The Summer Place

CHAPTER TWELVE



“I’VE LECTURED HIM SEVERAL times about safety. He’s promised not to go anywhere dangerous,” Rick said. He and Neil were once again on their nightly search for Howie. The kid was a master at hide-and-seek. So good, in fact, Rick made it a point to search for him, trying to learn his strategy. It was kind of fun—a real challenge. Neil found it beyond annoying and showed no remorse about voicing that opinion.

“Well, if you ask me, the kid’s as loopy as my mom’s chenille robe.” An irritated grunt pushed through Neil’s bared teeth. “Just call him in free again.”

Rick shook his head. “Not yet. This is the thing he does really well that sets him apart from the others. His time to shine. It won’t hurt to give him a few more minutes.”

“Very touchy-feely of you.” Neil shot him a quizzical glance. “You going soft on us, Mr. Rick?”

“Nope.” The near-constant erection caused from being around Summer was a good indicator he was being honest with his answer, but he couldn’t share that bit of information. “The kid’s begging for male attention, and this strikes me as an innocuous means of getting it. You have to agree that, except for all the wild stories, he’s pretty well-behaved.”

Neil scratched his head. “He’s got one hell of an imagination, all right.”

Rick couldn’t hold back the chuckle. “Which makes him think of hiding places that wouldn’t enter the other kids’ minds.”

“Um, speaking of imagination.” Neil lifted the lid on a trash can and peered inside. “Is mine working overtime, or have you and Summer managed to put your differences behind you?”

The question wasn’t much of a surprise. The staff surely noticed the warming climate surrounding him and Summer, and he’d suspected there might already be some talk. “We’re making a concerted effort to get along.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“Get along or get it on?”

“We don’t want to be a distraction.” Rick scanned the roof of the dining hall. Would Howie consider a rooftop dangerous? Limbs from overhanging trees would give access, and Howie certainly had proven his climbing agility. Hell, the kid was part monkey. Thankfully, nothing on the roof looked suspicious. Rick dropped his gaze to the ground. “But as long as you brought up the subject.” He’d been curious and now seemed a good time to ask. “Did I notice some interest in Tara on your part?”

Neil gave a lopsided grin. “Strictly one-sided. She evidently has eyes for only one guy, and it’s not me. They’ve been together for, like, eight years.”

“Too bad.”

“Yeah, her loss.” Neil punctuated his remark by pushing his glasses farther back on his nose.

Rick spotted fresh footprints in the mud left behind from Friday’s deluge. They led behind the building. Putting a finger to his lips, he jerked his head in that direction.

Drawing on the infinite hours they’d both pretended to be ninjas during childhood, the two men stealthily followed the footprints to the door of the storm cellar. On the pantomimed count of three, Rick jerked the door open as Neil did his best imitation of a lion’s roar.

Howie’s startled shriek evaporated into a hoot of relieved laughter. “You found me! But I hid great, didn’t I? Am I the last one again?”

Neil tousled the kid’s hair. “You’re the last one. You win again.”

“Ooh-rah!” Howie jumped and punched the air.

The marine slang coming from the boy’s mouth dropped Rick’s jaw. Summer had mentioned it when they talked, but he hadn’t realized how much he had become a role model. The responsibility overwhelmed him momentarily. How many bad habits was he teaching these kids without even being aware? He’d have to be more careful.

The three of them started back around the building to join the others. “How’d you manage to become so good at this?” Rick asked.

The child’s face lost its glee and took on the somber look of someone five times his age. “I hide at home...sometimes.”

Aw, hell. Rick clenched, then unclenched, his fists. What he’d give for one round with Howard Gerard, Sr. It might change the son of a bitch’s tune if he had to stand up to a real man. “Well, we might have to let you start giving lessons.” The boy’s ready smile returned. “Go on, now.” He started to swat Howie’s butt locker-room style, but thought better of it. He tousled his hair instead. “Get your bragging over with so everyone can get to bed.”

Cheers greeted them as they rounded the corner, and Howie broke into his victory run, high-fiving all his fellow campers.

“Okay, you’re right,” Neil admitted as they watched the boy revel in his moment of fame. “And, for the record, his dad needs his ass kicked up around his shoulders.”

Rick nodded. “I just wish I could be the one to do the kicking.” He clapped his hands to get the kids’ attention. “Okay, everybody. Let’s call it a night.”

“Y’all get ready for bed,” Summer called after the girls. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. We’ve got some fairy princess business to take care of.”

