His Semi-Charmed Life: Camp Firefly Falls Book 11

by Lisa Hughey

  “I’m sorry about your parents.” Even though he didn’t necessarily have anything to apologize for, he continued. “I’m sorry London was being…difficult.”

  “That’s a word for it.” But Penny blinked.

  “And I’m really sorry that I gave you a hard time. It wasn’t fair of me.” Something he prided himself on. He could see the hesitation in her eyes. He deliberately stepped forward into her personal space. “I unleashed my frustration with myself on you. Forgive me?”

  “Yes.”

  Her breath caught. The lime green lace from her bra peeked out from beneath the thin tank top. Diego was fascinated with the smattering of freckles across her chest. He traced his fingers from one to the other, enthralled as her body vibrated beneath his light touch.

  He followed the edge of the skimpy top until his fingers dipped into the valley between her breasts. Her heart thudded beneath his touch.

  In complete accordance, they stood there. His breath a soft exhalation as he stared at his darker skin against her lighter skin.

  Her hands were at his waist. She burrowed her fingers beneath his T-shirt, her nails scraped the taut skin of his stomach.

  Diego leaned his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes as if he would find the answers to the universe.

  In complete harmony, they breathed together.

  His eyes drifted closed, committing this moment to memory. He bent his head, savoring the anticipation of their kiss. This intimacy somehow seemed more important, more profound, than the sex they’d had this morning.

  The walkie-talkie squawked.

  Penny jumped away from him.

  “Crap. Sherry.”

  Tegan’s voice confirmed Sherry had been found.

  But the mood had been broken. “Got to go,” Penny muttered.

  Within seconds he was alone in the woods. She practically ran away and he had to wonder.

  What just happened?

  11

  Diego couldn’t sit still. He tapped his finger on his knee, studied Zinnia propped in her chair by the lake as she went on a fifteen-minute diatribe about being stuck here while everyone else had fun.

  The campfire on the beach was in full swing.

  Jeffrey London had bailed on the zipline and crafts session. Diego was pretty sure the guy was banging his assistant in his cabin, again. So Diego had done paperwork instead of playing. He had reviewed the contracts for the merger, making notes to discuss with his lawyer. He and London had dinner together but, after a brief smile and wave at the employees, the man had disappeared into his cabin again.

  Their management styles were very different.

  So now the music played and the employees sat around in small groups drinking beer and relaxing. The cohesion he’d hoped for wasn’t happening. The clumps of people were clearly split along company lines. Diego treated his business like a family. He worked hard to keep a sense of community and camaraderie in place. Anyone on his staff could come to him with a suggestion or a problem. Yeah, it was true that in the last few years as they’d gotten even bigger that he’d grown farther and farther away from his company “family.” But even so, the difference in corporate styles was patently obvious around the campfire.

  London’s employees were clearly restrained with Diego around. He’d retreated over to the Adirondack chairs away from the fire to keep Zin company, except she was driving him up the wall.

  “I can’t even drink,” she grumbled.

  He tried to tease her out of her mood. “Isn’t that what got you in trouble in the first place?”

  He scanned the crowd, searching for Penny. His mind kept wandering back to that moment right before she bolted.

  He was confident enough to know when his interest was returned. And they had both been on the same page until that damn radio. But now she was avoiding him. He still might have been oblivious but during the casual cookout, she’d worked mostly behind the scenes. The few times he managed to catch her attention, her gaze had skittered away quickly.

  He had no idea why.

  Unfortunately Jeffrey London had continued to complain about Penny’s program and the fact that she was here and that no way was he going to give a dime of London Automotive for some stupid program that had no benefit to his bottom line.

  And all that complaining and anti-philanthropic spewing against Penny had put him in a foul mood.

  “What’s up your ass?” Zin turned on him.

  Diego flushed. “Nothing.”

  “Nope. Not nothing. Give me something else to think about. I’m annoying myself.”

  Zin might be quite a few years younger but she had an old soul. More than once he’d confided in her when he’d been considering taking the business in a new direction.

  Even so, no way was he explaining his current obsession with Penny. And his frustration that his upcoming business partner had a raging hard-on against her. “I’m puzzling out details and concerns about the merger.”

  Zin grimaced, her expression in the flickering firelight somewhat demonic.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Now who’s skipping out on the truth?”

  “I know you want less work.”

  He wasn’t afraid of hard work. “I used to work eighteen-hour days. I can handle a lot of work.”

  Zin nodded. “But that was different.”

  He hated to admit that she was right. He wanted different things than he’d wanted ten years ago. “My goal for forever has been to make it as an official member of the BBC.”

  Zin said softly, “Then merging is the right thing to do.” But she bit her lip.

  “You don’t think I should do it?”

  She stared into the flames.

  “I had an interesting conversation with Penny earlier.”

  “The farmer girl?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “You’re awfully chummy with her.” Zin’s expression turned sly. “You like her?”

  “I knew her before.”

  “Before?”

  “We met years ago at camp.”

  “This camp?” Her delight was weirdly infectious. “Like when you were a kid?”

  “Yeah.” Diego clarified, “She was a camper when I was a counselor.”

