gave him the finger, which only made Noah laugh.
“Eh, if it was me, and I was single, and this gorgeous woman showed up at my camp for the summer, I’d probably have bruises, too.”
“Well, you’re not single, she’s at my camp, and Piper would give you bruises if she knew you were looking. She’s here for four weeks, and then she’ll be headed back to Briarwood paradise, where everyone’s from the same social stratum, and posers are turned away at the gate.”
“Not that you have some hidden issues here.”
Luke shrugged. “Nothing hidden about my issues. She and I are from completely different worlds. Never the twain shall meet, and all that.”
“Gotcha.” Noah nodded as he looked back out the window. “So take care with the bathing suit, then. Your twain might have other ideas.”
Chapter 6
“A scavenger hunt? Ooh, I can’t wait.” The next morning, Madison sighed as Gabi handed out the lists she’d made an hour ago.
“Keep it up, and I’ll put a bear cub on yours.”
“Now, now, Gabi,” Sam muttered. “Pretty sure you’re not allowed to feed us to the bears.”
“You show me the line that says that, and I’ll take the option off the table. Otherwise, I can totally frame it as an accident.” Gabi handed Sam her list, then sat down at the picnic table with them. “You’re in teams today. Madison and Sam on one side, Eve and Waverly on the other. You’ve got two hours. Keep the camp in sight at all times. First team back with all of the items wins.”
“What do we win?” Sam asked.
Gabi thought for a moment. She had no flipping idea. Finally, an idea popped into her head. “Dessert. If you can do this activity without killing each other, falling in the lake, or getting lost, I will make you something delicious for dessert.”
“More delicious than Luke’s granola?” Eve made a face, quickly joined by the others. Even Gabi shivered involuntarily. Luke had foisted it on them at breakfast, claiming he’d made it from everything including the kitchen sink. Unfortunately, that’s exactly how it had tasted. Gabi was all in favor of a little fiber in one’s diet, but taste was a nice feature, as well.
“Better than Luke’s granola, yes. I’ll even use sugar.” She motioned them away from the table. “Go. Find stuff. Bring it back. Win dessert.”
Ten seconds after the girls had headed up the pathway, Luke’s voice behind her made Gabi jump. “Find stuff, bring it back, win dessert? Today’s epic activity?”
She could hear the humor in his voice—or maybe it was a sneer—but she was almost too tired to respond as he strolled around to the other side of the picnic table.
“If you have better ideas, you may happily adopt the girls as your own, and I will leave for the rest of the summer.”
“After only two days? Wow.” He sat down on the opposite bench. “Nope. Couldn’t pay me enough. Plus, you don’t let them out of your sight for more than five minutes. You’d never leave them here with me.”
“Don’t call my bluff again, mister. You might be surprised this time.”
He looked into her eyes. “You hanging in?”
She felt her eyebrows furrow. What was this tone that bordered on … nice? He’d been avoiding her and the girls as much as possible since they’d arrived, but right now he actually sounded sympathetic. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.
“I’m hanging in fine, thanks.”
“Have you actually slept through the night since you got here?”
She rubbed her eyes. “Is it that obvious?”
“Depends what shade of purple your eyes usually are, I guess.”
“I’m actually a really good sleeper … usually.”
He smiled. “Haven’t gotten used to the night noises yet?”
“It’s more that I haven’t gotten used to sleeping on plywood yet.”
“What do you mean? You’re not using a cot?”
Gabi felt her eyes widen. “There are cots?”
“Of course there are cots. They’re in the shed, right beside the tents.”
“And the reason you neglected to mention them was…”
“I didn’t?” He actually looked mortified. “I must have.”
“You didn’t.”
Luke shook his head. “I know I haven’t exactly been a welcoming committee here. But seriously, I wouldn’t have purposely made you sleep on the tent platform. I’ll show you where they are later.”
“Thank you. Could you also show me where you keep the sugar? Looks like I just signed up to bake.”
“After the attitudes I just heard, you’re going to reward them with a special dessert?” His eyebrows were up, challenging her.
“I’m not rewarding the behavior you just witnessed. I’m rewarding