Alec produces a pen knife from his pocket. “May I?” he asks Summer, reaching for the box on top of the pile.
“Er. Sure?”
He scores the tape securing the lid, opens the box, and pushes aside the bubble wrap. We all lean in to see what’s inside.
“Oh my God,” Summer whispers.
I reach over and pick out the item on top. It’s a hot-pink box with a picture of a vibrator on the front.Ribbed for her pleasureis emblazoned across the lid.
“‘Seventy different modes,’” the driver reads. “It’s, er…always good to have options.”
“Jesus,” I say, trying not to laugh. “You like to have fun, don’t you, London?”
Summer just stares, frozen in horror. I stir through the rest of the box. It’s full to the brim with different toys. Beads. Wands. Clamps. Plugs.
I can’t hold it in anymore. I laugh so hard my eyes water.
“Summer,” Alec says slowly. “Why did you order a van full of sex toys to my farm?”
Her eyes widen. “I didn’t, I swear! Oh God. Lulu must have used the address I gave her to forward my PR. I didn’t realise…” She trails off again, her face white.
“PR?” Alec asks.
Summer looks like an animal caught in a trap. “Brands send me products sometimes,” she says quietly. “For me to…to promote. They’re not all, like, adult toys, I swear!”
“You said you were a travel blogger,” Alec says softly. “You said you were just starting out.”
“Okay, so, um. That was kind of lie. I’m an influencer.” She watches helplessly as Cameron opens another box. This one is full of lingerie. I look at the mass of pink, lilac, and white lace and feel myself getting hard. Shit. She wears all of this?
“An influencer,” Alec repeats slowly. I can practically hear the cogs turning in his head.
“Christ,” I say. “You must be big. You seriously get all this for free?”
She nods, face red as a tomato.
The driver clears his throat. “So I’m already really behind schedule,” he hints, holding out the iPad. Summer scribbles her signature onto it. “Great. I’ll see about getting the rest of those pallets off.” He heads back to the van, and Summer wrings her hands.
“God,” she starts. “I’m so sorry you guys had to deal with this?—”
“Dealwith this?” Alec repeats, incredulous. “I have a delivery of feed due that’s been delayed almost an hour. This van has scared half the paddocked sheep to death. Cameron had to come away from his scheduled work to help manoeuvre it here. We have God-knows-how-many boxes that we don’t have storage for. This will impact the entire day.”
“Easy, man,” I tell him. “Calm down.”
Summer pales. “I’msosorry.”
“I don’t want you to apologise,” Alec snaps. “I want you to start telling us the truth. What are you doing here?”
“I’m an influencer,” Summer mumbles. “I was paid to spend a week in that lochside spa resort about half an hour away. Do you know it? But…But when I arrived they’d cancelled the booking, and I had nowhere to stay, so I went on Airbnb and booked in for the night, and I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you who I am, it’s because I’m sort of cancelled at the moment, and it’s super embarrassing!” She stops for air.
We all stare at her.
“I’m so sorry. I can help clean all this up—” She goes to pick up a box. As soon as she lifts it, the bottom falls out, and a pile of toys showers across our driveway. A packet of anal beads rolls across the ground and hits the toe of Alec’s boot.
Summer’s eyes squeeze shut. “Oh myGod,” she whispers. “Just let medie.”
“Please just…get out of the way,” Alec says stiffly, his voice stony. “Go back to the cabin so we can clear this up.”
Summer nods, backing away. “Um. Yes. Okay. Sorry again! Crap. Sorry.” She turns and scampers back towards the cabin.
