by Jill Sanders
“I caught him with Andrea,” she reminded her sister.
Zoey rolled her eyes. “Caught him just flirting or something more?”
“I walked in…” Scarlett started. “He was flirting…”
“Ugh!” Zoey groaned. “What was he actually doing?” she ground out.
Now that Scarlett had calmed down, thanks to the talk and the chocolate, she realized just what a fool she’d been.
“It doesn’t matter,” she mumbled.
Zoey’s laughter had her back on edge. “You always mumble when you realize you were wrong.”
“Shut up.” She stood up and marched towards the office door. For good measure, as she left, she stuck her tongue out at her sister and slammed the door.
She hadn’t calculated that there would be a person standing on the other side of the door. And, just her luck, that person was the one she’d been avoiding.
Levi stood just on the other side of the door; his hand poised to knock on her sister’s office door.
Scarlett’s forward motion about took him out, but he grabbed her with his strong arms and steadied them both. She heard her remaining cookies crumble against his chest as their bodies collided.
His chuckle sent waves of anger and desire through her at the same time. Still, just remembering their past together, she felt her spine straighten.
“You are such a klutz. You’ve crushed my cookies,” she accused him.
His chuckle deepened. “Darlin’, it wouldn’t be the first time.”
Her back teeth clenched as she jerked out of his arms. What remained of her breakfast and lunch fell to the floor.
His eyes followed hers to the floor. “Did you steal those from Isaac?”
“No,” she ground out as she bent down to pick up the pieces so she could throw them in the trash. Of course, he chose that exact moment to do the same. Their foreheads collided and for a split second, she saw stars.
“Damn it,” she growled out, falling backwards and landing on her butt in the middle of the hallway.
“If you’d let me…” he started, his hands going under her arms as he lifted her back to her feet.
At some point, years after that first kiss, he’d shot up to his current six-three height. Just the fact that he’d outdone her in even this area had her on edge. She would never admit it to even herself, let alone anyone else, but she kind of missed the days when they were close to the same height.
Scarlett opened her mouth to argue, but he was already kneeling before her, scraping up the remains of some of the best cookies she’d ever eaten.
It took him two trips to the trash can at the end of the hallway before the floor was clean. When all the crumbs were gone, she was still standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, watching him.
“You owe me,” she said.
His blond eyebrows shot up. “Still?” His smile was intoxicating. How was any woman supposed to not fall hard and fast for that sexy smile?
She jerked around and started walking away, only to have him fall in step with her.
“Don’t you have a meeting with my sister?” She motioned behind her to the door he’d been just about to knock on.
“No, just a quick question.” He smiled and held open the outer door for her. “One that you can answer for me instead.” He followed her down the pathway. She had about an hour before she was due to show some new guests around the grounds. She and her friends had spent the last two years rebuilding the camp and turning it from a run-down elite summer camp for privileged girls into an exclusive year-round snowbird retreat.
It had taken almost a full year to revamp the cabins, which used to house at least a dozen young ladies from wealthy families, into private cabins for singles or couples. Once all the original cabins had been refurbished, the task of building more unique cabins had started.
The new cabins spread all over the one-hundred-acres of land on the beautiful emerald coast of the Florida Panhandle. Currently, there were thirty-five cabins, most of which were booked solid for the next year. Thankfully, there were five more cabins in the works that would be finished being built by the end of the year.
The rest of the old buildings on the campgrounds had taken a lot of work to get ready as well. When Elle’s grandfather had died and left the five friends the property, it hadn’t taken them long to decide to pool together and open the place again. Now, they were determined to stick it out through thick and thin.
The first year, before the doors opened, there were a lot of thin times. Even after guests started flooding in, they had to stretch their money to make things work. But sometime after that first season, everything had just fallen into place.
She knew it was in part thanks to Dylan and his brothers. The Costas came from an elite family in Destin. Their family’s large empire had gained them the reputation of being one of the top families in the area. Everything they touched turned to gold.
When the camp had been low on potential employees, Owen, the oldest of the three brothers, had sent over a group of people looking for jobs. It had helped greatly, since there was a serious shortage of good full-time employees in the area.
The fact that Owen and Hannah Rodgers were now a solid item and engaged had of course helped the cause. Actually, all three brothers were now roped in with her friends. Dylan and Zoey had been the first to make their relationship public after a nasty bout with an ex-worker, Ryan Kinsley, who had pulled a gun on Dylan.
But since her sister Zoey was such a bad ass, she’d tackled the woman, who had been quickly arrested. Months later, after posting bail, Ryan had snuck onto the campgrounds and stabbed Elle at one of the camp’s dinner parties. The woman had served a couple months behind bars and had been released early on good behavior.
Again, they had lucked out that it hadn’t been life threatening. The woman had tried to sue the camp after that, but with the help of the Costa’s lawyers, the case had been closed quickly enough. Ryan had seemed to slink away into the darkness. Rumors had it that she’d moved to California, but everyone kept their eyes peeled for her on a daily basis.
