Almost Perfect (15 page)

sounds really hot
!—
maybe it scared him as much as it scared you: hence the anger. It's a known fact that men don't react well to fear. They much prefer getting mad. It's how he acts after he calms down that matters
.

Maddy
: I think we can Safely say he's calmed down. Completely. Now he's acting like nothing happened and I'm no different to him than the other coordinators. I don't know whether to be angry or relieved
.

Christine:
Well, I know which I'd be if a man kissed me senseless, then acted like nothing happened. Give it time, though, Maddy. He may not be as calmed down as you think
.

Days passed with no change in Joe's outward demeanor. He was painstakingly polite but distant. On Maddy's seventh morning at the camp, she sat through another breakfast meeting with Joe at the far end of the opposite bench. A week of sharing meals, and somehow they managed to sit as far as they could from each other every time. Even so, she felt herself flash hot and cold simply being in the same room with him. Her bones literally ached with embarrassment, regret, and a longing for things to be different.

That realization made her frown. Maybe she was coming down with the flu. Which meant her sick stomach had nothing to do with him.

Or it could be the slightly runny scrambled eggs they had every morning. Testing the theory, she poked at the eggs, then glanced around the table to see if anyone else was getting sick.

The minute her gaze landed on Joe, the nausea got worse. Lord, she hadn't felt this weird sort of sickness in years. Not since her last teen crush be-fore Joe came along and obliterated all thoughts of any boy but him. It was a horrible pining ache for someone's attention to the point of feeling physically ill.

Damn it, why hadn't doctors invented a cure for this? She'd take the issue up with Christine in her next e-mail, that was for sure.

"I think that covers everything," Joe said calmly as he glanced over the notes he'd brought to breakfast. He certainly didn't seem to be suffering any ill effects from their forced proximity, which added a little dose of resentment to the mix. "Any questions?"

The others all assured him no while she remained silent and seething.

"Well, then." He stood, all six-plus feet of muscular male. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the office."

She nearly groaned. Did he have to put it that way? Making her mind conjure up a completely different need than what he meant?

Until coming to Camp Enchantment, she would have sworn she wasn't a sex fiend, that she didn't play out intimate acts in her mind any more than the average healthy woman did. Since arriving, though, it seemed as if she thought about sex constantly.

Although, she argued back, maybe that was understandable, considering she hadn't had sex in a
very
long time. Nearly four years. Or wait, had she actually passed the four-year mark? Good Lord, she had. And the years before that had been sporadic at best.

She glanced in the direction Joe had gone, watched his broad back and very nice behind as he walked away. After years of abstinence, suddenly here was Mr. Virile Army Ranger right before her day after day. A male specimen like that would have any female taking notice. So of course her hormones were firing on all thrusters.

That was it! She wasn't in danger of falling in love with him. She was sex-deprived. On a wave of relief, she turned back to her eggs, deciding they weren't so nauseating after all.

"Is he gone?" Carol whispered into the suddenly quiet dining hall.

"Hang on." Dana craned her neck to see out the windows. "Yep, he's gone."

"Okay then." Carol motioned everyone to lean closer. "Let's get down to business. Operation Make Joe Happy is not going well. Clearly, more drastic action is in order."

What
? Maddy blinked.

"Agreed." Sandy nodded. "But what? We've tried enthusiasm about the coming summer and working hard to get the camp in shape. He's appreciative enough, but it hasn't lightened his mood."

Maddy put her fork down. "Excuse me. What are you talking about? Joe seems happy enough to me."

"On the surface, maybe," Carol said. "But you don't know him as well as we do. He's definitely upset about something, but he's trying to hide it."

Dana nodded. "There must be some way to make him stop missing the Rangers and feel better about running the camp."

"Actually," Maddy said, "he is happy about running the camp."

"He is?" Carol brightened.

"Are you sure?" Sandy frowned.

"How do you know?" Dana asked.

Maddy hesitated, wishing she'd kept her mouth shut. "He, um, told me."

"That's right," Carol said. "You rode into town with him that day."

"What did he say?" Sandy asked.

Maddy cleared her throat and yearned for escape. "He said that he loves working with the kids and that the camp means a lot to him."

"Really?" Sandy turned hopeful.

"But that doesn't make sense," Dana said. "If he's happy about running the camp, why is he acting so weird?"

"Maybe he's upset about something else," Sandy suggested.

Dana groaned. "Don't tell me we're back to the mysterious woman who broke his heart."

Carol turned back to Maddy. "Did he say anything else?"

"Uh, no," Maddy insisted quickly. "Not really. At least, not anything important."

Dana narrowed her eyes. "Why are you blushing?"

"Blushing?" Maddy pressed a hand to her cheek. "I'm not blushing. It's… the coffee. It's really hot." She hid her face in the mug.

