convince herself otherwise, this afternoon felt different from the previous times they’d hung out. This wasn’t a thank-you gesture or repayment of any kind. This was just the two of them spending time together.

A date.

“We’ll get to it all,” Cody said. “I just want to make sure we don’t miss out on what you’re excited to see most, in case the sky opens up on us.”

Warmth crept up from Geena’s core as they stood side-by-side in front of the railing. She was close enough to realize that once again he wasn’t wearing cologne or any type of strong body wash. He just smelled sort of earthy. Not in a bad way. In a natural way. Of course, she realized heavy smells might bother the animals he worked with, but it was such a foreign sensation to be this close to someone who didn’t smell like he’d taken a bath in musky cologne.

“Thanks, Brasseaux,” she said, smiling as his last name fell out of her mouth with complete comfort. “That’s thoughtful.”

This man seemed nothing like the one she’d first met a couple of weeks ago. She accepted she had been hasty in her initial judgment, but still. Carefree Cody, the one who’d shown up on her doorstep with his one-night stand and a foul-mouthed parrot, was turning out to be quite considerate.

She’d never known just how sexy consideration and responsibility could be.

“Of course.” He put a hand against her lower back, sending heat through her spine. His breath was warm on her ear, transforming that heat into tingles as he moved close. “Let’s get to those monkeys.”

“This is it.” Cody stopped in front of the last exhibit, a small display of pygmy marmosets. He watched with pleasure as Geena peered into the cage and cooed at the tiny, furry family inside. “Last one.”

“They’re so adorable,” she said in the cutest voice he’d ever heard come out of her. After she got her fill of staring at them, she turned to him with a big smile still stretched across her face. “Saved the best for last?”

“I’ll be glad to take credit for that. Even if they’re always the last stop before the exit.”

Thunder rumbled in the distance as they both looked up to see dark clouds rolling in. He hadn’t noticed the weather taking a turn for the worse while they were beneath the tree canopy shading the paths.

Large raindrops began dotting the surrounding ground, as well as their heads. Without thinking, he took her hand and led the way into the nearest building.

When they entered the meal prep room, the current resident, the Amazon parrot, greeted them with a squawk. Geena flinched at the loud noise, and Cody squeezed her hand gently to reassure her until she saw the bird was safely contained in its cage.

He quickly realized what he was doing and how overly familiar the gesture was, so he dropped her hand. Immediately, he was filled with a sense of emptiness, missing the warmth of her palm against his.

What he really wanted to do was pull her close and warm them both from their wet clothes and the air conditioner blasting through the room.

Geena smoothed her damp hair away from her face, tucking the short blond strands behind her ears as she peered at the green bird in the cage. “He looks so small compared to Gary.”

“He’s pretty young,” Cody said. “And our second troublemaker in line behind Gary. He picked up Gary’s bad habits quicker than the others, so we’re working with him in here. He’s taking to the retraining better than Gary did, though, so he should be able to rejoin the aviary soon.”

Their visit through the aviary had tickled Geena as an older African grey told her she had a nice shirt. Geena had been impressed with the entire group, filling Cody with a sense of pride. He was already happy with the success he’d had with those birds, but getting praise from Geena felt ten times more satisfying.

Geena turned from the parrot to face Cody. They were standing closer than he’d realized. She smelled like fresh rain and some sweet scent he couldn’t identify. Shampoo probably. It was light and inviting.

“Thanks for showing me around,” she said. “I’ve never been big on animals. Pets or wild ones. That was always Taylor’s thing. But this was… nice. I had a really good time.”

There was the swell of pride again. Whenever he saw that smile of hers or heard her say she enjoyed something he was responsible for, Cody wanted more of that. Like she was a drug he was getting hooked on.

And he was becoming less resistant to that feeling by the second.

“How’d you feel about the rest of it?”

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