The girls took off at a run toward the bunkhouse with Tara. Summer started down the path to her cabin but veered off to meet Rick and Neil as they followed the boys.

“Staff meeting tonight?” she asked.

Rick nodded. “Whenever you get finished. No hurry.”

She waved and her accompanying smile made Rick hope the next hour would fly by fast. They’d get the kids to bed and have the staff meeting. Then she and Tara would spend about thirty minutes together. After Tara went back to the girls, maybe they’d have some time alone tonight...and every night.

“Man, I hope Howie doesn’t run out of hiding places.” Neil rubbed the back of his neck as they watched Summer walk away.

“Why the change of heart?”

Neil grinned. “Because now that you and Summer aren’t at each other’s throats, Howie’s hiding places are about the only excitement we have left.”

* * *

“SO WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE thing this week?”

Summer had made a hasty change into her fairy princess costume while the girls readied for bed. Now they all sat in a circle, primed for the vote that would grant one of them their very own wand. But first, Summer wanted to know what activities to keep for week two and which to discard.

“The bats.”

“The bats.”

“The bats.”

Shannon, Braelyn and Kaelyn had become inseparable in almost everything.

“The storm.” Elise’s answer to Summer’s question came as a surprise until she added, “I mean, I didn’t like the part about Mr. Kenny’s camper getting messed up. But being in the shelter with all of us together was exciting.”

“Yeah, that was fun,” Amanda agreed. “And I liked the bats, too...and the dance.”

“I liked the dance.” Lucy giggled.

Word around the camp was that Carlos had written Lucy a love note after being her dance partner. She’d actually seemed upbeat today, so maybe a camp romance would give everybody a reprieve from the girl’s whining for a while. Until the romance ended, which summer camp romances were destined to do.

Not wanting to let her brain settle on that thought, Summer moved on to M&M.

The child pursed her lips in thought before she answered. “I liked sort of learning to swim best.”

While it was true Rick already had Daniel swimming, Summer was convinced that peer pressure from the boys played a greater role in his success than teaching style. M&M hadn’t conquered her fear of the water yet, but she got a little braver every day. “I’m proud of the progress you’ve made,” Summer said. “You’ll be swimming before the week’s out.”

She couldn’t help but notice the hopeful timbre of M&M’s answering sigh.

The dance received one more vote and the bats got two before Summer asked the second part of her question. “What was your least favorite thing?”

The skunk and going to bed garnered all of the votes except one—Becca missed her dog.

Not much there she could change.

Summer pulled the new fairy princess wand from her pocket and held it up proudly. Her dad had become quite a craftsman during his retirement. The small piece of green granite thrown away by the grave marker company had been a booger to cut, but somehow he’d managed to do it and to polish the pieces into lovely little stars that topped a metallic gold dowel rod.

“As promised, somebody’s going to earn her wand tonight,” she said. The girls exchanged quick looks that melted into grins and a couple of snickers.

Summer picked up on the unspoken message. The winner had been predetermined. Which girl impressed them enough to bring about such a response? She hoped intimidation didn’t have a hand in this, but most likely, the winner’s name would let her confirm or deny that.

Tara handed out the pencils and small slips of paper. Summer watched the girls scribble their choices. There was no thought. No hesitation for anyone that she could see.

Tara had all the slips back and went to count them. Within a couple of minutes, she reappeared, a wide smile spread across her face.

“And the new fairy princess is...” She laughed and shook her head in disbelief. “Mr. Rick!”

* * *

RICK SAT AT THE PICNIC TABLE beneath the pavilion, waiting for the other counselors to finish with the kids. Who was he kidding? He was waiting for Summer. Tonight began week two of camp, and his outlook had pivoted a hundred and eighty degrees since a week ago. Camp Sunny Daze was precisely where he wanted to be right now.

An unexpected noise put him on alert, and he swiveled in his seat to locate the source.

He could make out the ten pajama-clad girls heading down the path toward him, Summer and Tara in the rear. Hell-pee-roo! What was Summer thinking? Letting the girls come out of the dorm after lights-out was a disturbing breach in protocol.

But if he’d learned anything this week about Summer, it was to not jump to conclusions. She generally had a good excuse when she broke the rules—at least, good by her reasoning. They had T-shirts over their pajama tops, so they were quite properly covered. Since he seemed to be their destination, he held his tongue as the giggling mass of girls gathered around him.

