An Alpha's Lightning (Water Bear Shifters 2) (2 page)

Ace crossed three lanes of traffic way too quickly and cursed at his GPS. The stupid thing never warned him that he needed to exit until seconds before the exit sign appeared. A car that Ace cut off honked angrily at him, but Ace barely noticed. He was overly cautious when flying his helicopter, but he lived on the edge when it came to driving his truck. After managing to make it to the exit without causing a major collision, Ace finally slowed down. His GPS instructed him to turn left at the next stoplight, and then right a few hundred feet after that. Ace did as the GPS ordered, and soon found himself pulling into the parking lot of the San Diego Marine Mammal Rescue Center.

He parked his beat up pickup truck in one of the many available spots, and headed for the front entrance. He wasn’t sure exactly why he had decided to come here. He’d told the other guys on his crew that he wanted to see whether anyone at the Rescue Center had updated information on the baby whale he’d helped save yesterday. He probably could have just called to find out, but he had the day off and was curious to see what the Rescue Center looked like. He felt drawn here somehow. The other guys had teased him about being a big softy despite his macho exterior. Their jabs didn’t bother Ace, though. He was a tough guy, and he knew it. He didn’t have anything to prove to anyone, and, besides, he didn’t think caring about living creatures made him a softy.

He walked into the lobby, and an elderly lady behind the desk smiled kindly at him.

“May I help you?” she asked pleasantly.

“Uh, sure. I participated in a rescue for a baby whale yesterday. I was just wondering whether anyone had any more information on how the little guy was doing.”

The woman’s face lit up. “Oh! You were part of that rescue? How marvelous! We haven’t had a whale rescue in ages. I’m so glad this one had a happy ending. Thanks for helping.”

“It was my pleasure,” Ace said, smiling back at the old lady. Her enthusiasm was infectious. “Do you know if anyone tracked the whale after it rejoined its family?”

“I don’t know, dear. Jade would be the one with information, if there is any. She’s around here somewhere, probably checking on the sea lions in the hospital area.”

“Can I go look?” Ace asked.

“Sure, go right ahead. Here’s a map of the facility. We offer guided tours in the afternoons, but that won’t be for another several hours. Feel free to walk around yourself using this map as a guide.”

Ace thanked the old lady and took the map, heading for the area marked “hospital.” He passed the kitchen, where fish mash was made to feed the patients at the rescue center, and the autopsy room, where an elephant seal that hadn’t made it was being examined. At the far end of the facility, he found the hospital. The animals were behind a large chain link fence, and were separated into pens that each contained their own kennel and pool area. Several large signs warned visitors to be quiet out of respect for the animals, and Ace felt like he needed to tiptoe through the area. He didn’t see anyone else, so he decided to just stand there and observe the animals for a bit. Several sea lions were sleeping, but a few others were awake and frolicking around their pens. One was pushing a large ball around with his nose while barking. The barking sea lion seemed like quite a character, and Ace found himself chuckling at the animal’s lively antics.

“He’s a spunky one, isn’t he?” a voice behind him asked.

Ace turned around and found himself face to face with a woman wearing a pair of bright orange waterproof overalls. She was carrying a bucket of fish, and her strong arm muscles flexed under the weight of the load. Her deep red hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and her tanned skin offset the deep green of her eyes. She had broad, strong shoulders, and looked confident and sure of herself. It was easy to see that this woman was no shrinking violet. After only about three seconds of taking her in, Ace was hooked. She was the most beautiful, self-assured woman he had ever seen.

“He’s pretty entertaining,” Ace said. “Seems like a pretty happy guy.”

The woman set down her bucket and walked to the edge of the chain link fence for a better look.

“That’s Biscuit. And yes, he’s a very happy guy. He wasn’t so happy when we first brought him to the center, though. He was almost dead from malnutrition and dehydration. But he’s a fighter, and has made a full recovery. Should be releasing back to the wild within the next few days.”

