“They are,” I answer, digging my nails into my palm to stop from laughing.
He moans with delight. “I’m absolutely famished.” Piling two bear claws, a croissant drizzled in chocolate, and strawberries on his plate, he saunters over to the table while Carolina picks at the fruit with a set of tongs, joining him with a single slice of cantaloupe.
“Are we expecting anyone else or can we get started?” I ask, seating myself kitty-corner to them.
Narrowing her eyes, Carolina asks, “Who else do you think should be here?”
Uh-oh, I do not like that look she’s giving me. “No one,” I answer with what I hope is a pleasant smile and not my “fuck you” face. According to Hadley, they’re shockingly similar. “I wasn’t sure if anyone else on the production team needed to be here.”
Vincent shakes his head, his words coming out muffled by the massive bite of bear claw in his mouth. “Just us. I’ll convey anything necessary to the team.”
“Perfect.” I slide a package to each of them. “Theo and I were able to find a surprising number of herbs and fruits that should work for the challenge. We’re in luck because a couple of them are ripe right now.”
“Brilliant,” Vincent says, jamming more pastry in his mouth. He flicks through the package, leaving gooey thumb prints on each page. “Ha! Jackass bitters!Perfect.”
Carolina seems unimpressed, however. She flips the pages while making a littlehmphsound. I’m pretty sure she’s busy thinking of a way to insult me, based on her sour expression.
The door opens and Theo comes in, no jacket or tie today. Just grey slacks and a sexy white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal those muscular forearms he takes with him everywhere he goes. “Sorry I’m late. I had an urgent call I couldn’t ignore.”
“Theo! I’m surprised to see you. Last night at dinner you said you wouldn’t have time to make it,” Carolina purrs. Like seriously, she’s purring. I’m half-expecting her to stand up and start rubbing her butt on him like a lemur marking a tree.
Oh, Nora. That wasn’t very nice.
Accurate though.
Theo forgoes the refreshments and strides over to the table. “I thought it would be helpful if I was here, since I was fifty percent of the recon team.”
He gives me a little wink, and my heart does a happy dance while he settles himself on the side opposite Carolina and Vincent, perpendicular to me. I slide him a package, and he immediately starts examining it. “Look at this. Very thorough, Nora. You’ve got maps and everything.”
I beam at him for a second before my brains screams at me that I’m beingway too obvious!Quickly wiping the smile off my face, I clear my throat, and say in an oddly low voice, “I thought maps would prove useful. I was also thinking maybe we give cards to each competitor with photos, names, and a brief description of the herb or fruit as well. No sense in having them wander around lost and confused all day. We could even set it up like a scavenger hunt with clues and such if you like.”
“Who’s we?” Carolina asks, scrunching her nose. She laughs. “I don’t remember hiring you to be part of the production team.”
Humiliation floods through me, starting at my gut and working its way out to my extremities. “Right, no. I didn’t mean we, I meant you.”
Theo gives her a glare, and she wilts a little in her chair.Ha! Suck on that, be-otch.
Meanwhile Vincent is so involved in his pastry eating that he’s bobbing his head up and down to a beat no one else can hear. “I like her idea. Sounds fun.”
“I don’t think so,” Carolina says, her face pinched. “That would make it far too easy.”
Theo shakes his head. “Sorry, Carolina, I have to disagree with you. It’s a surprisingly big island. Even with a map and pictures, it will still take themhoursto find everything they need.”
“The other thing to consider is that without instructions, there’s a possibility they might try something toxic,” I add.
“How likely is that?” Carolina asks me.
“I’m sorry?”
Maintaining direct eye contact, she says, “If you take into account all the non-toxic plants versus toxic plants, what would the ratio be? Since apparently you’re an expert and all.” She laughs to soften her words, but no one joins her.
I stare back until her smile fades.Yeah, Miss Fancy Pants, it’s on. I’ll go all lemur stink fight if I have to. God, what is with me and lemurs this morning?“I’m not an expert. In fact, I am still sourcing a botanist to be onsite during the challenge.”
“If you’re not an expert, how about you let us sort this out?” she says.
“We should listen to her, Carolina.” Theo gives her a hard look. “Nora knows a lot about this stuff. She’s the one that found everything and identified it. If you don’t trust her opinion, maybe you should go out to Eden yourself and hike around for a few hours. See what you come up with.”
She scoffs at the thought. “I don’t do those things. I delegate them.”