Summer’s mischievous smile gave him no indication of what was in store.

Amanda stepped from the middle of the group and cleared her throat. “Mr. Rick, this week during our bedtime chats, we’ve talked about how a true fairy princess finds out what makes her special.”

Ah, a lecture on fairy princess-ship.

She looked at Becca, who glanced down at her palm and said, “Then she uses whatever it is that makes her special to help other people.”

Becca poked Elise with her elbow, prompting her. Elise took the cue. “A true fairy princess listens to her pretty heart.”

The speeches moved on down the line with each of the girls saying an obviously rehearsed part.

“And her pretty heart tells her what makes her special.”

“Tonight we voted on who from the camp should get the first fairy princess wand.”

“We decided that you listen to your pretty heart.”

“The special thing you do to help other people is you save people’s lives.”

Oh, hell.

“You saved Mr. Kenny, Mr. Chance and Ms. Kyndal.”

But not my best friend.

“And we know you were a soldier and probably saved lots more.”

Damn! Rick pressed his lips together, keeping the tortuous emotion hidden.

M&M stepped forward from the end of the line and held out a star-tipped stick. “We know you’re not a girl, but you are like a true fairy princess, and we want you to have the first wand.”

A battering ram hit his gut. He didn’t deserve this...didn’t deserve any of the medals tucked away in his mom’s cedar chest. Dunk was the one who deserved the medals...the wand.

He hesitated, looking down the line of girls. Reverence...eagerness...excitement. Their sweet faces were filled with emotions, and the sight touched his heart. Undeserved or not, he couldn’t refuse their gift.

“Thank you very much.” Smiling, he took the wand and waved it over their heads. “This is one of the most meaningful things I’ve ever received. I’ll keep it with me all the time.”

He slipped it into his pocket, but the stick protruded awkwardly. He pulled it out and contemplated it for a moment.

Reaching in his shirt, he pulled out the dog tags ever-present around his neck. “These are my dog tags from when I was an active-duty marine. I don’t ever take them off, either.” He grasped the back of his T-shirt, pulling it over his head, and pointed to the dog tags tattooed over his heart. “These are the dog tags of my best friend, Lt. Duncan Ballard. He died in Afghanistan.”

He scanned the wide eyes of the group. “Would it be okay with y’all if I wore the star on the chain with my dog tags instead of keeping it on the stick? Maybe some of the magic will absorb into my pretty heart...that’s where Dunk continues to live, so maybe he’ll feel it.”

All the heads nodded vigorously, including Summer’s.

Amanda stepped up to give him a hug, but she paused and pointed to the words tattooed under the dog tags. “What’s that say, Mr. Rick?”

“Semper fi. That’s short for Semper fidelis.” He found Summer’s eyes, and locked his gaze with hers. “It means ‘always faithful.’”

He watched a shadow pass over Summer’s face. Was she doubting whether or not he could be faithful? Obviously, there was still more about him she needed to get to know.

All the girls fell into line and gave him a hug one by one.

Summer was last. “Thank you. That was beautiful.”

As she turned away to follow the girls to the bunkhouse, he looked back down at the polished granite star. He imagined Summer’s look of admiration reflecting back at him.

What a treasure!

It wasn’t just a magic wand. He’d been given the key to Summer’s heart.

* * *

“WE WERE BEGINNING TO THINK you gals had fallen asleep,” Neil said when Summer and Tara finally showed up at the staff meeting.

“You can thank Tara,” Summer answered. “If it wasn’t for her resourcefulness, and her magical CD, we’d still be trying to quiet them down.”

After the presentation of the wand, the girls had been pretty keyed up. Tara had come up with the brilliant idea of putting a relaxation CD in the player and turning it up loud enough to be heard all over the room. The gentle sound of rain with Native American flute music in the background had calmed the girls to sleep.

Summer took the seat next to Rick, who shuffled the papers in front of him. He glanced up to give her a smile before turning his attention back to the activity sheets. Even the quick look spiked her temperature.

Tara slid onto the opposite bench. “This job makes good use of my teacher training. Next time the kids get too rowdy in class, I’ll put that same CD on and give them nap time.”

“I’m ready for nap time.” Neil didn’t try to cover his noisy yawn.

“Okay, let’s make this fast before Neil falls asleep.” Rick used his authoritative tone. “Any concerns?”

“Yeah.” Summer gave Neil an apologetic shrug. “I’m worried about Howie. He’s a bit of a smart mouth with Tara and me. We’ve both noticed it.”

