body. “I don’t know. I’ve never even been in a kayak in the daylight. And this lake is deep.”
“Well, despite what you saw when the girls played bumper boats, it’s actually not that easy to tip them over. Promise.”
She glanced toward the dining hall. “I don’t know, Luke. We shouldn’t leave the girls.”
“Oliver’s right in his cabin. He’ll hear anything that needs hearing, and the dogs are with them. The girls know to go to him if they can’t find us, right?”
“Yes, but—”
He stood up and reached out a hand. “Come on, Gabriela. It’ll be fun. Trust me.”
He saw Gabriela glance down, just as she always did when he said those words. At the beginning of the summer, it had kind of amused him that she so obviously distrusted him.
But now? Now it hurt. And he needed to fix it.
Chapter 28
Half an hour later, Gabi paused her paddle and looked up at the sky, marveling at the thousands of stars sprinkled around the moon.
“Gorgeous, huh?” Luke’s kayak slid up beside hers, bumping softly.
“Indescribable.” She sighed. “I think we get so busy looking around that we forget to look up.”
“That’s why I love to teach the astronomy stuff. Kids eat it up. Even your jaded, we’re-way-too-old-for-this girls liked it the other night.”
“Yeah, they did, actually. Of course, maybe they paid attention because they’re plotting their escape, and you showed them how to navigate by the stars. Totally putting that on you if they bolt.”
“Gotcha. But I’m pretty sure they aren’t going anywhere. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say they might actually even like it here now.”
“Well, we have improved the facilities substantially.”
He laughed. “Touché. True. You know, if I had to hazard another guess, I’d say you might kind of like it here, too.”
“Oh, see, now you’re pushing it.” Gabi smiled as she dipped her paddle in the water and pushed smoothly away from him, knowing instinctively that he’d follow. She made quiet splashes on the water as her boat glided silently toward the tiny island he’d pointed out just offshore. Luke had been right. She loved it.
“You don’t like it here?” He came up alongside her, just far enough away so that their paddles didn’t clash.
“Well, there are some things I like about—here.”
“The hot camp director, right? I mean, that one’s totally obvious.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Oliver is definitely dreamy.”
Luke paused his paddle, then dipped it in the water with a twist of his wrist, sending droplets flying toward her.
She laughed and tried to do the same thing back at him, but only managed to get her boat tipping from side to side, so she grabbed the edges with her hands before she went completely over.
“Huh.” Luke circled her playfully in his kayak. “Looks like somebody could have used a few more games of bumper boat.”
“I didn’t have any games of bumper boat! And don’t you dare bump my boat.” Gabi laughed as she tried to spin around fast enough to keep track of him as he paddled.
In the moonlight, he looked like a cross between an impish teenager … and a Greek god. His smile was pure playfulness, but his body? She ached to feel it against hers again.
“So.” He finally stopped circling and paddled up beside her. “About that rom-com.”
She smiled. “What about that rom-com?”
“I think you’re officially at the part where it’s okay to fall for the hot camp director.” He put up a finger. “The one that’s not Oliver.”
Gabi laughed. “Sounds kind of dangerous.”
Sounds incredibly dangerous. Hot, scary, awesomely dangerous.
“It could be—I’ll give you that.” He paddled slowly beside her. “There’s the very real danger that we could fall madly in love and end up holed up in my cabin playing endless games of Scrabble.”
She laughed out loud. “Scrabble?”
“Or variations on the game. I can be flexible if it’s not your thing.” He shrugged. “I have Monopoly.”
Looking at his fake-earnest face, it was all Gabi could do not to kiss him right there in the middle of the lake.
“Luke, I’m pretty sure if I were to hole up in your cabin, Scrabble wouldn’t be the first thing I’d be thinking of doing.”
He stopped paddling. “What would be the first thing you’d want to do?”
Gabi started to fling another quip his way, but something made her stop. She knew exactly what she’d want to do, and it scared her silly at the same time it exhilarated her.
“I don’t know, Luke.”
He seemed to sense her pulling inside herself, because he set his paddle gently on her