Now, as she walked down the wide pathways, through the thick underbrush that surrounded the campgrounds, she couldn’t imagine herself being or working anywhere else.
“What’s your question?” She finally stopped and turned to Levi when he didn’t ask his question.
“Are you always going to walk as if you’re late for a fire?” He was smiling at her again. The kind of smile that always made her knees weak.
“Yes.” She turned and started walking again. “I’m glad I could clear that up for you. Now, if you don’t mind—”
She stopped when he put his hand on her arm.
“Sassy, I don’t know what I ever did to make you hate me…” Her eyes narrowed at the use of his old nickname for her. “Well, maybe I do, but nothing that would warrant such…”—he shook his head— “disdain.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Think it over.” She glanced down at his hand on her arm and smirked when his hand dropped away. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out, someday.” She turned to go again.
“Whatever it was, I’m sorry,” he called out to her.
“Save your apologies until you know what it is exactly that you are apologizing for,” she said over her shoulder.
As she stepped out of the clearing near the dock area, she realized she’d headed the wrong way. She had needed to go towards the front of the main building to greet the new guests. That man totally infuriated her and turned her around.
She glanced down at her watch. Luckily, she still had time before she was supposed to meet the newcomers.
“Lost?”
She glanced up and growled at Levi, who was leaning against the trunk of a tree.
“Go away,” she hissed, and started marching down the pathway in the right direction. Of course, he fell in step with her.
“I can’t, I work here.” He smiled. “Remember?”
“Don’t you have…work?” Sh
e glanced around.
He chuckled. “Actually, it’s what I was coming to ask you or your sister about.”
“Well?” She sighed. “What is it?” She had totally lost her patience with the man.
Damn, why did his camp T-shirt have to stretch over his chest so tightly? She forced her eyes back up to his blue ones. Damn, they were just as sexy as ever. Deep pools of blue that she could get lost in. She remembered the first time he’d kissed her. The first time he’d touched her, really touched her.
Her body instantly reacted. Crossing her arms over her chest to hide the fact that her nipples had puckered at the memory, she waited.
“Liam needed my help setting up a few new bench swings around the grounds later today. I have a group I was supposed to go hiking with at four.” He glanced down at his watch. “Elle mentioned that you or Zoey might…”
“Zoey’s got a yoga class. I’ll take the group.” She made a mental note to rush up and change into her hiking boots after she finished with the newcomers.
“Thanks.” Levi smiled and then surprised her by reaching up and tugging a strand of her hair in a playful move he used to do all the time. “I really will owe you after this.”
This time, he was the one who turned and disappeared down the pathway, leaving her to watch that impressive body disappear—his tight ass in the shorts, his tanned and toned legs. Suddenly, she wanted to lick every part of him. It was probably due to her hunger. After all, she’d only managed to eat two of those cookies. She felt her stomach growl.
“Damn,” she mumbled as she made her way towards the front of the camp.
She pasted on her welcoming smile as she met the Clines on the front steps of the main building. Falling into her well-planned tour guide script helped calm her down after her run-in with Levi.
She happened to catch a glimpse of Liam and Levi installing one of the massive log swings along the path near the beach. She knew it was a perfect spot for couples to enjoy the sunset, since she had at one point, had a magical night with Levi in that very spot.
Feeling her face flush at the memory, she avoided his gaze and turned the opposite direction down the pathway, showing the couple the boathouse instead, telling them all about the sunset sails, kayaks, and canoes available to them during their stay.
There was so much to do around the camp that, even after an hour of showing them around, she knew there were plenty of things that she’d missed. But since they had flyers of all the activities in each cabin, she doubted they would miss out.
After leaving the couple with drinks at the pool bar, she rushed upstairs and changed into a pair of khaki pants and hiking boots. She even made sure to grab a light jacket, since the evening weather report called for rain.
She’d left a message for the group she was supposed to take out to bring appropriate gear as well. Each of the cabins was outfitted with state-of-the-art touch screens that had their own messaging system for announcements.
Guests could schedule fun activities or massages, order food and drinks, or learn about planned events during their stay.
She headed off down the chosen hiking path with five guests—the wife of one of the gentlemen had preferred to get a massage instead of hiking in nature. She told the group about the local vegetation and wildlife as they went.
When the light rain started, two of the guests decided to head back to their cabin. She was going to escort them, but they waved her off and disappeared down the pathway alone. Since they had headed in the right direction, she relaxed.
“Shall we go on?” she asked the rest through the light rain.
“I’m game,” the single man said eagerly.
The last couple glanced at one another. “I think we’ll stroll down to the pool bar and have a hot toddy instead,” the man said.
After telling them which direction to go, she turned back to the last guest. “Would you like to continue?” she asked.
He motioned for her to lead the way.
They walked for a few minutes as she filled him in on everything she knew about the area.
When she stopped by a large magnolia tree and started talking about when the flowers would be blooming, she realized just how alone she and the older man were.