Tara nodded. “Yesterday morning, I heard him refer to me as ‘that Tara chick’ to Jimbo. But he did apologize when I called him on it.”

“And today, he was very disrespectful to me,” Summer continued.

Rick’s eyebrow quirked. “I’ll talk to him,” he answered.

“I don’t want you to talk to him,” Summer shot back. This was the telling moment. Rick’s reaction to the wand had her hopes soaring, but this would give her a definite answer. “I want to be more proactive than that. His dad’s obviously got issues with women, and boys with dads like his are the ones who grow up to be abusive toward women.”

Neil perked up enough to comment. “No argument there. What do you propose we do about it?”

“I’m hoping we can break the cycle for him. Convince him girls are his equals.”

Rick’s eyebrows drew together. “How do we do that in three weeks’ time?”

“We start mixing the groups with both sexes.” Summer used her most confident tone. “Like this morning, instead of the girls cooking and the boys doing tae kwon do, we could’ve mixed the groups with five of each. That would make them think of themselves as one group instead of two.” She paused for a reaction. Neither of the guys seemed too off-put by her suggestion, so she went on. “The first week was all about respect. Now we’ll concentrate on accepting differences and developing unity. What do you think?”

Neil shrugged. “Sounds okay to me.”

“I think it’s brilliant,” Rick said.

The compliment made bubbles rise in Summer’s stomach, and her heart danced. Rick got her! It wasn’t an act to get her into bed. He understood what she was about. The realization left her momentarily speechless.

Tara’s head tilted in thought. “Almost everything in the schools is coed. I can’t think of any reason why it shouldn’t work here. But the girls get their wands as rewards. Will we give the boys wands, as well?”

“What about stars hanging on chains, like Rick’s?” Summer’s insides were still melty, thinking about how he’d handled that situation.

A yawn slipped from Neil as he tried to stifle it. “What are y’all talking about?”

Rick pulled his dog tag chain out of his shirt and the wand from his pocket. “I’m going to have a hole drilled in it so I can wear it on the chain. Without the stick.”

Neil squinted. “Cool.”

Summer’s breathing came easier. She hadn’t been sure Neil would go along, but since he had, she could throw out her other idea. “I can ask my dad to make some more. We’ll give the kids a choice of either a wand or a star on a chain.”

“Oh!” Tara applauded. “I like that.”

“Me, too,” Rick agreed, and Neil mumbled a sleepy assent.

“Okay, then...” Rick directed them to the week’s activities, pushing through each item so fast it became almost comical.

Summer knew the reason for his fired-up agenda, but she wondered if the others suspected he had plans with her for later.

And while she looked forward to their time alone to talk, she wasn’t so sure Rick would be thrilled with what she planned to say...what she’d thought about during her alone time in the fertility room.

“So, I guess that’s it,” Rick was saying, and she hadn’t even heard the last item he’d brought up.

Rick whisked the papers off the table. “Good night, everyone.” He was gone before they could get out their responses.

Neil looked at the two women over the rim of his glasses. “Either of you ladies want to carry me?” Summer and Tara shook their heads, and he blew out a dramatic sigh. “I guess I’ll just stumble my way home, then.” He got up and tripped over his first step, seeming bent on proving his words. He caught his balance, though, and managed to make progress up the hill.

“Do you want me to go on to bed, too?” Tara asked, and Summer heard in her tone that she was asking about Rick.

Tara and Summer had gotten to know each other pretty well over the first part of the week with their nightly tête-à-têtes, and Summer looked forward to their chats. But then the storm had happened and her parents had come, so she and Tara had a lot of catching up to do. In the absence of Kate, Summer had come to think of Tara as a trusted girlfriend—and she needed some girl talk tonight.

“No way,” she answered. “I need you to keep me sane.”

A few minutes later, when Summer had changed out of her costume, Tara was waiting with lemonade in hand and a plate with two oatmeal raisin cookies Summer’s mom had provided from the organic bakery in Paducah.

“So what happened after the dance?” was Tara’s first question.

“We went for a moonlight swim.” Summer closed her eyes, feeling again the heat generated by the kisses on the beach. “It was so romantic.” She caught herself and forced her eyes open.

“Tonight was great, watching you two.” Tara grinned. “When the girls gave him the wand, there was something in his expression, and then I looked at you, and the look on your face seemed to mirror his. It was—” she seemed to search for the word, but settled for “—cool.”