“Biscuit,” Ace repeated. “That’s a cute name.”

The woman smiled. “Yeah. One of the veterinarians here has a five year old daughter that loves to name our patients. Her latest trend is to give them all food names. In the pen next to Biscuit is Sushi, and right past him is Thin Mint.”

Ace threw back his head and laughed. “Now I’m hungry,” he said. “And that little girl has quite an impressive palate. Sushi
and
thin mints.”

The woman smiled. “Yup. She’s quite a character herself. What about you? What’s your name? Hamburger? French Fry? Filet Mignon?”

Ace laughed again. “No. Nothing quite so appetizing. I’m Ace.”

“Ace? From the Coast Guard?” the woman asked, her eyes lighting up.

“Yes, from the Coast Guard. How did you know?”

“I’m Jade! Director of rescue operations here. You’re the helicopter pilot, aren’t you? We spoke over the radio last night.”

Ace worked to smooth over the surprise on his face when he realized that the woman standing in front of him was Jade. Her voice sounded different in her person. It sounded softer, with more of a musical lilt to it. And he hadn’t expected her to be so muscular and strong. She had feminine curves, but there was no mistaking the strength of her physique.

Ace’s inner bear growled in appreciation.
Mine
, his bear asserted. Ace tried to squelch the feeling for the moment. His bear could be so impatient when it wanted someone or something. Ace at least needed to get introductions out of the way before he started making a move on the beautiful woman in front of him.

“I am indeed the helicopter pilot,” Ace said. “It’s nice to meet you in person. That was quite an ordeal yesterday, wasn’t it?”

“It was crazy,” Jade said, her eyes lighting up. “But the day had such a happy ending. I cannot thank you enough for you help. Without air surveillance we probably never would have found that whale pod, and that baby whale wouldn’t have survived long without his mother. Seriously, thank you. We owe you and your crew a big debt of gratitude. I was actually just trying to figure out how to find you and your crew to say thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Ace said. “I was glad to help. I hate to see animals suffer. I actually came by today to check if anybody had any more news about the little guy. The woman at the front desk said if anyone knew anything it would be you.”

“I don’t have any more news, and probably never will,” Jade said. “We watched him swim away with his mom and pod, but since he doesn’t have a radio tracker, once he’s out of sight he’s gone for good. The good news, though, is that we verified that he reunited with his mom. We saw him nursing before they swam off, so he should be okay. It’s a very happy ending, and pretty lucky. Things could have been a lot worse for Ventura.”

“Ventura?” Ace asked, cocking an eyebrow in Jade’s direction.

Jade’s face turned beet red. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I forgot to mention that we nicknamed the baby whale Ventura in honor of you and your crew. You know, like Ace Ventura.”

Ace crossed his arms and pretended to be offended. “Yeah. I remember you making a joke about Ace Ventura yesterday. And I’m pretty sure I didn’t laugh.”

Jade shrugged. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. And the rescue effort took so long that we had to start calling the little guy something other than ‘the baby whale.’”

“Hmph.”

“Oh come one. We basically named him after you. Don’t act like you’re not honored.”

Ace tried to act like he was angry, but Jade’s playful expression was too much for him and he started laughing. “Okay, okay. I guess I am a little bit touched. You could have just named him Ace, though. Ace Ventura isn’t really my thing.”

Jade shrugged again. “How was I supposed to know what your thing was? My only communication with you was over a crackling radio.”

“I guess I’ll give you that,” Ace said “I must admit, it is nice to put a face to your crackling voice.

Jade smiled. “I could say the same to you. And I’m really touched that you stopped by to follow up on Ventura.”

“I love animals,” Ace said. “Maybe that’s not a tough guy thing to say, but it’s true. They have a special place in my heart.”

“If you love animals, you’ll really melt over the little seal pups we have in the hospital right now. They’re over in the far corner, away from the viewing area since they’re very young and sensitive. We don’t want our tour groups stressing them out. But I’d be willing to give you a private tour, if you’re interested.”

