She's Got a Way (29 page)

“Twelve.” Once a month, he figured. A terrible figure, but he was guessing low on purpose.

“Two.”

His eyes widened. “No way.”

She nodded. “Not kidding. Dad's secretary dropped me off at Briarwood in August, and Mom's secretary picked me up in June and brought me to camp. I saw them on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The day after Christmas, they left for a cruise, and I stayed home with the nanny until it was time to come back to Briarwood.”

“Wow, I'm really sorry, Gabriela. I had no idea.” Luke felt guilty for assuming her life had been just one candy-coated, gold-plated carnival ride up till now.

She shrugged. “It is what it is, right? It's not like I got dropped off on church steps in the dead of winter. I mean, I had everything I needed, and Briarwood's an excellent school. I turned out okay.”

Luke looked out onto the dead-calm lake, lit by an almost-full moon. He had a feeling Gabriela could well use a distraction right now, and he had the perfect idea. “Hey. Feel like an adventure?”

Her eyebrows went upward. “What kind of adventure?”

“The kayaking-at-midnight-under-a-full-moon kind.”

She pulled her knees closer to her body. “I don't know. I've never even been in a kayak in the daylight. And this lake is deep.”

“Well, despite what you saw when the girls played bumper boats, it's actually not that easy to tip them over. Promise.”

She glanced toward the dining hall. “I don't know, Luke. We shouldn't leave the girls.”

“Oliver's right in his cabin. He'll hear anything that needs hearing, and the dogs are with them. The girls know to go to him if they can't find us, right?”

“Yes, but—”

He stood up and reached out a hand. “Come on, Gabriela. It'll be fun. Trust me.”

He saw Gabriela glance down, just as she always did when he said those words. At the beginning of the summer, it had kind of amused him that she so obviously distrusted him.

But now? Now it hurt. And he needed to fix it.

 

Chapter 28

Half an hour later, Gabi paused her paddle and looked up at the sky, marveling at the thousands of stars sprinkled around the moon.

“Gorgeous, huh?” Luke's kayak slid up beside hers, bumping softly.

“Indescribable.” She sighed. “I think we get so busy looking around that we forget to look up.”

“That's why I love to teach the astronomy stuff. Kids eat it up. Even your jaded, we're-way-too-old-for-this girls liked it the other night.”

“Yeah, they did, actually. Of course, maybe they paid attention because they're plotting their escape, and you showed them how to navigate by the stars. Totally putting that on you if they bolt.”

“Gotcha. But I'm pretty sure they aren't going anywhere. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they might actually even like it here now.”

“Well, we
have
improved the facilities substantially.”

He laughed. “Touché. True. You know, if I had to hazard
another
guess, I'd say you might kind of like it here, too.”

“Oh, see, now you're pushing it.” Gabi smiled as she dipped her paddle in the water and pushed smoothly away from him, knowing instinctively that he'd follow. She made quiet splashes on the water as her boat glided silently toward the tiny island he'd pointed out just offshore. Luke had been right. She loved it.

“You
don't
like it here?” He came up alongside her, just far enough away so that their paddles didn't clash.

“Well, there are
some
things I like about—here.”

“The hot camp director, right? I mean, that one's totally obvious.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Oliver is definitely dreamy.”

Luke paused his paddle, then dipped it in the water with a twist of his wrist, sending droplets flying toward her.

She laughed and tried to do the same thing back at him, but only managed to get her boat tipping from side to side, so she grabbed the edges with her hands before she went completely over.

“Huh.” Luke circled her playfully in his kayak. “Looks like somebody could have used a few more games of bumper boat.”

“I didn't have
any
games of bumper boat! And don't you dare bump my boat.” Gabi laughed as she tried to spin around fast enough to keep track of him as he paddled.

In the moonlight, he looked like a cross between an impish teenager … and a Greek god. His smile was pure playfulness, but his body? She ached to feel it against hers again.

