He stared at her.
“My mom thought it was cute,” she said, a bit nettled. “So do I, in fact. It’s my maiden name. I changed it back after my divorce.”
Buck continued to stare at her for a long, long moment. Then he rubbed a hand over his face.
“Your name is Honey,” he said, very flatly. “And you changed your surnamebackto Bunch. Please tell me you were being held at gunpoint at the time.”
“Well, at least I’m not named after a woodland creature,” Honey retorted, her temper rising. “Is that whatyourmom called you, or did you just Google ridiculously macho nicknames?”
“It is, in fact, on my birth certificate.” With a resigned sigh, Buck dropped his hand. “And to forestall your inevitable next question, no, I’m not literally a deer.”
It was her turn to stare at him. “Really wasn’t about to ask that.”
“Right. Sorry, forgot that your lot consider that bad manners.” Buck hesitated, eying her. “Though let me guess. Given the name… grizzly?”
“What?”
“Brown bear, then. Or black? For the love of all that’s holy, please don’t say honey badger. There’s only so much a man can take.”
“Buck, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You know.” Buck made a half-hearted gesture at her, with the expression of someone forced to inquire about an embarrassing personal problem. “Your thing. Creature. Animal.”
For a moment, she had no idea what he meant. Then she remembered that weird question on the application form, asking for her ‘inner animal.’ At the time, she’d assumed it was just a cutesy way of getting her to describe her personality, in a ‘if you were a vegetable, what kind of vegetable would you be’ kind of way. It hadn’t seemed to matter, anyway, since Zephyr hadn’t brought it up during her interview.
“What on earth does that have to do with anything?” she said, utterly bewildered. “Buck, will you please just tell me what’s going on?”
“I need you to promise me one thing first. Even if it’s awkward as hell, we both stay until the end of summer, okay? Zeph really can’t afford to lose any counselors. If you walk out, he’ll have no choice but to send some campers home early. I can’t let the kids down like that.”
He really meant it, Honey realized. Despite the brick wall of his expression, there was a rough, jagged edge to his voice; something almost pleading. He genuinely thought she might leave, and that prospect terrified him.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, touched by his clear concern for the kids. “I promise. No matter what, we’ll make this work.”
“That’s just it.” Buck drew in a deep breath, setting his feet. “Look, there’s no easy way to break this to you, so I’m just going to come right out and say it. This isn’t going to happen. Ever.”
He stopped. He looked like he’d just thrown a hand grenade, and now desperately wanted to duck for cover.
“Er,” Honey said after a moment. “And by ‘this,’ you mean… what?”
Buck scrunched up his whole face as if he’d bitten into a lemon. “For dog’s sake, woman. Are you really going to make me say it?”
“I think you’re going to have to.”
Buck muttered something that sounded likemotherloving shifters, which made no sense whatsoever. He glared at her as though she was being willfully obtuse just to embarrass him.
“Do the motherloving monster mash, all right?” he snapped. “Make like the birds and the bees. Tickle the beaver. Audition for a Discovery Channel special. Take the bony express all the way to pound town. You know damn well what I mean.Mate.”
Buck abruptly flattened himself against the porch railing. It took Honey a moment to realize this was because she’d stood up. A ringing filled her ears. It felt like her mind floated above her body, pushed out by a boiling mix of humiliation and rage.
“Good,” she said, biting off the word. “Then we’re on the same page. Was that all?”
“It’s not you, it’s me,” Buck said, thus proving that it was very definitely her. “Look, I know this is—hang on, what?”
Honey drew herself up, summoning as much icy dignity as she could manage. “Let me reassure you, the feeling is mutual. I came here because I wanted to help kids, not because I was hoping for some tawdry summer fling. And even if I was looking for romance, itcertainlywouldn’t be with you.”
This was absolutely true. The man might be ridiculously hot, but any idiotic flicker of attraction she’d felt had just died a thorough death.
Buck’s mouth hung open. He couldn’t have looked more floored if she’d decked him with her chair.