  “Well, that’s…a coincidence.”

  “Yeah. Got me thinking.”

  “About what?”

  “About how sometimes your life can change in an instant.”

  “For good or for bad?”

  “I’m…not sure.” Diego continued to stew. He was caught between doing what was best for his business relationship with London and what he wanted to do with Penny.

  He should just forget about this morning and move on.

  But that didn’t seem to be happening.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about her. And wanting her.

  “Yeah, and we don’t always realize how important something is until it’s gone.” Zinnia was uncharacteristically quiet.

  Before he could ask what she was talking about, she distracted him.

  “Hey, I forgot!” Zin dug into the small hobo bag tucked next to her hips. “I made you something.”

  “You made me something?”

  “Friendship bracelets.”

  “Because they would go so well with my suits.”

  “I don’t have to give it to you.”

  He’d hurt her feelings. Jesus, he was a dick. No wonder Penny had run away. “Thanks, Zin. Lo siento.” He knelt down beside her. “Tell me what you really think.”

  “You don’t need me to tell you what you already know.” Zin curled his fingers around the clunky wood bead bracelets. “I made two. In case you wanted to give one away. Te amo.”

  “También te amo.” He kissed her cheek.

  She pushed out of the chair awkwardly and hooked the crutches underneath her arms.

  “My pain medicine kicked in.” She looked around the camp. “I’m going to bed.”

  “You want me to walk you to yo
ur cabin?”

  “It’s hardly the inner city. I’ll be fine.” The circles beneath her eyes were more pronounced. She’d been a trooper through her broken ankle. “But I need you to stay until everyone is in their cabin for the night.”

  “Sure, Zin.” Diego dropped into the chair by the lake and contemplated the fate of the world, or at least his own little slice of the world, in the flames.

  Penny couldn’t wait to be done with this day.

  She’d managed to stay out of Diego’s sphere. She’d helped in the kitchen and delivered the industrial chafing dishes to the dining area. Then she’d worked to clear the dining room after dinner all the while avoiding him. Tomorrow was going to be another long day.

  Physically and emotionally she was spent. She’d been on edge all night.

  But before she could crash, she had one last special delivery. Camp wouldn’t be complete without s’mores around the fire.

  The red Radio Flyer wagon with all-terrain wheels held boxes of Hershey bars, graham crackers and a huge bowl of marshmallows. Instead of metal coat hangers, the camp had long two-pronged stainless steel skewers. Fancy.

  She tugged the wagon over to the picnic tables.

  She’d be lying if she hadn’t searched the shadows for Diego Ramos. The man haunted her past and now he was featured front and center in her all-grown-up daydreams.

  Her X-rated daydreams, dammit.

  And while they had definitely had a moment in the forest, the truth was his soon-to-be business partner hated her guts. No way was Diego going to get with her while Jeffrey London was in the picture.

  She had enough abandonment issues. No need to add more.

  Penny laid out the supplies for the treat on the cloth-covered tables. She set out the small metal waste can that reminded her of Oscar the Grouch’s in Sesame Street. They had to make sure they cleaned up the food scraps, otherwise they’d end up with unwanted visitors to the campground.

  The campers crowded around the table, laughing and joking and grabbing the marshmallows. Penny backed away from the chattering group and blended into the shadows.

  Diego sat in one of the Adirondacks by the lake. While everyone else laughed and danced and sang around the campfire, he was so very solitary. Very alone.

  So different from that slightly scruffy kid he’d been. Now his shorts and T-shirt appeared to have been ironed. All buttoned up and neat, the only thing untidy about him right now was the beginnings of the beard on his jaw.

  As if he’d started to allow a bit of that scruffy boy back in. But he wasn’t quite ready to embrace that essence of his former self. Penny had the strangest urge to muss him up. To push him into allowing that kid back into his life.

  Before she could rein in the impulse, she’d grabbed marshmallows and the metal campfire fork. She strode determinedly to the chair where he sat. He straightened. “Can I help you?”

  “I’m here to help you.” A bit of innuendo slipped into her voice, but hopefully he wouldn’t notice.

  She wasn’t sure he’d play along.

  “What if I said I don’t need help?”

  “I’d say you’re wrong.”

  “What have you got?”

  “Yummy goodness.” She tossed a bag of marshmallows at him.

  He caught the bag one-handed and turned it around to stare at the contents.

  “No camp experience is complete without s’mores.”

  He was silent for another moment and she began to second-guess her impulsiveness.

  Then he shot out of the chair. “You’re right.” He turned all that smoldering intensity on her.

  He threaded marshmallows on the end of the fancy metal stick with a concentration that he showed in all things. He’d been equally as intense when he’d pushed inside her this morning.

  Her stomach fluttered at the memory.

  He leaned into her. “What are you thinking about right now?”

  Helplessly she stared back at him.

  “Damn,” he whispered.

  They were at the edge of the campfire, more in the shadows than light. And her breath caught at the heated look in his eyes. She blindly shoved the marshmallows onto the stick.

  She wanted him. Even more than she wanted to muss him up.

  This was not her intention when she’d come over here. She had only wanted to alleviate his solitude. She needed to change the conversation before they did something they’d both regret.