"Uh-huh." Dana looked at her disbelievingly.

"All right, Maddy." Carol crossed her arms. "What gives? Is there something going on we don't know about?"

"No!" She tried for a calm smile. "Really."

"Do you want there to be?" Dana asked.

"Why would you think that?" Her cheeks flamed hotter.

"Because now you're acting even weirder than him."

"I'm just tired. And busy." Maddy looked at her watch. "Speaking of, wow, look at the time. I have a ton of stuff to do. Let's not forget the counselors arrive today."

She rose and gathered her tray, moving away from the table as quickly as possible. Silence reigned behind her, but she felt the gazes of the coordinators on her back all the way out the door.

Oh brother
, she thought when she stepped outside. The last thing she needed was to spend the summer as the camp pariah. Having Joe want her gone was bad enough.

Fortunately, the rest of the day was total chaos, with counselors arriving in droves, so no one had time to question her further.

Chapter 10

When all else fails, smile.

—
How to Have a Perfect Life

The first day of camp arrived along with busloads of screaming kids. Maddy stood in the middle of the game field, marveling at the energy that bounced around her.

"Hey, Maddy," Carol said, coming up to her with clipboard in hand and a whistle around her neck. "How are you holding up?"

"Great, actually," she said, deciding she preferred the camp this way, filled with bustle and noise. "What do you need me to do?"

"I think we have everything under control." A group of shrieking girls ran past them. "Sort of." Laughing, Carol turned to answer a question from one of the newly arrived counselors.

Maddy looked around, taking it all in. Mama had been right about young people making her feel more alive. Maybe the summer wouldn't be so bad now that the kids were here. As a side benefit, she barely had time to think about Joe, or the way his behavior had shifted subtly the night before. Dur-ing the welcome cookout for the counselors, he'd started watching her. Perhaps with so many people around, he didn't think she'd notice, but several times she'd turned around and caught him staring at her with an intensity that had her nerves on edge.

Of course, the coordinators saw him watching her and exchanged a few looks of their own, which was not what she needed.

"Here comes another bus," Carol said. The counselor she'd been talking to headed off to greet it as Carol turned back to Maddy. "Hey, will you do me a favor and let Joe know? He was up at High Mesa Lodge last I heard, chasing off a badger."

"A badger?"

"Apparently one decided to take up residence in the bathroom and gave the counselors quite a start when they woke up this morning."

"So that's what that screaming was at sunrise."

"That was it." Carol laughed. The screams had ricocheted up and down the canyon at dawn. "Anyway, find Joe and let him know more campers are here."

Maddy frowned since talking to Joe was on her list of things to avoid. Besides, the big yellow school bus was in full view of the entire camp. "I'm sure he can probably see that."

"Yes, but we, um, might need him to help us unload trunks." With that, Carol hurried off before Maddy could point out that several able-bodied counselors were already unloading trunks.

Well, dang it
. She looked around. Maybe she could find someone else to relay the message. All she saw, though, was a thundering herd of little girls charging straight for her like a band of screaming banshees. She spun around as they rushed past—and found herself face-to-face with Joe. With a shriek of her own, she jumped back.

"Sandy said you were looking for me." His sunglasses hid his eyes, guarding his expression, but his voice didn't sound any warmer than it had for the last several days.

Deciding she'd had enough, she planted her hands on her hips. "What, you're actually speaking to me?"

His brows snapped together over the dark lenses. "You're the one who asked to see me."

"No, I didn't."

"But Sandy said—"

"I haven't spoken to Sandy since breakfast. Although Carol did ask me to tell you another bus is here."

He looked over her head. "I see that."

"Apparently she wanted you standing by in case they needed help unloading."

"Carol asked you to tell me that?"

"Yes."

"And that's the only reason you were looking for me?"

"Yes," she snapped irritably. "So you can relax."

"Relax?" The line between his brows grew deeper.

"Look, I just—" She struggled for a way to clear the air between them. This constant tension was killing her. Before she could say anything, Carol blew a whistle, reminding Maddy where she was. Looking around, she had to laugh to herself. "Never mind. This isn't the time or place."

"For?" he asked blandly.

She narrowed her eyes, trying to see past the blasted shades. His body remained rigid, nearly standing at attention. She made a helpless gesture with her hands. "Nothing. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do." As she turned to walk away, she muttered under her breath, "To think I was having a good day."

"Maddy," he called after her.

She turned back to him, waiting with no small amount of impatience. "What?"

The muscles in his cheeks moved as if he were chewing on words. Just when she thought she would scream, he nodded and said, "Nice shoes."

