I stay the night. I didn’t plan on it, but when Kai asks me to, I agree, and we stay up until four in the morning watching ill-conceived relationships crash and burn on 90 Day Fiancé and trading random life stories. I tell Kai about my first kiss—I was thirteen, and it was during a game of Seven Minutes in Heaven at summer camp with Timmy Falcone, who smelled like pencil eraser and refused to wear anything besides a Cleveland Browns jersey. He tells me the real reason he broke up with his last girlfriend, a human-rights lawyer named Antonia: not because of her inability to pronounce wolf, but because he suspected she was dating him only to meet Amal Clooney.
“I’ve never even met George Clooney,” he says, scratching his chin. “The closest I’ve come is watching One Fine Day a bunch of times with my aunt Susan.”
He tells me about Susan, too; how his mother’s sister, with whom he spent all those summers in Montana, gave him the closest thing to a slice of “normal” childhood he ever experienced. How he rotated time between Mount Karisimbi with his mom and London, New York, and Sydney with his dad and felt like he belonged everywhere and nowhere all at once. I tell him how guilty I feel sometimes about keeping Mia at arm’s length, and how badly I wish I could forget the hurt Karina caused me. We talk and laugh and trade more depraved animal facts, and the next thing I know, it’s Saturday at noon and I’m waking up to the sight of Kai doing push-ups on the hotel room floor.
“Hey,” he says when he sees that I’m awake. He’s wearing a T-shirt and khakis, and his hair’s still wet from a shower. “Sorry, douchey habit, I know.”
I don’t care about the push-ups, but I do care that it’s noon and I haven’t even glanced at my phone yet. What if Phil’s tried to call me with news about Keeva and Zuri?
“Can you hand me my phone, please?” I ask.
It’s the first morning since my breakup with Nick that I haven’t sat outside the gorilla quarters with my sketchbook, and when Kai hands me my phone, I unlock it quickly. Thankfully, there aren’t any missed calls or texts from work, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“So I was thinking,” Kai says, with none of the morning-after awkwardness I expect, “what sounds good for breakfast? I know it’s noon, but I was thinking I could run out and grab something from the bakery down the street.”
I’d planned on rushing home to change before heading to the zoo, but the happy smile on Kai’s face—and the memory of how exceptional he was last night—gives me pause. My one-night vacation from the rigors of being Lucy Rourke was the most fun I’ve had in a while, and who says I can’t make it last for part of today, too? After all, I’m not scheduled for today, and we won’t move any more members from Ozzie’s troop in with Keeva and Zuri until Monday. I can’t remember the last time I actually ate breakfast, let alone breakfast in bed, and Kai’s offer sounds tempting.
“You don’t have to shoot today?” I ask, suddenly conscious of the fact that I’m naked under the covers.
He shakes his head. “I’m free for a couple hours, and then I need to head to the Ronald McDonald House at three.”
“You know, you already got into my pants,” I tell him. “You don’t need to woo me with pastries and charitable deeds. But if you’re offering, I wouldn’t say no to a cinnamon roll.”
Kai nods approvingly. “That’s my girl,” he says, grabbing his wallet from the bedside table. “Be right back.”
When the door closes behind him with a thud, I realize my heart’s pounding. That’s my girl? Does he think we’re, like, a thing now? I loved everything we did last night, including our conversations, but I’m not anyone’s girl but my own. I told Kai that work was my focus, and I meant it. One blissful night rolling around in bed together can’t change that. I won’t let it.
By the time he returns with two cups of coffee and a to-go container of cinnamon rolls and fruit, I’m circling panic territory.
“Thanks,” I say, accepting the coffee Kai passes me. “But before we eat, maybe we should talk.”
He smiles and adjusts his watch as he sits at the edge of the bed. “Are you spiraling, Lucy? Because you don’t need to spiral.”
“I am not spiraling.” I take a sip of my coffee as if that proves how calm and stable I am. “I just think we need to reflect on last night’s . . . activities.”
“Last night’s activities?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at me. “You mean when we made each other come and spent all night talking afterward?”
“Um, yes.” I take another sip of coffee even though it’s so hot, it makes my eyes water. “Those activities. While they were fun—very, very, very fun, I just want to remind you that my work is my priority. I’m not looking for anything else.”
“How many verys was that again?” Kai asks, smirking. He dodges the napkin I toss at him. “And yes, I understand and respect your priorities. As I tried to tell you that night in the nursery, I would never ask you to sacrifice career advancement for me. Nor would I jeopardize your professional reputation by sharing our private business with anyone. I don’t kiss and tell.”
I nod and trace the lid of my cup with my fingers. “Okay.”
“That being said,” he continues, “I had a very, very, very, very fun time last night, and I don’t just mean the banging. I mean all of it.”
“Oh my God,” I say, lifting the cinnamon roll to cover my face. “Don’t say banging!”
“And I like you, Lucy. I know I’m only here for the summer, and you’re busy saving a baby gorilla, but I’d like to keep hanging out. Whether or not we keep”—he pauses, as if trying to come up with a substitute word for banging—“making love.”
“That’s so much worse,” I groan. “Do not say making love.”
“Well, whatever you want to call it, I’d like to keep doing it. And I’d like to keep talking to you about everything from Zuri to reality television. But it’s entirely up to you.”
I take a bite of gooey cinnamon roll to give myself time to think. I refuse to compromise my career ambitions for any kind of commitment—I learned that the hard way with Nick, after he, too, claimed to admire my work ethic only to later declare it selfish—but as long as Kai understands, what’s wrong with a casual summer fling? After all, it felt good to take a break from stressing about Phil and Zuri and Keeva, and the orgasm Kai gave me felt even better.
“So you’re on board with no commitment, no strings attached, and no one at the zoo finding out about this?” I ask, licking stray icing off my finger. “And you agree that at the end of the summer, we’ll go our separate ways with no drama?”
Kai nods. “I’ll go off to make an appearance on the NBC special, and you’ll march into your new job as senior keeper. And no one will be the wiser.”
The icing sticks to my hands, and I lick another glob of it off my wrist. “Okay then.”
“Lucy, if you keep licking things like that, you’re gonna make it very difficult for me to make it to my three o’clock appointment.”
I mutter in protest as Kai takes the cinnamon roll from my hand and places it back in its plastic container. But when he joins me under the covers, pressing his warm body against mine, I stop complaining.