His Jaguar Tattoo

One Little Decision

Every pasture within eye's distance was empty. Zuri rested her chin on where her hands rested atop the middle bar in the wood fence. So much wide, empty space. Where had Drew taken her? This was what she pictured Kansas or Oklahoma to look like. She hoped he hadn't taken her that far from home.

"Whatcha doing out here?"

Zuri jumped and whacked her head on the top bar of the fence. A hiss breached her lips as she turned on the intruder. Ajax stood about two feet away, hand raised in surrender while he laughed.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well, you did." She rubbed the top of her throbbing scalp and glared at him.

"We need to work on your awareness. You're clearly quite oblivious."

Folding her arms across her chest, she raised her chin defiantly. "I'm perfectly fine just the way I am, thank you very much."

"I'm not trying to insult you," he remarked with an eye roll. "My job is to protect you, but that will only be more difficult if you're not paying attention."

"If you're protecting me, why does it matter?"

With a skeptic look, he ground his teeth together. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing. I was just enjoying nature, wondering where the heck we are, when you scared the crap out of me."

"I apologize for ruining your peace then."

Zuri sighed and turned away from him. She grabbed the top bar of the fence and climbed up until she straddled it. When Ajax simply continued to stare at her, she motioned to the space beside her.

"Are you coming up or what?" she asked.

"Bossy much?" He climbed up after her. "I think you hit your head somewhere in that fire. You're not acting like yourself."

That annoyed her beyond imagination. In spite of the urge to snap, she just ignored him. There was no point in entertaining dumb conversations.

"We're somewhere out in the middle of nowhere Georgia." He made it sound like a confession. "There. Now, will you talk to me like a normal human being?"

Still in Georgia. We can't be too far from home then. Three to four hours maximum.

"Zuri?" he pressed.

"What? Oh." She took a deep breath. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. Ask me how my day's going. Or how I like it here. Or if I think my hallmate is super annoying."

She chuckled. "You don't like Elle?"

"Is that her name? And it's not that I don't like her...she's just very forward."

"She thinks you're the hottest thing on the block," Zuri told him with a grin.

Gesturing to his body and lifting an eyebrow, he asked, "Can you blame her?"

Another fit of laughter escaped Zuri. She was starting to remember why she was so fond of Ajax before.

"So, how do you feel about all this?" This question was more serious. His blue eyes seemed to darken a shade or two.

"About being out in the middle of nowhere Georgia?"

He nodded.

"Well. I don't like it." She shrugged. "I want to see my grandma. Or at least talk to her. It feels like what little liberty I'd gained with Drew has been taken away from the incident."

"To be fair, you could've died. You almost did." He nudged her shoulder with his. "I don't blame him for being overprotective. I would be too if my girl had just been the target of a bomb."

"Would you take your girl out to the middle nowhere Georgia?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "No. But I would tighten up security and take her somewhere I knew she'd be safe. Maybe for Drew that mansion was the only safe place he knew in Brookstone."

"Maybe. We could've gone to his mom's house."

"Not without risking her life in the process."

"True," Zuri admitted. A coy grin stretched between her cheeks. "If hanging out with me is so dangerous, you should've turned Drew down for coming here."

"Well, believe it or not, hanging out with you is safer than what he originally had me doing. Not that I'm worried about safety. I like the thrill of danger." He wet his lips. "But it doesn't matter what I like or don't. We do what Drew says without question."

"What did he originally have you doing?"

He sent her a pointed look. "I have strict orders not to utter a peep to you about my job."

"It's not like you haven't broken the rules before."

"The last time I did, you shooed me out the door. What turned you into such a rebel all of the sudden?"

Zuri pursed her lips. "He absolutely refuses to tell me anything about his job, and I feel like I have a right to know. I'd do just about anything to make him tell me."

"You might be able to persuade him, you never know."

"I doubt it. That man is impossible. He never does anything I want unless it suits him in some way. There's no persuading him."

"When it comes to anyone else, you couldn't be more correct. If it comes to you, though, it's different. Drew can't continue denying you. You have him wrapped around your finger like a total sucker."

"That is such a lie!"

"It's not!" Ajax dramatically dropped his hands to his lap, actually sounding angry. "Would we be all the way out here if it wasn't true?"

"No. Because he would know that this is the last place I want to be, threatened or not."

Groaning in frustration, he said, "You don't see it, because you don't want to. Open your eyes, Zuri. Maybe then we wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place."

She watched him walk away while her jaw hung on the ground. That may have been the rudest thing anyone had ever told her. The more time she allowed her mind to process his words, however, the more she realized he was right.

If she had just left the party sooner that night, Drew never would have entered the house. Kevin never would have seen him. The mansion would still be intact. Her life wouldn't have changed. Drew would still be his grumpy, cold self. She never would have met Elle. They wouldn't have moved into this old farmhouse.

It was all her fault. The guilt was crushing. She'd altered so many people's lives with one little decision.