He gives me a charming smile, which I’m sure makes the girls melt but has no effect on me. “I understand wanting to get the shot, Justin, but I was about to send out a search party. You’re still part of this class, and the rules still apply.”
“Sorry,” he mumbles.
He drops his equipment on the floor, and I drop the subject. At least he’s back now, and we can head back to camp.
I check his gear off, and Joel is ready to load it into the bus.
“Thank you,” I murmur.
I get the feeling Joel’s been avoiding me. We’ve barely spoken all day, which makes it worse. All I can think about is the near kiss and how good he looks when he’s dripping with rain or plastered with sweat or laughing with his daughter. Hell, the man looks great whatever he does.
When I think about being alone with him in the cabin tonight, I go hot all over. I don’t trust myself to be alone with Joel. I don’t trust myself not to tangle my hands in his hair and draw him to me.
“Ready to go?” I’m snapped back to reality by Joel looking down at me, his dark eyes searching mine.
The students are filing out of the hall and into the mini-bus. Some of the residents have come to wave us off.
I climb into the mini-bus, and Joel settles into the driver’s seat. He turns the key and the engine splutters. The bus shakes but doesn’t start. Joel tries again, but the engine doesn’t turn over.
I lean forward in my seat. “Everything okay?”
He shakes his head and tries the engine again. “It’s not starting.”
He slides out of the seat, and I follow him out to the courtyard. He goes around the back and pulls a lever to expose the engine.
It looks like a mess of parts to me, but Joel scans it as if he knows what he’s looking for. He runs his hands over some parts and pops out a spark plug.
“Thought so.” He holds it up, and it’s worn out, the metal tinged a rusty red.
“Probably got damaged with the rain and it’s taken this long for it to wear out.”
I nod as if I understand what he’s talking about. One of the men from the farm has come over, and Joel turns to him.
“You got any spare spark plugs for a large size vehicle?”
The man shakes his head. “We don’t keep anything like that here.”
“What’s going on, miss?” Justin pokes his head out from the door of the bus, and behind him Madison looks out, wide-eyed and anxious.
I share a look with Joel, and his expression is grim. I take that to mean this isn’t getting fixed anytime soon. He slides his phone out of his pocket and walks away to make a call.
“We need to locate a part.” I keep my voice steady, but Madison’s eyes go wide.
If I don’t handle this well, she’s going to start freaking out, and panic sweeps through teenagers faster than a forest fire.
I put on a bright smile and head towards the bus. “Everyone back in.”
I follow them up the steps and explain the situation as calmly as I can.
“We have some engine trouble, but we’re going to fix it as soon as we can.”
Madison bites her nails, and I need to keep them busy and distracted until we can figure out how to either fix the bus or get twelve teenagers back to camp.
“In the meantime, you can wait inside. I want you in groups of three taking turns telling each other about your best interview today.”
The kids file out of the bus and back into the dining room. I follow them to make sure they’re in groups and doing as I asked.
My gaze keeps straying outside to Joel talking on the phone and with the residents. Finally, he heads my way, and I meet him at the door.
