“Yeah, just for the week. My friends and I are hiking the crest tomorrow.”
I petted Nat’s hair. “Very cool. Well, baby, I think we should say goodbye to our friends and head back to my place.” Hey, it was true. “What do you think?”
“That sounds amazing. It was so nice to meet you, Todd.”
The guy smiled, and it still came off a little too flirty for my taste, but I was in the fake boyfriend mindset. That explained it.
“Thank you,” Nat whispered as I put my hand on her lower back and guided her to our group.
Leo handed back the redhead’s phone. If I were to guess, he’d been putting his number in her contacts. The man had game even when I thought he didn’t.
Hazel peeled at her beer bottle’s label, looking anywhere but at her friend.
“What did I miss?” Nat questioned, looking at our camp mom.
“Leo’s a mountain man,” Hazel said, but her resigned tone didn’t match her smile.
Luis honkedhis horn goodbye after dropping us off at Camp Starlight. He and Leo had driven everyone home, which was good because none of us were fit to drive. We’d almost called the local rideshare guy, Herb, but Luis had been kind enough to step up.
Leo and Hazel were the first to peel off, heading to their duplex. Then went Sawyer and Lamar, who had been holding each other up until they reached Sawyer’s cabin. Felicia gave us a peace sign as she headed to her place. And that left Nat and me.
We walked together in peaceful silence from the parking lot to my cabin.
Nat seemed contemplative as she drew my attention on the porch. “I think it’s time for a truce, mountain man Jack.”
I typed in my code and opened the door for her. “You heard that?”
She rolled her eyes. “The whole bar heard that.”
I locked the door. It took a second for her words to register, but when they did, I jumped on the opportunity. “You jealous, princess?”
“Pfft. In your dreams. Which are probably of me, if we’re being honest.” Nat headed to the bedroom, kicked off her shoes, collapsed on her bunk, and let out a groan of comfort that went straight to my dick.
I leaned in the doorway, purposely avoiding a view of her sundress and the way the hem rode up along her thighs. “Oh yeah?”
She rolled over onto her back. “I see the way you wake up smiling.” She pointed to her lips.
I barked out a laugh. She was cute drunk. I’d noticed the emphatic way she spoke with people all night and remembered the look she’d had when she was with that guy. I was glad I’d been there to rescue her. “Do you often get recognized out in the wild?”
Nat tapped her chin. “Sometimes.”
“Doesn’t it make you nervous?”
She shrugged. “Only when I’m alone, and it’s a man. But that doesn’t happen often. I do my best to stay safe.”
I tried not to seethe at the idea of her feeling unsafe. “How do you do that?”
“I’ve taken self-defense classes, and I always travel with pepper spray. A lot of times, I’m with a guide or a friend. And I never post about where I am until after I’ve been gone a few days.”
The idea of an obsessed fan cornering her didn’t sit well with me. Sure, she was self-sufficient, but people could be horrible,and the idea of someone crossing any of her lines had me seeing red.
She must have read it on my face, because she spoke firmly, not lacking in confidence. “I pay attention to my surroundings. I was totally fine. You just helped move things along.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I knew she was famous, in more ways than one, but she was down-to-earth. Her audience, however, was probably the same kind of people she’d run into on her travels, so it didn’t assuage my fear.
“You’re worried about me?”
I hated that she could even question that.
