Brendan watched Lindsay as she slid from the motorcycle, took off her helmet, and saw where they were.
He restrained a smile as surprise touch her features. “The zoo?”
“Yup. The zoo.”
He turned so she wouldn’t see his amusement at her confusion, and led the way to the ticket booth. He’d be willing to take bets on what she was thinking. He’d heard it often enough from women, his sister among them, “Men HATE going to the zoo.”
From what he’d seen so far of Lindsay’s bent for honesty, he figured she was probably struggling, wondering if he’d come here because he thought it would please her rather than because he wanted to do it himself.
He glanced at her. Sure enough, disappointment painted her features. Well, it never hurts to have your stereotypes shaken from time to time, does it, God?
Clothe yourself with tenderhearted mercy and kindness. . . .
He looked away. There wouldn’t be a need for kindness if she wasn’t so quick to assume the worst.
Be considerate of the doubts and fears of others . . . do what helps them.
Why on earth had he thought it was a good idea to memorize Scripture? It always came back at the most inconvenient times.
The most important piece of clothing you must wear is love.
Fine. But he wasn’t ready to give in. Not yet. She got to test him. Well, he had his own tests. Like whether or not she’d be willing to see him for who he really was, not for whom she assumed him to be. And if she could admit she was wrong.
Kindness makes a man attractive.
“Knock it off!” he muttered, then cast a quick look at Lindsay. She was staring at the zoo, immersed in thought. . . .
The words were out before he could stop them. “You’d better be careful.”
“About what?”
“Getting too much exercise without stretching out first.”
She frowned. “Exercise?”
He shrugged and took her arm, turning them toward the entrance. “You know, jumping to conclusions, leaps of logic, that kind of thing.”
Pink tinged her cheeks.
Bingo. He waited for a sense of gratification, but all he felt was mean-spirited. Probably because that’s what he was at the moment. Time to man up. He turned to tell her the truth when a voice called out, “Hey, Brendan! Long time no see, eh?”
Lindsay started, and Brendan turned to the ticket attendant, pulling out his wallet. “Hi, Chad.”
“Hey, I’ve seen your pass a million times, bud. I don’t need to see it again. But as for this lovely lady, here”—he focused appreciative eyes on Lindsay—“I’m afraid I’ll have to ask for hers.”
Lindsay bit her lip and looked away.
Well, he’d accomplished his goal. He’d taught her not to make assumptions. Pity it only made him feel rotten. “I’m covering her, Chad.” He pulled money from his wallet.
“You got it, Bro.”
Lindsay took the ticket from Brendan in silence and followed him through the turnstile. They found the lockers and secured their helmets.
Could he possibly feel any worse? Time to fess up. “Lindsay, I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “No, Brendan, I am. You were right, I assumed you picked the zoo because you thought I’d want to come here.” She looked down at her hands. “That wasn’t very fair of me.”
So. The answer was yes. It was possible to feel worse. He took her hand. “Lindsay, I wasn’t very fair, either. I could have told you right up front that I come here all the time. I wanted to teach you a lesson—”
She looked at him keenly. “You did.”
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. At least, not the one I intended. I wanted you to give me a chance, to see me for who I am and not who you think men are in general. Instead, I just confirmed your stereotype.”
A slight frown creased her brow. “How did you do that?”
“By being the typical insensitive, arrogant male. I treated you poorly, Lindsay, and I’m sorry.” He looked away. “God told me this was a rotten idea, and I ignored him.”
She surprised him by grinning. “That’s never a good idea. I know from personal experience. Ignoring God only makes you sorry. And usually makes you look stupid.”
“Guilty as charged. But I’m not near as stupid as I was five minutes ago.” He met her gaze. “Forgive me?”
Her smile was a thing of beauty. It lit her face and sparkled in her eyes.
“Yes, on both counts.” She looked around, then back at him, and her expression reminded him of a little girl on Christmas morning. “I really love zoos.”
He took her hand. “So do I. It’s a good thing my work brings me here so much.”
She fell into step beside him. “Your work? What do you do?”