They sipped the lemonade, quiet for a moment, and then Tara waved her hand toward the bedroom. “It’s nice that you have your own cabin. Y’all can, um, have some privacy.”

“Actually, that makes everything more difficult.”

A crease appeared between Tara’s copper eyebrows. “Because...?”

“Because even though it’s possible, it’s not the right thing to do. I don’t want these weeks to be about anything but the kids and keeping the camp going. And I have no doubt sex with Rick would shift my focus.”

“That’s very noble of you.”

“Pfft.” Summer shrugged off the compliment. “I’m not trying to be noble. I just know me. Sex with the right guy is capable of giving me tunnel vision for a while. You know how it is.”

Tara’s eyes broke contact. “Actually, I don’t.”

The wistfulness in her friend’s voice pushed an alert button in Summer’s brain. Things must not be too great in the lovemaking department. “Well, you and Louis have been together for a long time, but remember how it was in the beginning when you first started having sex?”

“We’ve never had sex.” Tara took a small sip of her lemonade. “I’m still a virgin.”

The announcement stopped the forward motion in Summer’s brain. “You’re still a virgin at twenty-three?” The question made it sound like there was something wrong with virginity. She pulled her foot out of her mouth and tried again. “What I mean to say is, how’ve you held out so long?”

Tara’s shrug suggested it was no huge deal, and maybe it wasn’t in her world, but it certainly was in Summer’s. She and all her friends had lost their virginity by the time they were seventeen.

“When we were in high school,” Tara said, “our church sponsored one of those save-yourself-for-marriage campaigns. We signed cards, vowing chastity until marriage, and we’ve managed to stay true to that vow.” The young woman nibbled thoughtfully on a bite of cookie. “In some ways, it’s made things easier by taking away the choice. And it’s given us time to focus on building a strong bond without having the confusion of sex thrown in.”

“But eight years.” Summer drew a long breath, the length of time seeming incomprehensible to her. “So how do you stand it?” It was possible Tara could give her some pointers about the celibacy thing. “I mean, do you have any tricks I could use to keep from thinking about...well, about it.”

Tara laughed. “There’s no magic wand, if that’s what you mean—unless it would be the kind you buy at adult toy stores. And no, I don’t use one.” Her eyes squinted in contemplation as she washed down the last of her cookie. “Louis goes on a lot of mission trips, so he’s gone most of the time. I think that helps. When we’re together, it is definitely harder.”

Summer raised her eyebrows. “That doesn’t help me much here. Rick and I are together a lot.”

“I know, and the celibacy thing isn’t for everybody.” She looked Summer squarely in the eye. “If you and Rick sleep together, it’s okay with me. I don’t judge people about that kind of thing. What you do when the kids aren’t around is your business. Their parents have sex after the kids go to bed. I mean, that’s been going on since the beginning of time.” Tara looked around the cabin as she finished off her lemonade. “Back in the pioneer days, huge families lived in cabins very much like this one.”

“Ack!” Summer banged her head on the back of the couch. “You’re messing up my rationalizations.”

Tara laughed. “You just have to be discreet.” She wiped her mouth and tossed the napkin on her plate. “And with those sage words as my parting message, I need to get back to the girls.” She stood up to go, motioning for Summer to keep her seat. “I know the way out.”

Summer drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, thinking about what Tara had told her.

“Maybe,” Tara said, her voice trailing off. “You can just keep telling yourself that it’s only for three more weeks. After that, you’ll have all the time you want...if you want it.”

“I’ve never been very good at waiting,” Summer called over her shoulder as she heard the screen door slam.

* * *

RICK’S TIMING WAS OFF. He thought Tara would be gone by now, and he had one foot on Summer’s porch before he saw the young woman standing at the door.

Damn! He stepped back into the shadows at the side of the cabin. He’d rather the staff not know about his private time with Summer. He and Kenny had an understanding, but too many tongues were sure to start wagging, and then it would be an easy jump to conclusions.

Of course, the conclusions would be wrong. He’d made up his mind. No matter how much he wanted Summer, this was not the time nor the place to begin a physical relationship.

It wasn’t going to be easy to keep a lid on his desire. The kisses they’d already shared nearly sent him careening over the edge.

He’d come prepared to talk with her about it now, before things went any further.

“If you want it,” Tara said as she came out the door, and Summer called after her, “I’ve never been very good at waiting.”

