Page 50 of You Know You Wanna

“Ah.” He chuckled. “Got it. Knock ‘er dead, brother. Let me know if you need a wingman.”

I scowled. “I don’t. I’m not after her, Dec.”

“Of course not,” he said, pumping his blond eyebrows at me. “It’s perfectly innocent. All of it.”

I blew out a sharp breath but didn’t bother arguing with him again. Soon enough, he’d see for himself that I wasn’t hitting on her and then he’d probably come over to try his own luck. Until then, he could think whatever the hell he wanted.

“What’s up?” I asked as Gracie turned away from the customer she’d been serving.

Her dainty features scrunched up. “Oh, look. It’s you.”

I cocked my head at her. “Did I fart in someone’s cornflakes? Why is everyone mad at me?”

She scoffed. “Me? I’m not offended, but that’s only because this is just a summer job to me. This place is Birdie’s whole life, though. You should know that. You should also know that we’re not just going to let you come in here and take it from him.”

I frowned. “Take what from who?”

She sent a pointed look at Declan. “Are you really trying to tell me that your business partner over there didn’t show up to try to strong-arm Alan into a sale he doesn’t want?”

“What?” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Where are you getting all this? From Alan?”

She shook her head. “Birdie. She’s under the impression that you’re only here this summer to try to take the resort from Alan and that you’ve been using her to do it.”

I almost laughed at the absurdity of the notion, but as I stared at her, I realized she wasn’t joking. “So that’s what’s been going on. Where exactly did they go camping?”

Declan appeared at my side like a ghost, an appreciative smile spreading on his lips as he gave Gracie a slow and obvious once-over. “Well, hello there. You’re Gracie, right? Birdie’s friend? I’m Declan. I’m you, but to him.”

She turned to face him, not seemingly all offended by the way he was looking at her like he wanted to swallow her whole. “That’s me. You can quit it, though. I already know what you’re really doing here, and it’s not to be a friend.”

“It’s not?” He arched an eyebrow at her, his eyes shining with amusement and delight. I’d known him long enough to know when he was taken with someone, and he was most definitely taken by this woman. “Pray tell. What am I doing here, then?”

I held her gaze as I answered the question. “They think we’re here to stage a coup. Apparently, we’re trying to steal the resort.”

“Steal it?” Unlike me, he didn’t manage to contain his laughter. “That’s ridiculous. Why would we do that? More importantly, how would we do it? It’s immovable property. It’s not like we can toss it into the back of my rental and speed off with it.”

Gracie glanced between us, a slow smile playing on her lips when her gaze settled on his. “You’re not a villain?”

“I’ve always wanted to be one, but right now, no. I don’t think I am.” He looked right into her eyes as he returned her slow smile. “Do you want me to be one? Because I could be into that.”

Her cheeks flushed, but I doubted it was being caused by humiliation. I groaned. “If you’ll just tell me where they’re camping, I’ll get out of your hair and you two can continue doing whatever it is you’re doing right now.”

She didn’t look away from him, but she was clearly speaking to me. “You couldn’t get to them right now even if you wanted to. The park only opens to the public again tomorrow morning. The only way in or out right now is in case of emergency.”

“Right. Well, then I guess I’ll get another beer.” I glanced at Declan. “You want one?”

He nodded, but they were still staring at each other. Thankfully, his head was still on his shoulders and he quickly backed me up. Two against one, it was only a matter of time before she told us where they were.

“I’ll take another beer, but I’d also prefer if you could answer the question now. Where’d they go camping? If you tell him, he’ll be gone by first light and he’ll probably stay away until they’re scheduled to come back. That gives me the suite all to myself.”

“Why should I care about that?” She shot back. “I’m in a cabin all by myself anyway.”

“Is that an invitation?” he asked, lowering his chin and batting his eyelashes at her.

She laughed, but then she gave him a long, silent look before she shrugged. “It might be. We’ll have to find out.”

“The campground, Gracie,” I interjected before things got steamy even despite the bar between them. “Where is it?”

“On the other side of the lake,” she said finally, glancing at me with her eyes widening and a strict expression on her face. “Don’t go bothering them if you don’t have a damn good explanation handy, mister. The park’s entrance isn’t far. Just a few miles down the road. When you get in there, you’ll want to follow the signs for Lake Navarone Camp. That’s where they’ll be.”