Page 4 of Summer Affair

“Hey,” Kara said as she stepped out of one of the back rooms.

“Hey.” He smiled at the young blond woman.

Kara and Dean’s friend Carter, who was a local vet and oversaw all of the horses on the grounds, had recently gotten married. He’d had the pleasure of standing up as best man for his friend. Carter, Brett, Damion and he were as close as four guys could be without being blood. “Is Andrea busy?”

Kara glanced down at her watch. “She should be ending her current session…” She broke off when the door beside her opened and Andrea stepped out. “Now.” She chuckled and stepped past him. “Mary?” she called into the room, and Kara’s next client stood up and followed her down the hallway.

Andrea smiled at him and then moved out of the way for Kara and her client to walk by.

“Thanks for filling in for me earlier,” Andrea said as she walked over and looked at the computer screen behind the reception desk.

“Sure,” he said, feeling suddenly stupid. “Um, I was thinking about what we talked about earlier.”

Andrea’s eyes moved back up to him. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I mean, if you’re okay with it, I have tomorrow off. I can shadow you.”

Her smile was quick. “Be here at six.”

“Jesus, in the morning?” he balked, causing her to laugh.

“I’ve seen you here earlier than that.” She nudged his shoulder. “Six, here, tomorrow.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “If you’re serious, that is.” She glanced around the waiting area and then called out. “Mark?”

An older man stood up and made his way towards them. “See you then,” he said, stepping aside.

He could see why they needed a third person. Before he managed to get out of the building, two more people came inside and wrote their names down on the list.

Come summer, he knew that they would only take appointments instead of allowing customers to walk in and sign up for the next available spot.

As he walked down the pathway back to the main building, he started wondering why he’d waited so long to try something new. Not that the past few years working at the camp had been boring. Hell, if anything, they had been filled with too many things.

First, the craziness of Ryan, an old employee he’d flirted with, who had almost shot and killed Dylan. If Zoey hadn’t been such a kick ass, the crazy woman would have succeeded. Of course, that just set Ryan off, and she did everything in her power to make life hell for the five best friends for the next few years. Then Hannah had been kidnapped. There was the hurricane where Levi had almost died. The camp had sustained a lot of damage, and Aiden and his crew had kept busy fixing the damage done to some of the cabins and building new ones.

Then there was that whole fiasco with Lea, who had almost died at the hands of two racist asshats. That ordeal had scared everyone and had forced the camp to hire full-time security, headed by Brett Jewel, who had married Lea shortly after taking the job. Every employee in the camp had to undergo bi-monthly emergency training to keep up to date on what to do in cases of emergency weather or crazy people who wanted to harm guests or employees.

The last scare was when Damion had been shot by Lisa Tribberton, who had had a psychotic break and had killed her husband a few days prior.

No, working at the camp was anything but dull. Which is why, he supposed, he’d been content waiting tables.

Until now. Just the prospect of learning something new, a real trade, excited him. Almost as much as working side by side with Andrea.

Chapter Two

She didn’t know why she’d asked Dean to show up for her morning yoga ritual. She kept telling herself it had nothing to do with her hidden feelings for the man she’d considered a friend for years.

Watching him walk towards her through the early-morning mist had her heart jumping and her palms sweating. This was definitely a bad idea.

“Hey,” he said slowly as his eyes ran over her yoga outfit.

“Morning,” she said, cheerfully. “Ready?”

“For?” he asked, tucking his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

Most people who worked at the camp wore the same standard uniform—cargo or board shorts and a camp T-shirt or tank top, which came in a variety of bright colors with fun camp sayings.

Some of her favorite sayings were “Adulting is Hard – Let’s Go to River Camps,” “Making Pour Decisions at River Camps,” “River Camps – Less Drama More Karma,” “River Camps – Campfires & Cocktails,” “River Camps – Adulting in the Wild,” and her absolute favorite, “River Camps – Where the Wild Things Drink.”

Today, Dean wore a bright orange T-shirt that read “River Camps – Sunsets & S’mores,” along with a pair of black board shorts. When he delivered food outside, he normally wore the more casual attire. When waiting tables in the main dining hall he usually donned black slacks, a white button-up shirt, and a tie.