‘You could tell her to back off.’
He gives me a tiny half-smile as we set off, navigating the difficult compacted terrain in partial light.
‘Yeah. She’s been after me for a while. It’s kinda difficult because, well, for one she’s my boss, and two…’
‘You’re not interested? She’s not your type? Too bossy? Too scary? Too in-your-face?’
‘I was going to say I never mix business with pleasure.’
My chances with this glorious man are plummeting by the second.
‘I could tell by your body language,’ I say, ignoring this devastating blow. ‘Usually, if a woman muscles her way into your trailer under false pretences, twirls her hair and gives you a year’s supply of condoms, you’d do more than hurry away at the speed of light.’
Cam chortles. ‘Was it that obvious?’
‘For your sake, I hope she’s not one of those women who loves the chase. From what I hear, she always gets what she wants.’
‘Are you sure you’re a schoolteacher and not some spy from a rival TV channel? You seem to know an awful lot about things.’
‘I am a teacher therefore I gossip.’
‘Did you just coin a new phrase?’ Cam looks at me and waggles his eyebrows.
It’s almost like he is flirting with me.
‘How do you fancy continuing this over dinner?’ he says.
He is. He’s flirting with me.
A bubble of joy rises from my chest. I must try to play it cool whilst also letting him know that I am very, very available. ‘Sure. I’d love to.’
‘As a teacher, I’d appreciate your take on using documentaries to drive home the need to save the planet in schools. Is it a mandatory part of the national curriculum over there? How about the rest of Europe?’
I have never been so disappointed.
He is clearly only after one thing. My brain. Just then Cam’s phone bursts into life. He presses the button on the dashboard to Bluetooth the call. It’s Porscha. Cam slides his gaze to me and raises a finger to his lips.
‘Cam, honey. Thanks for dropping my walkie-talkie off. If I’d known, I would’ve made sure I was in the office to receive it personally. How did it go at the main villa? All sorted?’
Honey?
‘Yes. All sorted. Just on my way back to the holding villa now.’
‘Shame. I thought we could get together tonight. To go over the… schedules. Give them a thorough going-over to make sure we haven’t missed anything.’
She is making it sound filthy.
‘That’s okay,’ Cam says quickly. He has obviously detected an ulterior motive. ‘They’re all done and checked.’ He gives me a grateful look.
‘Are they?’ She sounds dissatisfied. ‘Okay. Well, how about you head back to base for a debriefing? It’s a while since anyone debriefed me.’
This too sounds like pure filth. I wonder again about that mountain of condoms she gave him. Is she hoping to test them all individually? That’s quite the quality check.
‘I would but I’m chaperoning our British contestant. CHAP 3 went down with a stomach bug, remember? So, I’m standing in until we find a replacement.’
‘Not a problem. I’ll send Jake over to keep her company. He’s losing three of his contestants tomorrow anyway when they go in the villa. I’ll text him now. Which villa are you staying in? Is it Yucatán twelve?’
I gulp, suddenly feeling distraught at losing Cam so soon. Just as we are starting to get to know each other.