“I’m an artist. A painter, mostly, though I’ve worked in other mediums. But painting is my true passion. My primary subjects are animals. Or children. So I spend a lot of time in parks, too. Sketching.”
She’d stopped cold. “An artist? You’re an artist?”
“I take it that’s good?”
“That’s more than good. That’s wonderful.” Eyes sparkling, she told him about her work. He listened, watching the way her emotions played over her features. Excitement as she talked about her workshops. Joy as she shared her passion of helping others bring their creativity to life. Then a sudden sadness as she described her aunts. “They think I’m a bit odd.” The slight shrug of her shoulders spoke volumes.
A powerful urge swept him as he looked at her. An urge to take her in his arms and draw her close. He wanted to protect her, to bring her smile back . . . to let her know she wasn’t alone at all.
He was there.
Whoa, buddy. Slow down! Just because her family doesn’t understand her is no reason to fall apart and pledge a lifetime of devotion to the woman.
No, it wasn’t. Which only made it that much more astounding that that was exactly what he wanted to do. He was not a man easily swayed by emotion. Oh, he was as drawn to women as the next man—Gwen had more than proven that. But she’d also taught him to keep his emotions under tight rein, which he’d never had trouble doing.
Until now.
“Oh!” Lindsay’s excited exclamation pulled him out of his thoughts. She was pointing to a crowd. “They must be getting ready to do something there.”
“They are. I saw a sign that said they have a special Valentine’s Day tour that would begin at the Tiger exhibit. We’re just in time.”
“Great! Let’s see if there’s any room in front so we can see everything.” She tugged him along as she hurried toward the group.
They found a spot up front just as the zoo employee started talking. “Hello, and welcome to our Valentine’s Day tour! We’ve put together a special program for you, to give you an insider’s look at romance in the animal world.”
Brendan couldn’t help being a bit proud of himself. He leaned his head down to whisper to Lindsay. “I told you I knew the perfect place to start—”
“Or, in more accurate terms, the mating rituals and habits of the big cats.”
Whoa! Brendan looked at the zoo employee. The what? A quick glance at Lindsay’s suddenly pink cheeks told him he’d heard right. He took hold of her arm.
“I think we can do better than this on our own.”
She followed him without question.
His prediction turned out to be accurate. They had a wonderful time. Of course, it helped that the animals—from the big cats to the monkeys to the polar bears—were unusually active and entertaining.
Then came lunch. Brendan couldn’t believe it when Lindsay informed him she wanted hot dogs, cotton candy, jumbo-sized drinks, and doubled-dipped ice cream cones. “No pretense.” She’d been positively gleeful as she licked dribbling ice cream from her fingers.
Their conversation had ranged from teasing and humorous to quiet and serious. They’d talked about their families, their hobbies—many of which they shared—and their faith, what they believed and how they’d gotten there. He’d been surprised to find himself believing her as she told him how much she wanted to reflect Christ in her actions and words. From what he’d seen, she was sincere. Not that she was a saint, but she wasn’t just mouthing a bunch of convenient platitudes. She truly tried to live out what she believed.
Quite a conclusion on merely one day’s acquaintance, isn’t it?
The mocking question didn’t surprise him. But his response did. Yes, I’ve seen more of this woman’s heart in this day than I’ve seen of anyone else’s in months of being together. I trust her.
So if you trust her so much, why haven’t you told her about Gwen?
No answer for that, save one: he wasn’t ready.
The high point came when they ran into a friend of his who was the manager of the big cat exhibit. He took them to the nursery, where they found three young tiger cubs. Brendan wasn’t sure who’d had more fun holding and playing with the little beasts, Lindsay or him.
It was late afternoon by the time they left the zoo grounds and walked to his motorcycle.
“That”—Lindsay linked her arm in his—“was wonderful.”
“The best.”
“I hope not, seeing as it’s my turn now.”
He helped her onto the motorcycle. “OK, it was the best so far. How’s that?”
“Much better.” She dimpled.
“Though how you’re going to top it is beyond me.” He slid onto the bike in front of her.
She put her arms around his waist. “That’s simple. I’m going to make you the best dinner you’ve ever had.”