“Everyone, please send your boats away from the yellow sailboat,” Bart called.
A hand grasped Noah’s arm, and he glanced to the side. His heart gave a hitch at Caitlyn’s touch, warmth running through him. She watched the boats while the man carefully shifted the hook closer. It connected, and the little tugboat tugged toward them, hers behind. The crowd cheered.
“He did it!” Caitlyn turned and threw her arms around Noah’s neck. Almost without thinking, he pulled her close. She didn’t stay there long before she was turning to hug the other interns too.
Noah stepped back, memories washing over him of other times he’d held her. It had felt good. So good.Toogood.Idjit.He needed to be professional.
On their second run, they were more successful. Everyone managed to get their boats around the colorful balls at the end of the pond and then back again.
“Sona had Joe take me and Finn around New York when wefirst got here,” Noah told the group as they walked back to the penthouse, “But we never came to the park.”
“So, this visit to the penthouse isn’t your first,” Caitlyn commented from behind.
“No, we’ve been invited many times,” Noah said, stepping back to join her. “Why?”
An odd expression crossed her face, and she sent Noah a furtive glance. What was she up to?
“Now don’t you be getting secretive with me. What do you be wanting to say?”
Caitlyn sighed. “I’m not trying to be offensive, and I only bring this up because others have mentioned it to me.”
“What?” Noah asked, going defensive anyway.
“You need to be careful about name-dropping. It’s a kind of bragging when you mention the bosses or rich people you hang out with. People don’t like it.” She didn’t look at him.
“Who—” He stopped, his ire rising. What a lot of nerve. Did she understand nothing? “You mean I shouldn’t mention myfamily?”
Caitlyn blinked in surprise, but Noah didn’t wait for her to reply. He sped up his walk to catch up with the others.
What would she be doing now, making up mad accusations of assault againsthimtoo?
7
The next day, Caitlyn stood near Noah and watched helplessly as the interns argued over the movie they were meant to film that day. What a disaster.
She hadn’t slept well, trying to think of how to apologize to Noah. While she and Zoe had been getting ready for bed the night before, her friend mentioned that both Finn and Max had asked about Caitlyn not eating much. So, of course, this morning she’d eaten even less at breakfast. Now, she felt weary and weak.
A wave of nausea made her dizzy, and she stumbled back a few paces to sit on a stone bench. Remembering Eve’s suggestion, Caitlyn leaned forward and rested her head on her knees. She prayed she wouldn’t throw up out here.
“What’s wrong?” Noah’s soft voice asked as a gentle hand rested on her back.
His kindness made her feel worse. She should apologize but didn’t have the energy. And she wasn’t about to tell him she wanted to toss her breakfast. Caitlyn took a deep breath andpushed down the queasiness. Straightening, she pointed to the still-arguing group.
“This activity is a bust.” She tried to rise, but Noah moved his hand to her shoulder and kept her on the bench.
“You’re looking pale, so I’ll be asking again. What’s wrong?”
Caitlyn’s first impulse was to apologize but, with the negative energy coming from the others and her sick stomach, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“My stomach’s bothering me.” She sighed. “If we let this arguing go on any longer, we could end up with some hard feelings, which is counterproductive.”
“Well, what do you know,” Noah said, his voice taking on a conspiratorial tone. Had he forgiven her? He asked, “Did you catch that glance from Heath? He’s been watching us.”
“Has he?” Pushing her queasiness to the back, Caitlyn tilted her face toward Noah but shifted her gaze to the group. Heath did shoot them a quick glance. Was he smirking at them? Her jaw clenched, and she had to squelch the urge to stomp over there and give him a piece of her mind.
“So, they’ve been setting us up, have they?” Noah’s expression turned thoughtful. “What are we going to do about it?”
“Not be failures. So how do we fix the situation?” Caitlyn mentally reviewed the things she’d read since being given the assignment. “For any retreat, they should be prepared for something like this to happen, where the team-building turns to fighting instead. We need to do somethingfun.”