"Excuse me?" She scowled in confusion as he turned and marched away.
Nice shoes
? She looked down at the Keds she wore with the khaki shorts and green golf shirt the coordinators were required to wear. They were the shoes she'd bought before leaving Austin for exactly this purpose. At the last minute, though, she couldn't bring herself to put on plain white sneakers. So she'd covered them in fabric paint, creating a whole garden of bright flowers.

Granted, they looked great, but after days of ignoring her, that's the grand total of what he had to say? Nice shoes?

She squinted at his retreating back. Okay, so what had he really been about to tell her? "Pack your bags, you're fired"? Or "I'm miserable too, can we please talk?"

Dread and hope played on her nerves the rest of the day. One way or another, this dance they were doing had to end. Perhaps the next time he approached her, she could try not snapping at him. If he approached her. If he didn't… she'd just have to build up the courage to approach him.

But approach him to say what? Let's be friends? Let's be lovers? Or, let's simply stop ignoring each other?

Joe was headed for trouble. He knew that with every step he took three days into summer camp as he set off for the Craft Shack to deliver a message to Maddy. He could easily have asked Carol to relay the message, but had he? No. Against all instincts for self-preservation, he was hiking up the trail himself, straight toward the woman he'd tried desperately to get out of his head and away from his heart.

The problem was, a twisted thought had wormed its way into his brain. He was going to suffer no matter what happened. It was like taking that bullet in Kabul. Time had clicked into slow motion. He'd literally seen it coming and he'd known it was going to hurt like hell. But he'd also known there wasn't a damn thing he could do other than grit his teeth and wait for the impact.

Apparently Maddy was another bullet he couldn't dodge.

So, in the last few days, he'd finally decided that, by God, if he was taking a hit, he might as well get some enjoyment out of having her around while he waited for impact. Assuming she was even interested, which was what he'd stupidly started to ask the day the kids had arrived. Thankfully, he'd chickened out at the last minute. They had some air to clear between them before he blurted out that he'd changed his mind, that he did want to get involved with her—with a desperation that left him physically aching for her day and night.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop wanting her.

As he reached the top of the trail, he heard children laughing. Normally the sound loosened something inside him. Today, however, his stomach remained cramped as he approached the building.

All the shutters had been raised, allowing the mountain breeze to drift through the classroom. He zeroed in on Maddy as she moved about the room. She wore khaki shorts, as required by the camp dress code, but the green shirt with the camp logo she'd been issued had been replaced by a paint-splattered men's dress shirt tied at the waist. So much for her staying in uniform, he thought with a wry smile.

His focus broadened enough to take in one of the cabin counselors and a couple dozen little girls. The kids looked cute as all get-out in their white camp shirts, half of them wearing red shorts for the Foxes, the other half in blue for the Bobcats. Most of them sat or knelt in chairs, diligently gluing noodles and buttons to pieces of colored paper. Two campers he remembered from the previous year chased each other about the room.

"Amanda! Kaylee!" Maddy called, her voice calm in spite of being raised. "No running. If you're done with your pictures, you may play with the toys in the corner."

"Teacher!" a girl he didn't recognize screeched in an octave barely audible to humans. "Rachel tored my picture!"

"Rachel, no, no, honey." Maddy hurried over as two girls began a tug-of-war over a piece of crum-pled paper. "You mustn't tear other people's artwork."

"But she scribbled on mine!" Rachel complained.

"All right, all right." Maddy managed to separate them with remarkable skill. Although, stepping closer to the door, he saw her smile looked a bit frazzled. "Here, I'll get you both fresh paper."

Down in the camp the bell clanged, signaling the end of the after-nap activity period. The art room erupted with noise as children either jumped to their feet or worked furiously to finish their pictures.

"Wait," Maddy called over the clamor. "Be sure and sign your picture before you turn it in."

Joe watched as Maddy and the counselor herded the children into a line at the door.

"Hi, Joe!" Amanda waved at him.

Hearing his name, Maddy whirled with a start, and their gazes met. Color sprang to her cheeks, as it did so frequently when she looked at him. The anger from the other day seemed to have faded, which he took as a good sign.

A loud shriek pierced the air and she turned back to the wiggling, giggling line of little girls.

"Okay, shhhh." She held her finger to her lips and was completely ignored. "Quiet, please. Quiet."

"Listen up!" he ordered. Silence fell instantly. "That's better. You girls weren't giving Maddy any trouble, were you?"

"No, sir," they assured him in chorus.

"Good." He nodded curtly.

Maddy sagged a bit as she cast him a grateful look, then addressed the kids. "You were all very good today. I'm proud of you. Now follow Susan down to the game field and get ready for the sack race."

"Yea!" The girls jumped up and down. With Susan in the lead, they filed past Joe, singing, "This old man, he played one, he played knickknack on his thumb…"

Kaylee jumped to a halt before him and planted her hands on her hips. Golden curls bounced about her chubby face. "Gueth what?"