Ace felt his heart skip a beat. He definitely wasn’t going to turn down a chance to spend more time with Jade. “I’d love that,” he said. Jade grinned, and motioned him to follow her. She picked up the bucket again and started walking toward the hospital entrance. There was a pathway between each set of animal pens, and walking down it gave Ace a close-up view of the patients.

“Most of the animals we get here are seals or sea lions. Usually they’re suffering from things like poisoning, malnutrition, or injuries from interaction with human elements, like getting tangled in a fishing net. Our team does their best to get them healthy and stable again so they can get back to the ocean.”

Biscuit saw Jade with the bucket of fish, and sped over to the fence. He pressed his nose against it, and Jade laughed. “Hey, buddy. You hungry?” She fed him a few fish through the fence, then continued walking toward the back of the hospital.

“This seems like a really cool job,” Ace said. He was walking behind Jade and wishing she was wearing something other than giant waterproof overalls, which hid any chance he had at seeing what her ass looked like.

“Yeah, it’s pretty rewarding. Of course, it’s a lot of hard work, and, like any job, there are days when I’m tired and don’t feel like putting in the effort. But I’m always glad I did. And days like yesterday…wow. How many people get to rescue a whale as part of their day job? It’s pretty rewarding.”

They had reached the midpoint of the pathway, and Jade waved at a man who was standing in one of the pens with a sea lion, wearing huge overalls similar to Jade’s.

“Hey, Rick. I got that bucket of fish you wanted. Minus a few that Biscuit weaseled out of me.”

The man laughed. “Thanks! Biscuit sure loves his fish.”

Jade smiled, then pointed at Ace. “This is Ace, by the way. He’s the Coast Guard pilot who helped us with that whale rescue yesterday.”

Rick’s eyes widened and he reached over to vigorously shake Ace’s hand. “Oh, man! That’s awesome. Thank you so much for all your help. What an incredible day, huh?”

Ace shrugged. “Happy to help,” he said. For him, flying a helicopter around for a few hours was no big deal. But the effort had obviously made a strong impression on the staff here at the rescue center. Jade took him to see the baby seals, and for a tour of the exam rooms in the hospital. He met the kitchen staff, and some of the staff who were filling out record charts for the patients. Everyone he met treated him like a celebrity when they learned of his part in the whale rescue. By the time Jade finished her tour, Ace had shaken hands with a dozen people who told him he was something special. Ace acted politely toward them, but he was beginning to think that Jade was the one who was something special.

She knew all of the staff and all of the animals by name. Her smile made her whole face light up, and it was nearly impossible not to smile back at her when a beautiful grin was stretching across her face. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, as far as Ace could tell, but her skin was tanned and smooth. And despite her unconventional outfit and no-nonsense hairdo, she radiated a certain air of good fashion sense.

No wonder Ace’s bear wanted her.

As she walked him back to the front of the rescue center, he started arguing with himself over whether he should ask her out. On the one hand, he had come here to check on the whale that was rescued, not to make a move on the woman who rescued the whale. He didn’t want to come across as having ulterior motives for being here, because he definitely did not. But, on the other hand, he wanted Jade. And Ace was used to getting what he wanted. When Jade reached out to shake his hand goodbye, he decided to go for it.

“Thank you for showing me around. I really appreciate it, and I feel like I have a whole new appreciation for what it takes to rescue marine animals,” Ace said, then took a deep breath. “I’ve also really enjoyed having the chance to get to know you a little bit better. I’m just going to cut to the chase. I like you a lot. You’re kind, strong, and beautiful. I would like the chance to get to know you even more. Can I take you to dinner sometime this week?”

Jade tilted her head to one side, and gave Ace a curious stare. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. I appreciate your help with the rescue, more than I can even put into words. And I’ve enjoyed showing you the facility here. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Jade reached out and gave Ace’s hand a firm shake, then disappeared back into the building, leaving him standing alone on the sidewalk, dumbfounded.