Page 28 of The Kiss Keeper
“And this Dr. Dix doesn’t approve of that kind of footwear for air travel,” Leo, Leslie’s husband, said, while his brother went back to staring at her stilettos as if they were covered in chocolate.
Ugh! These guys were the worst. If she weren’t basically naked, she’d whip off her trench coat and sling it over her heels to stop the freaks from feasting on her footsies.
Nat glanced at Jake to find him frowning as he watched Lara and Leslie’s husbands’ eye-hump her feet.
But she had no time to worry about the Dix brothers. She had to act fast. This was her last chance to recruit back up.
“Look! The bags are loading onto the carousel! Come on, Jake. You can help me get it while the others wait here,” she blurted, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the baggage claim area.
“Holy hell, Heels! Those people are…”
“A bunch of dicks?” she offered.
His stoic demeanor cracked and gave way to the hint of a smile.
She released a tight breath. It was now or never.
“You said you didn’t have any set plans. No hotel. Nothing scheduled, right?”
He nodded.
“Come with me. My grandparents have plenty of room at their place. You’d only have to hang out with us for a few meals, and then you could do your own thing the rest of the time. If you can’t already tell, I need one last Jake in my life. Will you be my fake Jake for a week?”
His gaze slid past her. “Natalie, for all you know, I’m a serial killer.”
She cupped his cheek in her hand and forced him to meet her eye. “Maybe you’re just a part-time serial killer, and this trip to Maine is a respite from all the…carnage.”
A frown line pulled between his brows. “Do you hear yourself? You said you’d be fine spending the week with a monster.”
“You met my cousins. I’m already going to be surrounded by monsters,” she replied, really liking the feel of his scruff on her fingertips.
His gaze dropped to the ground. “This is crazy.”
“I know,” she whispered back.
They studied each other, and she could feel the rejection coming. It was like her sixth sense. Just when something seemed too good to be true, things got worse. But that didn’t stop her from pleading with the universe.
Say yes! Say yes! Say yes! Please, Kiss Keeper Curse, cut a gal some slack.
She channeled all her mental energy into this man when a voice cut off her internal plea.
“Nat! I figured this hot pink bag was yours. It was going around and around on the baggage carousel.”
“Fish!” she said with a genuine smile and dropped her hand from Jake’s face.
The giant of a man she’d known her entire life lumbered over. A former camper who’d gotten hired on as the grounds’ keeper at Camp Woolwich and then went on to drive the camp van, Fish had been a part of Camp Woolwich since the first year it opened.
He wrapped her in a warm embrace, and her frayed nerves calmed at the sight of an old friend.
“How are you?” she asked, happy for the momentary distraction.
The gentle giant of a man patted her back. “I’m doing well. Do you have any more bags? We should hit the road. Camp Woolwich awaits!”
Jake’s jaw dropped, but he quickly recovered and muted his expression. “Did you say Camp Woolwich?”
Fish’s brows knit together. “Yes, the one and only Camp Woolwich, located on Woolwich Cove.”
She watched Jake carefully. “Yeah, my grandparents own it.”