The exact words Rick did not need to hear when waiting was exactly what he was about to propose. That this thing with Summer might grind to a halt a few minutes from now came like a punch to his gut, which bothered him more than a little. But he’d set his course, and he would see it through and face the consequences of his actions.

He waited until Tara was definitely gone, then he stepped up on the porch and rapped softly on the door.

Summer leaped up from the couch to meet him, smiling and breathless. “Hi.” She glanced down and laughed. “You glad to see me or is that a magic wand in your pants?”

He followed her eyes, surprised by the bulge created by the wand in his pocket. “Both.” He chuckled. “Reason number two I need to wear the star around my neck.” He kissed her lightly. Her lips were soft and met his eagerly, but she broke off quickly and slid her hand into his, tugging him toward the couch.

They’d no more than gotten seated before they were both speaking. “We need to talk,” they said simultaneously.

Their gazes locked and Rick felt an “oh, hell” reaction in the pit of his stomach when he saw the heat registering in her look. She was ready to take it to the next level. Pulling one knee onto the couch, he rested his elbow on the back cushion, and turned fully toward her. “You first.”

She nodded, drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. “We haven’t known each other very long, and we’ve only liked each other for a few days.” She paused and gnawed on her bottom lip, obviously thinking about how to say it.

But you’re not good at waiting, and I’m about to make you very annoyed with me.

“But I’m already feeling a strong connection with you.” She turned and mirrored him in her position.

He took the hand she laid on the back of the couch. “Probably the strongest connection I’ve ever felt in so short a time.” Keep driving home the message that’s it’s only been a short time.

She nodded and gave him a small smile before she continued. “I want you, Rick. I would love to move into a physical relationship with you.”

Gotta be strong. He gave her hand a squeeze and saw her wince. But not that strong. Tell her how you feel. “That’s been in the front of my mind since the first time I kissed you.”

She nodded. “Me, too.”

He took over. “But here, with everything else going on...this doesn’t seem to me to be the best time or place to move a new relationship to the physical level.”

“Exactly!” Her voice was breathless with relief.

“You agree?”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s hard for me to resist the idea of going to bed with you right here and now.”

“Same here,” he said, and her knee pressing against his made him do a quick scan of the couch to see if it could take his length.

“And we would be really great in bed together. I just know it.” She kissed his hand, and her lips made a tiny sucking sound against his fingers that made his breath catch.

“We’d be the best...the best ever.” Words weren’t downloading from his brain to his tongue as effortlessly as usual.

Her gaze dropped to his mouth. “I want to stay focused on the kids.” When she licked her lips, the blood flowed southward from his brain. “And I don’t think I can stay focused on the kids if I go to bed with you. I think making love with you would be on my mind constantly—” she paused “—if we were to do it.”

“So it’s best if we don’t do it,” he whispered.

She leaned closer as if to hear, and her leaning closer made him lean closer and their lips met again and pressed harder, and then his arms were around her pulling her to him and she moved into him easily and onto his lap.

His hands crept under her shirt and caressed her back and she moaned against his mouth and sucked his tongue greedily.

A sound registered in Rick’s brain at the same time the hot sucking sensation on his tongue ceased. Not a moan this time. A whistled tune in the distance. “Amazing Grace.”

Summer straightened, pulling away from him slightly. “Kenny.” The aggravation in her tone was almost palpable. Her bottom lip protruded in a pout as she slid backward out of Rick’s lap and onto the couch cushion. Then the pout dissolved into laughter.

Rick laughed with her, feeling his upper brain clear with the additional oxygen. “I think I’d better go,” he said, and she nodded.

They held hands as they inched toward the door. When they got there, she pulled him back and stood on tiptoes to slide her arms around his neck.

“We’re adults, and we can do this,” she said.

“Absolutely,” he agreed. Not a chance, he thought.

“And there’s no reason we shouldn’t go ahead and have our time together at night when everyone else is asleep,” she said.

I can think of several reasons, he thought. “No reason.” He shook his head.

“We’ll just have to keep ourselves under control and limit the contact to kissing,” she said.

Big mistake, he thought. “Right. And we can do that.” He kissed her softly. “Good night.”

“Night,” she said, and her voice caught in his ear and swirled around pleasantly.

He headed toward his cabin and the cold shower awaiting him. “This isn’t Camp Sunny Daze,” he muttered to the tree frogs he passed. “It’s hell. Pure hell.”