“So.” He finally stopped circling and paddled up beside her. “About that rom-com.”

She smiled. “What
about
that rom-com?”

“I think you're officially at the part where it's okay to fall for the hot camp director.” He put up a finger. “The one that's not Oliver.”

Gabi laughed. “Sounds kind of dangerous.”

Sounds incredibly dangerous. Hot, scary, awesomely dangerous.

“It could be—I'll give you that.” He paddled slowly beside her. “There's the very real danger that we could fall madly in love and end up holed up in my cabin playing endless games of Scrabble.”

She laughed out loud. “Scrabble?”

“Or variations on the game. I can be flexible if it's not your thing.” He shrugged. “I have Monopoly.”

Looking at his fake-earnest face, it was all Gabi could do not to kiss him right there in the middle of the lake.

“Luke, I'm pretty sure if I were to hole up in your cabin, Scrabble wouldn't be the first thing I'd be thinking of doing.”

He stopped paddling. “What
would
be the first thing you'd want to do?”

Gabi started to fling another quip his way, but something made her stop. She knew
exactly
what she'd want to do, and it scared her silly at the same time it exhilarated her.

“I don't know, Luke.”

He seemed to sense her pulling inside herself, because he set his paddle gently on her boat, pulling her closer.

“Do you need some help thinking of some ideas?”

“No-o. I'm having more trouble
not
constantly thinking of ideas.”

“So why don't you look happier about it?”

“Because, Luke.” She sighed. “It scares me.”

“What part?”

“
All
the parts.”

“Why?”

His voice was soft, and was she hearing pain because
she
was feeling it? Or because
he
was?

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, unsure of how to express what she was feeling. Hell, she couldn't even figure
out
what she was feeling, let alone put it into words. How was she going to tell him what was going on in her head when it was so damn confusing even to her?

She had no idea.

“Luke, I—I kind of suck at this sort of thing.”

He smiled. “I might beg to differ.”

“That's because you barely know me.”

“I think I know you better than you'd like to admit.”

“That might be true. And just so you know, that doesn't make it less frightening.”

Luke took her hand in his, and she was torn between chills and heat as his thumb stroked her fingers. “I'm not your ex. I'm not like anyone else you've ever been with. I guarantee that.”

“I know you're not like—anyone else. I know that.”

“So is it possible I might be worth a chance?”

She sighed. “Luke, this is what I do. I fall fast, I fall hard … but unfortunately, I also fall dumb. I have seriously flawed radar.”

“Can I repeat the part about
I'm not like them
?”

“You can repeat it till you're blue in the face, but I'm well-conditioned at this point not to hear you. I know it's not fair. Believe me, Luke. I wish I wasn't this way. I so, so do, because none of it's fair to you. I never should have let things go as far as I did, but God, I just couldn't help it.”

“And that should tell you something, shouldn't it? Like, maybe instead of trying to deliver cheesy breakup lines you don't really mean, you could maybe just let me kiss you right now?”

“Oh, definitely not.”

He chuckled. “Because that would be awful?”

“Terrible. The worst.”

He grinned and put a hand to his chest like she'd stabbed him. “I'm hurt.”

“I just … can't, Luke. You deserve somebody who can go all in, and that's not me right now. There's just too much going on, and too much baggage that's not nearly far enough away in the rearview mirror. It wouldn't be fair to you. And seriously? We've only got two weeks left, and then I'm gone and you're here. There's no realistic way we can make it work.”

She saw his jaw harden, and felt immediately guilty. Dammit, she didn't know
what
she was saying.

He looked at her, scanning her face, landing on her lips, her eyes, her hair … back to her lips.

“I'll tell you what,” he finally said.

“What?” Her voice was a whisper.

“You kiss me once. Right here, right now, out on this lake in the moonlight … and
then
you tell me we can't make this work.”

“No.” Her voice shook as his thumb caressed the palm of her hand in slow, slow circles. “There will be no kissing.”