  They stood at the fire. Instead of looking at him, she fussed with the paper plates holding the graham cracker and chocolate bars. Desperate to alleviate the sexual tension, she shifted to his business pursuits.

  “Your club have a name?”

  Diego could hear the desperation in Penny’s voice.

  They were both on the edge of doing something they shouldn’t. They needed to find neutral ground before he tossed his roasting marshmallow aside and they burned together.

  “Yeah. It’s um, silly.” Except it wasn’t. Every single one of them had been striving to reach that pinnacle.

  “I’m sure it’s not.”

  “Billionaire Breakfast Club.”

  “Like the movie?”

  “Yeah. With a few additions.”

  “You’ve got a nerd?”

  Her eyes sparkled, and he had to shake off his lust and answer. “Peter Nguyen. Computer genius.”

  “A jock?”

  “D’Andre Smith.”

  “The football player?”

  So she knew her sports. Surprising. “Yep.”

  “You really know D’Andre?” She clasped his wrist, her fingers tight. “Can you get me an autograph?”

  “Not a problem.”

  “Cool.” She laughed. “A princess?”

  “And a prince. Tracy Kennedy—but not the political family—and Jason Hollingsworth.”

  “The financier?”

  “That’s his father. Jay runs a Venture Capitalist firm, JayCo.”

  Penny. “A misfit?”

  “Duke, he’s a surfer and a community activist, and Courtney, she’s a gamer girl.”

  “Wait, I think I’ve heard of her. She got doxxed and now she’s running for Congress.”

  He was so fucking proud of her refusal to back down in the face of the trolls who’d harassed her. “Yep.”

  “A rebel?”

  “That’s me.”

  “And you’re all billionaires?” Her eyebrows rose.

  “Not yet.” This deal with London would clinch it. Except he was standing here with her, thinking things he shouldn’t, and Jeffrey London and his inconvenient and totally irrational hatred of Penny was definitely an obstacle to Diego’s goals. The dude was cock-blocking him and didn’t even know it.

  “That’s really impressive.”

  Diego shrugged. “Some of it was luck.”

  “Luck you made,” she corrected.

  He was pretty damn lucky, he thought as he stared into her shadowed green eyes. She bit her lip and looked away at the fire.

  “Meeting you was lucky,” he said. “Now, and back then.” Why not lay it on the line?

  “Now is just a camp crush.” Penny shook her head. “It’s the atmosphere and the fact that you’re outside your everyday activities. Like a vacation romance.”

  Crush? He wanted to argue.

  Before he could, she turned and shoved her marshmallow into the flames.

  Everyone else had already gorged on the sugary treat. Beyond the flames, the clunk of metal cans tossed into the recycling bin and the murmur of multiple conversations formed background noise.

  Once the marshmallow was charred she grabbed the crackers and clumsily squeezed it between them. The chocolate melted, running down the side of her hand.

  Penny took a bite, and more chocolate ran over her fingers. “Mmm. So good.” She reached for a napkin. But Diego had a better idea.

  12

  Diego lifted Penny’s hand to his mouth and licked the chocolate. “Don’t want any to go to waste.” His rough finge
rs circled her wrist, holding her in place. His tongue lapped at her skin and tingles spread from her fingertips throughout her body.

  “What—” her throat suddenly tight. What was he doing? “—was that for?”

  He pulled away and grinned. “Don’t want you to get dirty.”

  A smear of chocolate clung to his upper lip. Without thinking she leaned in and sucked the sweet from his mouth.

  The moment was fraught with an odd tension. The crackle of the fire, the scent of wood smoke filled her senses, and yet she could still smell the essence of him.

  Amusement sparkled in his chocolate eyes, even more rich and sinful than the candy he’d just licked from her flesh.

  “Nothing wrong with a little dirty,” Penny said huskily.

  “Not at all.” He sobered, the shadows in his dark eyes hovered, and she couldn’t stand to see that playful spirit dimmed. Her attention shifted to what was left of her s’more. The marshmallow was in danger of falling to the ground.

  “In my opinion, dirty is underrated.” And then she scooped that bit of melted marshmallow onto her thumb and painted his mouth.

  “You’re going there?” His face darkened. Maybe she’d pushed it too far. He licked some of the marshmallow off his lips and then smiled. It was a wicked smile, promising retribution.

  “In for a penny, in for a pound.” She took the last bite of her s’more and smashed it against his mouth. Waited to see what he’d do.

  His smile brightened, intensified. Then he laughed, the rich low rumble seemed to surprise him.

  “You went there.” He laughed again and suddenly she knew what he was going to do next.

  Run! She needed to run. But she couldn’t run because she had to stay until the last camper was in for the night.

  But she couldn’t help it. She took a step back. It wasn’t a retreat exactly. Okay, it was a retreat.

  Diego blinked at Penny’s audacity.

  She had just smashed s’mores in his face.

  No one he knew would dare mess him up the way she had just done. The need to retaliate welled up inside him. “You’re going to pay for that,” he growled.

  He loaded his finger with melted chocolate and pressed it against her mouth.