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I drag my gaze up from his mouth. “Anything could happen.” I square my shoulders because I’m a professional. “Our job is to be here for the campers and the counselors. To make sure they’re all safe and secure. That’s a lot of kids—at a lot of different ages—who could need us at any time.”
An owl hoots above us—a triple shot of who who whooooo—but Spencer keeps his eyes trained on me. “Yeah.” His voice is low. “I’m okay with being needed.”
Gulp.
Well, I’m not okay with you looking at me like that.I promised Mrs. Lockhart there’d be no personal relationship between us. This includes the crooked tilt to your mouth. So stop being crooked. And adorable. Immediately.
He blinks.“What was that?”
Oh. My. Mumble.
Did I just sayadorableout loud? “It was an owl,” I blurt, spinning on a heel.Please don’t see the hot blush crawling up my face.Hopefully the dim glow of the sky, mixed with artificial lantern light, will hide any blotchiness. “Let’s go. I’ll show you around.”
“Hold on,” he says. “I’ll grab a flashlight. I’ve got one in my car.”
“I’m sure you do,” I say over my shoulder. “You keep it next to the chopsticks and a fully-stocked first-aid kit, right?”
“Having a first-aid kit fully-stocked is just plain smart,” he calls out. I’m twenty yards away when Spencer’s car beeps. We’re the only ones here, and the guy locked his car. As I head to the grassy hill at the left side of camp, I suck in the cool evening air and pray my flush will go away. There’s nothing to flush about. Spencer wasn’t trying to flirt with me. Which is a good thing since we’re supposed to be professionals.
Only that.
Just coworkers.
Halfway up the hill, I stumble on a rock and silently curse my leather booties. They’re cute but not suitable for camp life. What was I thinking, trying to dress cute?
You were thinking about Spencer Crane’s abs.
“I was not,” I hiss.
Spencer calls out, “What did you say?”
“Nothing!” I shout without bothering to look back. I don’t want to dignify his question with a response, plus I’m embarrassed to be caught arguing with myself. Still, I’ve got to take my frustrations out on someone. Might as well be me.
I can’t hateme.
As I crest the hill, trying hard not to stumble again, I mutter, “Just be normal for once.”
“Normal’s overrated.”
My stomach plummets, and I freeze. How is Spencer right behind me? I guess since I had to walk slowly in these cute boots, he managed to close the gap between us. Now we’re at the top of the hill, and he’s inches away, and I’m suddenly smelling his cologne again. Stupid cologne. The scent makes my eyes sting.
Stupid eyes.
I swallow hard, and take in another deep breath. Then I look down at my stupid-cute boots and kick a stone out of the way. Exhale. Turning slowly, I set the lantern down. The glow illuminates patches of grass, dirt, rocks, trees, but hopefully not the details of my face.
“Why are we up here?” he asks.
“Because you can see the whole ranch.”
We’re both quiet for a beat. “It’s bigger than I imagined,” he says. “I still can’t believe they built all this for a summer-camp horror movie.”
I nod, still keeping my head turned away. “Yeah, but the set wasn’t for just one movie, though. There ended up being half a dozen, right? And a movie set up here is way cheaper than in Hollywood. So if you divide up the cost over the series…” I turn, and Spencer’s staring at me. My stomach swoops.
“Listen to you,” he says, “getting all practical and financially savvy.”
“Like I said.” I swallow. “Get used to being surprised.” Turning back to face the ranch, I point across the campsite. “That’s the main office, over there, where we parked. It’s also a nursing station. I had to get CPR trained and first-aid certified, which was kind of cool. Oh, and that building over there—the one with the angled roof—is the dining hall and kitchen.”
“It’s big.”