“One kiss, Gabriela.” He raised his eyebrows. “One kiss, and if after that kiss, you tell me you don't think we have something worth at least exploring here, then I will stop asking.”

She tried not to look into his eyes, knowing how dangerous it was to do so. But even in the moonlight, their deep emerald green just made her want to melt, not paddle away from him.

And as if he sensed it, he reached up, using his fingers to trace her jaw, pulling her closer, closer … and then his lips were on hers, and she couldn't pull away.

*   *   *

Hours later, her kayak hit the sandy shore with a swoosh and a bump, and Gabi did her best to look remotely graceful pushing herself out of it. She was pretty sure she failed. Luke, on the other hand, popped out of his boat and into the shallow water without looking like he'd first had to speak firmly to
his
limbs about cooperating.

Once they'd pulled their boats up onto shore and slid their paddles into the rack, Luke turned to her, a lazy smile on his face. He put his arms around her, then turned her around and pulled her back against his body. With his chin resting on her head, he pointed toward Kizilla Mountain.

“Looks like you kept me up all night, sweetheart. Now we get to watch the sunrise.”

Gabi sighed, sinking back against him, loving the way his body heated hers … loving the mixture of hard planes and taut muscle. If it weren't for the fact that four girls would be waking up within the next hour expecting to be entertained, she'd be perfectly happy to stay like this, with his arms wrapped around her, all day, reliving the hours they'd just spend paddling the perimeter of the lake, lost in conversation until he'd pointed at the Camp Echo dock light and her heart had sunk, realizing they were back … realizing that their magical, completely unexpected night had come to an end.

She smiled, exhausted but elated. Maybe they really
could
figure out how to make things work between them. Maybe, if they both wanted it badly enough. If they wanted each
other
enough.

She sighed happily. “I love the sunrise here.”

“Oh, good. I'm putting that on the list.”

“What list is that?”

“The list of all the reasons why you should eventually realize you actually want to live here in Echo Lake.”

“Not that we're rushing things. At all.”

“I said ‘eventually
.
' That was my out.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I see you rolling your eyes, missy.” He squeezed her ribs, making her laugh. “And less than an hour ago, you agreed to give us a chance.”

“A chance is different from deciding to move here. Much, much different.” She turned around in his arms, sliding her fingers up to trace his five o'clock shadow. “We barely know each other, Luke. That's our reality, whether you're in the mood to admit it or not.”

His face went serious. “I know it is, Gabriela. I know it is, and yet somehow I feel like I've known you forever. I don't pretend to get it, but there it is. And really, I'm finding it pretty impossible to ignore
this
.”

On the last word, he leaned closer and kissed her softly—just a whisper of butterfly wings, really—and yet the kiss almost melted her knees.

He pulled away, running the backs of his fingers over her cheek as he searched her eyes. “I know the girls will be up soon, or I'd be pulling you back to my cabin right now. But promise me you'll come tonight, Gabriela. Please?”

Gabi swallowed carefully, knowing that if she did that, then there was absolutely no going back. She was already head over heels, and if she fell into his bed one more time … if she woke up under his downy-soft quilt that smelled like the firs on Kizilla Mountain, she'd be lost. Totally, beautifully, unforgivably lost.

“Will you come?” His thumb caressed her bottom lip, and it was all she could do to take a deep breath and slide free of his arms.

“I'll come.”

He pulled her back to him, squeezing her tightly. “I can't wait.” Then he turned around and steered her toward the pathway. “Think you can grab an hour of sleep before they wake up?”

Gabi knew she was far too amped up to sleep at this point, even if the girls
were
still zonked. But she nodded.

“I'll try. Will we see you at breakfast?”

He shook his head. “Heck, no. I'm exhausted. I'm sleeping till noon.”

Gabi laughed as she headed down the path, and was still smiling as she opened the screen door of the dining hall and crept toward her cot, determined to at least lie down and close her eyes till the girls stirred.