She played along anyway. “Well, can you at least tell me which cabin my campers will be in? I can move my own stuff while I’m getting them settled.”
“I really am kind of busy right now.” Leonie flashed her a bright, guileless smile, but Paige noticed her pull her clipboard closer against her chest, like a poker player with a winning hand. “Can we talk about it later?”
Paige bit back a sigh. The real motivation for Leonie’s evasiveness—and uncharacteristic forgetfulness—was all too obvious.
“Look,” she said, as patiently as she could manage. “I realize the older kids don’t really need their counselors close at hand in the same way that the younger ones do, but I’d really prefer to have a room in my campers’ cabin, if possible. Just so I can, uh, be there for them, day or night.”
And not have Archie constantly sneaking out of his own cabin to check I’m sleeping alone,she didn’t say. The last thing she needed was to be tripping over a guard bear every morning.
“I’ll get you all the details of your cabin assignment as soon as I can.” Leonie put her whistle to her lips, letting out an ear-splitting blast. “Two minutes, counselors! If you aren’t already at your muster point, get there now!”
Leonie strode off, not giving Paige any opportunity to argue further. She grimaced at the head counselor’s retreating back. Apparently, Leonie’s anger with Conleth for disrupting her schedule had been all too short-lived.
Not that it made any difference. Conleth might have somehow managed to get Leonie back on board this ‘fated mate’ business, but Paige wasn’t about to let herself be swayed so easily. If he was envisioning long, heated nights in the privacy of a senior staff cabin, he could think again.
Though now she was thinking about it.
Damn it.
Fortunately, she would soon have a whole pack of distractions to occupy her mind. Straightening her shirt, Paige headed for the center of camp.
She was pretty much the last counselor to arrive. By the time she got there, a little out of breath from the brisk walk, most of the other pairs of co-counselors were already arrayed around the central square, waiting at their assigned muster points.
Looking around, she spotted Conleth’s distinctive hair, gleaming in the morning sunlight like a polished copper penny. He was lounging outside the office, in the same spot where they’d first met. The only difference was that he now wore the ubiquitous camp t-shirt. If anything, it looked even better on him than the suit.
Paige made a determined effort to look at Conleth’s face rather than the way his biceps strained his t-shirt. Not that this was much help.Cursethe man. Bad enough that nature tended to bless male shifters with the sort of physiques usually onlyfound in superhero movies. Adding perfect cheekbones into the mix was, Paige felt, frankly unfair.
“Ah, there you are,” Conleth said, as casually as if they were meeting for up for coffee. He held a sticky label out to her. “Here. I made you a name tag. We’re supposed to wear them on the first day.”
Paige’s first impulse was to ignore his offering and write out her own damn name tag. This, however, would have been ridiculously petty. With poor grace, she peeled the label off the backing paper. At least he’d written her actual name, not MATE or MINE.
She stuck the label to her shirt. “Let’s get one thing straight. You’d better take this job seriously.”
His self-assured composure didn’t waver. “Believe me, I’m taking everything about this seriously.”
“I mean it, Conleth.” She jabbed a finger against his own name tag, trying not to notice the hard muscle underneath. “We’re about to meet a bunch of excited kids who’ve been looking forward to camp all year. We have to put our personal feelings aside and work together. It’s our responsibility to make sure our campers have a great summer.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Conleth looked past her. “And on that topic… hello, Archie.”
Paige turned to find her little brother standing in her shadow, feet set and arms folded. The overall effect was of a very small bodyguard.
“Hi Archie,” she said, relieved that he was no longer avoiding her. “Are you excited for the first day of camp?”
Archie glowered at Conleth. “No.”
“Don’t be like that.” Paige put her back to Conleth, lowering her voice a little. “Look, I’m not happy about any of this either. We just have to make the best of it.”
Archie maintained aggressive eye contact with Conleth, as though he could make the man disappear through sheer willpower. “I don’t trust him.”
“Sensible,” Conleth put in, totally at ease. “I wouldn’t trust myself either. As a matter of fact, I frequently don’t.”
“Will you let me handle this?” Paige hissed at him. She turned back to Archie. “I promise, you don’t have anything to worry about. Nothing is going to happen. At least try to relax and have fun, okay?”
“Oh, Archie will enjoy himself this summer,” Conleth murmured behind her. “I have total confidence in that.”
Having just lectured the man on the importance of working together, she could hardly turn around and shake him by the ears. She was sorely tempted, though.
Archie scowled at Conleth. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?”