Not that she couldn’t take care of herself, but she’d never been left alone with a guest like this.
Each time she stopped to talk about something, the man seemed to get closer to her. She decided to start making their way back towards civilization. They were less than half a mile from the nearest campground pathway when she realized just how dark it had grown. The clouds had completely closed out any sunlight as the light rain continued to fall.
“Do you do this often?” the guest asked.
“Um, no, I’m filling in for someone,” she said, a little uneasy now, since he’d brushed his arm against hers a few times. She could tell it was on purpose. There was enough space between the trees for a truck.
“Oh, that’s too bad.” He smiled at her. “I really do enjoy walking with you.” His eyes ran over her top and she realized that she hadn’t zipped her jacket all the way up, leaving her white camp shirt clinging to her and almost completely see-through from the rain.
Reaching down, she tried to zip up her jacket, but the zipper stuck. Deciding quickly on a different tactic, she crossed her arms over her chest to hide the fact that the wind and rain were chilly.
“I’m sure your wife will enjoy going on the next walk with you.” She moved faster through the brush.
“Oh, she’s not the outdoorsy type.” He kept up with her easily enough and reached out to take her arm. “Why don’t we slow down, enjoy ourselves some?”
She was just about to open her mouth to discourage the man when Levi stepped out of the darkness.
“There you are.” His eyes took in the man’s hand on her arm. She was pretty sure that there was a panicked look in her eyes, since she watched Levi’s blue eyes heat and turn towards the man.
“Carl, I think Barbara was looking for you. She was leaving the pool bar when I saw her last and was heading back to your cabin when the rain started.”
The man’s hand dropped away from Scarlett’s arm and he took a step back.
“I’ll go…” He started to turn around.
“That way.” Levi pointed in the right direction.
“Thanks,” Carl said, rushing down the pathway.
Even though she’d been relieved to see Levi, just as she would have been to see anyone else, she knew she could have handled the unwanted attention all by herself.
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been hit on by other guests since they’d opened their doors.
“Hey.” Levi smiled at her and stepped closer. “You doing okay?” He’d changed into khaki pants and boots but was still wearing that damn sexy camp T-shirt that showed off his muscular arms and chest. Especially since it was now soaking wet and sticking to his body. His blond hair had been cut recently, shorter than she liked it, since all his curls were gone now.
She’d dreamed often of what he looked like under his cotton camp shirt ever since she’d seen him playing volleyball once with the other employees, before the camp was officially opened. He’d pulled off his shirt to play in the sun. Just seeing all that tan, toned skin had almost sent her system into overload.
She tried to avoid his eyes and shrugged. “I could have handled myself.” She motioned behind her, where the man had disappeared.
“Right,” he said, taking her hand and leading her out of the thickest part of the brush. When they stepped into an opening, she jerked her hand free.
“I could have.” She stopped herself from stomping her foot, only because she was standing in about an inch of mud at the moment and didn’t want to splash it all over her pants.
“I don’t doubt it.” His eyes ran over her, and she noticed a change in them. Glancing down, she realized that her camp shirt was just as glued to her skin as his was.
Pulling her jacket closed, she jerked her chin up.
>
“I made a mistake,” he said in a low tone.
“What?” She crossed her arms over her chest again. “I’ve taken groups out on hikes before. I can take care of myself.”
He shook his head. “No, that’s not what I meant.” His eyes moved to hers as he stepped closer to her, as close as Carl had been moments ago, yet it felt worlds different.
“Me. Touching you. Ever,” he said softly. “I shouldn’t have ever allowed myself to.”
She swallowed and held her breath as he moved even closer to her. What was he saying? Why was he telling her this now? How could she focus on what he was saying when all she could see was the blueness of his eyes boring into her soul, stealing her heart once more.
Chapter Two
He knew that he would pay for his sins someday. He just hoped it was a lot later in life. He was right, he had made a mistake all those years ago. Touching Scarlett had been the most grievous sin he’d ever committed.
Yet he couldn’t stop the pull towards her now. Her long dark hair was matted to her face, those big hazel eyes of hers scanning his as if searching for answers to life, the universe, and, well, everything.
It was her lush lips that called to him now. The memory of their plump softness under his own was an addiction he’d denied himself of for years. His dreams were filled with once more enjoying them, taking what he wanted, letting them fill his every need.
He realized he’d reached out and touched her, pulled her close, when their wet shirts collided, sending a zip of heat throughout his skin.
He’d marveled at the sight of her erect nipples poking through her thin camp shirt. Then he’d heated at the thought of Carl hitting on Scarlett, seeing everything he had. He should have knocked the man on his ass.
“Levi?” Scarlett’s sultry voice drew him back to the now. He felt her shiver against his body as she raised her chin, bringing her sexy lips closer to his.
“Sassy,” he said, calling her the old nickname he’d given her all those summers ago when he’d first dared to kiss her.
That was all it took. She arched up on her toes as he closed the distance between them. It was like returning home after years of being left to wander the desert.