“I hope it’s a pedicure and massage. I need it after all this manual labor.” Zoe checked her still-perfect nails. “When’s catering getting here? I’m starving.” Zoe peered into the trees like she might suddenly see a Starbucks.
“I don’t think there’s any catering.”
Zoe’s eyes clouded over in panic. “What do you mean no catering? What are we supposed to eat? Leaves? Berries?”
I bet Keira would know how to make a meal out of that. God, I miss that veggie-loving freak.
Zoe grabbed Brad’s bottle of water out of his hands and shook it at him. “Tell me there’s Perrier in that bag. I don’t drink pond water.” She threw the bottle on the ground with a flourish.
“I don’t think there was,” he said in a soothing voice. “But don’t worry. It’ll be okay. This stuff is good, too, and we’re only here for a day.” He put his hand on her knee, gently rubbing it.
Zoe’s icy demeanor melted at his touch. “Fine. I guess I can drink this. I’ve had to do plenty of other crap for shows. Now I need to freshen up in the ladies room. Where do you think that’s hiding?”
Cassidy and Brad glanced at each other, terrified. The only bathroom available was most likely an outhouse.
“Um, I’m pretty sure we passed a port-a-potty on the trail a few yards back.” Brad didn’t look Zoe in the eyes as he spoke.
Cassidy thought Zoe might faint. It wasn’t Cassidy’s ideal situation either, but she tried to make the best of it. It was camping, after all. What could you expect?
Zoe took a few deep breaths while her body visibly shook. When she’d finally steadied her temper, she sulked off in the direction they’d originally come.
“Well, she took that better than I expected.” Brad laughed.
“God help the poor production person who has to answer to her.” Cassidy shrugged. “Some people aren’t meant for roughing it.”
“I sure hope she pulls herself together soon or she might actually lose her mind when she finds out what we’re doing this afternoon.”
Cassidy stared at Brad with nervous anticipation. “Why? What are they making us do this afternoon?”
“Well it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I told you. Let’s just say I’m not the only good catch around these parts.”
Oh no. He did not just imply that we’re going to be fishing, did he? I don’t like fish. I don’t touch fish. I don’t eat fish. I don’t touch the bait that catches said fish. I need to change out of these ridiculous clothes.
Evan grinned at her from behind his camera as though he found the idea of her fishing incredibly amusing. She didn’t find it amusing at all.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cassidy stood on the riverbank in jeans, a T-shirt, and sandals. The clear water rushed downstream over boulders and fallen trees strewn along the river’s edge. Just beneath the surface, shadows moved with the current.
Cassidy didn’t like to eat fish and had absolutely no desire to catch one. The only fish she could tolerate were the kind that were served battered and fried to a nice golden brown with a side of tasty tartar sauce. She could imagine Chip enjoying a good laugh when he’d come up with this idea.
It wasn’t enough they had to camp outside, build their own shelter, and use a portable toilet. Nope. They also had to catch their dinner. To prove what, she wasn’t sure.
Beside her, Zoe scowled at the plastic containers of bait. Once again, they shared the same feeling. Weird.
“Okay, Brad. What do I do first?” Cassidy asked.
“I think we take one of these things here, and stick it on the hook.” Brad scrunched up his eyes like he was trying to solve a complicated physics problem in his head.
“Wait. You’ve never fished, either?”
“Nope. Not even once.”
“Ugh, then why in hell are they making us do this? I thought this was something you loved. At least if it was one of your hobbies or something I could understand. But if you don’t even go fishing, then this is simply to make us look bad on national television.”
“It’s fun.” He laughed. “We can be fishing virgins together.”
Brad handed her a rod, then took a worm from the bait jar and handed it to her.
“Careful. Don’t push too hard, you don’t want to skewer your finger. Ouch.” He cried out and stuck his finger in his mouth. “Damn it, that hurt. My finger tastes like bait.”
