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Or maybe it was just that this friendly young man was so… obvious.
Dana came to his rescue. Sort of. “Yeah. Please help us. My dad is useless at this.”
James buried his face in his hand.
“I think you two are off to a great start.” The stranger exchanged a wink with James that… did something to him. That couldn’t be flirting, right? That was a kids-will-be-kids wink, wasn’t it? “Let’s see what we’ve got here.”
They all looked down at the crumpled mess of fabric and poles, so James tried to explain. “I think we’ve got the poles in the right spots, but they keep snagging inside. I can’t pull them through.”
The man laughed, but it was good-natured. “Rookie mistake. You can’t pull them through. You have to push from the other side. New to camping?”
James ran his hand through his hair. “You could say that.” He’d bought everything last weekend.
But most of his mind was focused on the rainbow-covered ass, sticking out into the air as the stranger knelt beside the tent.
Not that James was looking at the sleek slope of his back and how it curved down into that perfect bubble butt. The stranger had a very round butt.
Definitely not looking.
“I’ve been to Girl Scout camp,” Dana announced. “But Mom doesn’t like the outdoors, so we couldn’t go till now.”
“Oh?” The man asked. “What changed?”
“They got divorced.” Dana shrugged.
James wasn’t sure if he should be embarrassed that Dana was sharing that all with a stranger, or pleased that she had accepted it so easily.
“Dad’s way more fun now,” Dana added.
“Thanks,” James told her. It felt like he hadn’t known which way was up for the past four months, so he hadn’t expected that affirmation. At least one of his kids liked him right now.
They started inserting the poles, which, indeed, worked perfectly when the person on one side just guided the canvas while someone pushed from the opposite side. Huh.
“I’m Elio,” the man offered after the third one. “What’s your name?”
“Dana,” his daughter answered first. “But I hate it.”
She hated it? Since when?
Shit. James didn’t know whether he should be berating himself for not knowing this, or thanking his lucky stars that he’d planned the camping trip to figure it out. What was he even supposed to say?
Elio didn’t even pause. “What would you like me to call you?”
“I don’t know.” It looked like Dana hadn’t even considered the option. Neither had James.
“Well, think about it and tell me when you figure it out. Sometimes baby naming websites are a good place to get ideas.”
“Ooh! Dad, can I look on your phone?”
“Maybe later,” he hedged. If Dana changed her name, Catherine would throw a fit. Not that Catherine was really his problem any more… except she kind of was. They might be divorced, but he’d have the heavy burden of sharing child-rearing with her for the rest of his life.
“And you?” Suddenly Elio was standing much closer to him. His eyes were really green, and one of his teeth was crooked at the cutest little angle. What was he asking?
“Your name?” Elio prompted.
“Oh, sorry. I’m James.” He held out his hand automatically.
Elio quirked a smile—he was wearing a barely-there swimsuit and standing in the woods—but he shook anyway. His hands were surprisingly soft.
