“This isn’t primitive camping,” the small woman determined to destroy what was left of his sanity said accusingly.
“Of course it is,” Garrett said, absently gesturing around them. “You have grass, trees, and a beautiful view of the lake. This is the very definition of primitive camping.”
Slowly nodding, Kristen took in the campsite that he’d paid the park ranger a hundred dollars to convince her that this was where all the hardcore campers stayed before she met his gaze. “We also have an unobstructed view of the first-aid shed, the showers, the vending machines, and a sign pointing to the nearest ATM.”
“Which is what all the primitive campsites need,” Garrett said with a helpless shrug and a heartfelt sigh that once again had her slowly nodding as she shifted her attention from the concession stand that promised half-off hot dogs on Tuesday and focused on the pile of camping gear that he’d been forced to drag her to the mall to buy this morning.
“And all this?” Kristen asked, taking in everything that he bought for her from the brand new tent to the backpack he’d packed for her after he’d tossed her old one back in the closet.
“Is what every survivalist needs to live off the land,” Garrett said, forced to reach up and rub the bridge of his nose to hide his wince.
“And the air mattress?” she asked as he followed her gaze to the deluxe air mattress he bought for her along with the down pillow he’d grabbed on a whim.
“Is the very definition of roughing it,” Garrett said with a firm nod.
“I see,” Kristen murmured as she glanced from the pile of camping gear that he may have gone overboard with to the path to her left that would take her to the paddleboats and mumbled, “I see,” again.
“And the reason why you’re not spending Easter with your family?” Kristen asked as she took in all of his camping equipment.
“That wasn’t an option this year,” Garrett said, shrugging it off as he watched her.
“And your mother was okay with that?” Kristen asked, throwing him a curious look.
“Not really, but it couldn’t be helped,” he said, watching as she absently nodded as her attention once again shifted to the lake.
When she didn’t mention plans for Easter, he decided to look into a few things. He knew that her aunt and uncle, really her great-aunt and uncle, moved to Arizona after they retired, but he didn’t know that they’d passed away a few years ago. He’d hoped that her mother finally stopped being a bitch and stepped up for her, but after a quick online search, he realized that was never going to happen.
Her mother barely acknowledged her existence and when she did, it was either to make sure that everyone knew that she wanted nothing to do with Kristen or to let everyone know that she was the reason behind Kristen’s success. Other than that, her mother focused on her perfect family, bragged about her other children, and made sure to share pictures of her daily caffè macchiato every morning.
There was Kristen’s assistant, but he didn’t know much about Amber other than she showed up twice a week at Kristen’s house with a chocolate milkshake, ran her errands, organized her signings, and helped run her online reader groups.
That left him.
He’d already fucked up once and he wasn’t about to do it again, which meant that he couldn’t leave her alone. He’d debated taking her home with him for Easter, but he couldn’t risk his family fucking this up for him and there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that they would happily fuck him over.
As soon as he showed up with Kristen by his side, his family, mostly his asshole cousins and brothers, would take it upon themselves to fuck him over for their own entertainment. It was to be expected, which was why he was going to wait until there was no doubt in his mind that she’d forgiven him before he allowed his family near her.
Until then, he was going to do everything in his power to remind her just how much she adored him, starting with making sure that this was a camping trip that she would never forget.
When her gaze shifted to the path that would take her back to the front office and the teenage boy that would most likely cave and rent her one of the primitive sites if she smiled at him, Garrett decided that it would probably be in his best interest if he showed her how to set up her tent now.
“But, what if I-”
“No,” came the immediate response that had her biting back a disappointed sigh.
“You didn’t even let me finish. I could use the hatchet to-”
“No,” the man who’d been glaring at her since the unfortunate incident with the tent spikes said with a pointed look at the line he drew in the dirt an hour ago until she took the hint, grumbled to herself, and stepped back behind it.
“What if I promise not to swing it over my head this time?” Kristen asked only to grumble and take another step back when Garrett kept glaring at her.
“What did we talk about?” Garrett asked as he looked pointedly at her feet again until she took another step back.
“That I’m not allowed to look at or even mention the hatchet for the rest of this trip,” Kristen grumbled, sighing heavily and not really caring that she was pouting, not when she needed to find out if she could use the hatchet to-
“No,” he bit out with a glare that told her just how close he was to following through with his threat earlier to spank her ass.
“Fine. Then, will you at least let me try lighting the fire again?” Kristen asked, gesturing towards the pile of twigs she’d collected earlier. When the request was met with a murderous glare, she found her gaze drawn to what was left of his right pant leg and quickly decided that perhaps now wasn’t the best time to bring up the fire.