Cassidy laughed at Brad’s clumsiness and slid her worm onto the hook. She heard quiet laughter from behind her and turned to see Evan trying very hard not to laugh at Brad. He failed miserably. She held up her hook with the worm on it and smiled at the camera.
“I did it.” Cassidy wished she could talk to Evan instead of to the camera. “What now?”
“Now I think you cast it into the water,” Brad said.
Cassidy glanced between the rod and the water. She’d seen fishing on TV a few times, but there wasn’t much fishing talk in New York. She sighed feeling foolish for not knowing how to cast the line, but she honestly didn’t. On TV, it looked like you wave your arm and the line sails out in a beautiful arch and lands gently in the water.
Easy as catching a cab on Fifth Avenue, right?
She held the rod in one hand with the hook dangling out to the side. She bent her arm back and then threw it forward like she was throwing a baseball. The hook swung forward, landing in the mud along the shore.
“I guess I didn’t do that hard enough.” She’d spoken out loud, but no one except Evan seemed to be listening.
And laughing, she noted.
She bent her arm back again and threw the rod forward as hard as she could, trying to make it to the water. The rod slipped out of her hand with the force of her throw, landing in the water with a splash.
Cassidy heard a distinctive snort from Evan’s direction, but was too embarrassed to find out if he was laughing at her or with her. Stupid fishing pole. Stupid fish.
She perched on the edge of the river and reached forward as much as she could to try and grab her fishing rod without actually stepping into the water. She touched the end of it right as it started to float down river. She wrapped her hand around the rod and pulled it toward herself as she stood. She was halfway up when the rod pulled back against her hand and she lost her balance, falling face first into the cold river with a rather large splash.
“For the love of all things holy! Again, I make a fool of myself. Can someone help me out of here?”
Brad came to the edge of the water and pulled her to her feet. “You didn’t have to make such a splash to get my attention. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Wet and humiliated on TV again, but fine.” Her wet shirt clung to every contour, making her feel like she was standing there naked. She tried to pull the shirt away from her body, but as soon as she released it, it suctioned right back against her like a second skin.
Awesome. Let’s give the people a show, Cassidy.
She scanned the surrounding area for a private place to change. Thank goodness she’d planned ahead and figured with her track record, something like this was bound to happen and had brought extra clothes. Otherwise, it would have been a long, cold, revealing afternoon of fishing.
“I need to get out of these wet clothes.”
Brad winked at her with a lopsided grin spreading across his face. “I can help you with that. It’s not like I haven’t seen it before. In fact, I’ve been seeing a lot of you in my dreams lately.”
“Thanks for sharing, Brad, but I’ll just go find a big bush to hide behind.”
Cassidy wandered into the woods away from the stream with her extra clothes in hand. Evan followed behind her with a huge smile on his face.
“What are you smiling at? Do you think you’re going to see me naked? Think again.” She wandered behind a tall bush before taking off her top and putting on a clean, dry T-shirt.
“Or maybe you’re laughing at my clumsiness again. That’s it, isn’t it?” She pulled on a fresh pair of jeans. “You�
��re laughing because this is another challenge I suck at. I’m trying my best.”
Evan pushed his lips together into a tight line but she could see he still fought not to laugh. Every few seconds a snort escaped and his face turned a brighter shade of red from lack of oxygen.
She stormed back around the bush, gripping her wet clothes in a fist and breezed past him. “I’m going to try again and this time I’m going to catch a stupid fish and prove you wrong. Got that?” She turned to face the camera head-on. “Did you hear me, America, I’m going to catch a fish.”
“You know you’re not supposed to talk to the camera, right? That’s like reality show 101,” Zoe said.
“Oh, shut up, Zoe.”
Stomping back to the edge of the river, she picked up her fishing rod. She checked to make sure the worm was still secure on the hook. Then she reached back her arm, held tight to her rod and threw it toward the river. The line sailed through the air with a zing and plunked into the water ten feet away.
“Nice one, Cassidy.”
“Wow.” Zoe voice dripped with venom. “She threw a hook in the water. Let’s see her catch an actual fish without needing another change of clothes.”
“At least I’m trying.”
Zoe grabbed her rod and came to stand beside Cassidy. “Brad.” Zoe fluttered her eyelashes. “Can you help me?”
“Sure.” Brad moved to aide Zoe again.
Brad fed the worm onto the hook for Zoe then showed her how to hold the rod. He stood behind her and put his arms around her waist, placing one hand over hers to help guide the rod. Together they flicked the rod forward and back a few times, shifting their weight with each movement. Finally, they threw the rod forward and sent the line sailing into the river.
By the expression on Brad’s face, they’d also had a nice bump and grind session and Cassidy was pretty sure he was ready to use his rod to cast a line of his own. A twinge of something — jealousy maybe — ran through Cassidy. She still wasn’t sure she wanted to ever get involved with Brad again, but that didn’t mean she was okay watching him get frisky with Zoe.
I don’t think the fish in the river are the only little swimmers ready to make their way upstream. I can’t believe they act like that on national television.
Cassidy’s fishing rod jerked in her hand as something tugged on the end of the line. “I’ve got something.”
Brad let go of Zoe and rushed to her side. “Reel it in.”
Slowly reeling in the line, she could feel the fish on the hook swimming back and forth as it tried to get away. The rod bent toward the water as she pulled on it, trying to reel the fish in. Just as her arms were starting to tire, the fish broke through the surface of the water.
She lowered the fish to the ground and grabbed it. Its cold, scaly skin slipped through her fingers as she tried to get the hook out. She slid the hook out the way it had gone in and held up the fish in both hands.
“I did it. I caught a fish. I can’t believe it.” Cassidy held the large fish, trying to find somewhere to put it now that the excitement had worn off. “Um, what do I do with it now?”
Evan tapped the bucket beside him with his foot and winked.
“Oh, right. The bucket makes sense.” She dumped the fish into the bucket, rinsed her hands in the river, and wiped them on her jeans.
“I guess since we have dinner, thanks to my girl Cassidy, we can call it quits with fishing and head back to camp.”
“Thank God. I really wasn’t in the mood to teach you how to fish,” Zoe said dropping her pole to the ground.
“You don’t know how to fish. Brad just showed you.”
Zoe winked. “I went fishing every Sunday with my dad after church. I was just having fun with Brad’s fishing pole.”
“Gross. I thought Brad was the one with the sleazy moves, but you’re just as bad.”
“Aren’t you a sneaky girl,” Brad said snuggling up to Zoe again. “What else do you need me to teach you that you already know?”
Zoe whispered into Brad’s ear. Brad’s smile widened. Cassidy felt nauseous.
She spun on her heel heading in the direction of camp. She’d impressed herself by pitching a tent and catching a fish. Maybe camping wasn’t so bad after all.
Zoe, on the other hand, was just as awful as ever.
• • •
Evan sat at the picnic table with his elbows resting on the tabletop while supporting the weight of his camera. His shoulders and back ached and he could hear his pulse pounding in his ears.
Today had to be the longest day he’d suffered through in a long time. He and Zoe’s cameraman had had to capture every moment of this challenge, which meant they had little time for breaks.
Across the campfire, Cassidy sat with a plate on her lap. After they’d come back to camp with her catch, they’d had to fillet it and cook it over the fire. To his surprise, Cassidy had done great. She hadn’t been skittish about touching the fish or prepping it. In fact, it seemed like she’d really enjoyed getting her hands dirty.
Zoe, on the other hand, was currently surviving on diet soda and granola bars. She might know how to catch a fish, but she apparently didn’t eat it. But she did know how to flirt with Brad.
Cassidy’s eyes flickered up to meet Evan’s gaze. He could feel the heat between them and it had nothing to do with the campfire. He longed to be alone with her again — to learn more about her and her life back in New York.
He had about a million questions and no way to ask. The only chance he ever had to find out anything about Cassidy was when they were alone, which was rare, or when Brad decided to ask her a question about her personal life, which was rarer still. He had no choice but to bide his time and be patient. They would be alone soon enough and then he’d get a chance to find out everything and anything he’d ever wanted to know about her.
When they were finally alone again, it would be uninterrupted and unrestricted. His pulse quickened at the thought of where that would inevitably lead.
For the first time he could remember since his sister-in-law’s accident, he didn’t feel afraid at the possibility of getting closer to someone. As long as that someone was Cassy.
He cocked an eyebrow at Cassidy and stifled a laugh as she turned a bright shade of pink. He enjoyed being able to make her blush and he hoped that would never change. Pink was a good color on her.
“Cassidy.” Brad’s voice interrupted their private moment, bringing Evan out of his thoughts and back into the present. “Would you join me on a sunset walk?”
“Sure. That sounds nice.”
Does it?
“Zoe, you’ll be all right here alone for a little while?”
“I’ll be fine. But don’t leave me for too long or I might have to hunt you down and bring you back.” Her laughter rang out, sounding a little too Fatal Attraction for Evan’s taste.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be gone an hour or so and then I’ll be all yours.” He rubbed Zoe’s hand before circling around the fire and taking Cassidy’s.
“Let’s go before the sun sets and we’re left to find our way in the dark.” Brad grinned. “On second thought, that sounds like more fun.”
Cassidy walked with him out of the campsite as Evan walked backward a few steps in front of them, close enough to hear what they said but far enough ahead to not get in their way. It was tricky to film and walk backward, but the footage was better.
Evan tried not to focus on the fact that they were holding hands for fear that might lead to him punching the surfer boy in his pretty face and the whole world finding out about his feelings for Cassidy. Instead, he focused on angles, catching the right light, and walking without falling over anything.
“You did great in the challenges today. You really surprised me. I had no idea you could be so outdoorsy.”
Cassidy laughed. “Thanks, I surprised myself. I had no idea it was so much fun to rough it in the wilderness. Is this kind of stuff normal for you in California? Because you certainly didn’t do an
ything like this in New York.”
“The fire yes, everything else, not really. We usually have big bonfires on the beach after a day of surfing.”
“That sounds like fun.”
Brad nodded. “It is. And you know, I think you’d really like it, too. We cook, drink beers, and watch the stars twinkle over the ocean. It’s heaven.”
The trail came to an end at a scenic outlook. There was a picnic blanket set up overlooking a view of the sun setting behind the mountains with a few cushions strewn around to sit on. Alongside the blanket was a bottle of champagne on ice and an assortment of little desserts.
It was romantic and exactly the kind of place Evan would take Cassidy if he ever got the chance. Instead, he was forced to film her enjoying it with surfer boy. His annoyance built inside at the frustration of the situation he’d gotten himself into, annoyed he’d let himself develop feelings for someone.
“Why don’t we sit? This sunset is too beautiful to miss,” Brad said.
As they got settled, Evan took his place leaning against the safety rail separating the viewing area from the cliff. He was off to the side of them so he wouldn’t block their view, but was still able to get a good shot of the two of them together.
Brad popped the cork on the champagne and poured them each a glass. “To us. To finding the person you want to ride the waves with for the rest of your life.” He clinked his glass against hers.
Dude. Totally lame.
“Since the last time we tried to eat dessert and enjoy the view didn’t work out so well, I hoped we could try again. A second chance to get things right.” He picked up a chocolate covered strawberry and held it toward Cassidy. “Maybe it’s a third chance by now. I’ve sort of lost count.”
Cassidy reach out to grab it, but Brad gently pushed her hand away. “Uh, uh. This time we’re going to do things right.” He held the strawberry to her mouth so she could take a bite.
“Really, it’s okay. I can feed myself.” She tried to protest as he shoved half the berry into her mouth. With an expression of reluctance, she took a bite.
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