I rest my elbows against the counter with a sigh. Luca glances up, makes eye contact. I glimpse the start of a smile on his lips before I quickly look away.
I try my hardest to not notice him as he wanders the aisles, casually picking up items along the way, but it’s impossible not to. He is the type of guy that gets noticed. No matter how hard I try to resist, I’m not immune to his appeal.
After a few moments, he finds everything he is looking for and turns toward the counter. I make myself look busy when he approaches. He stops halfway to snatch a handful of candy bars, and I drop my chin to hide my smile.
So he has a sweet tooth. I would never know it to look at him. He looks smooth enough to eat off of—like one of those guys who put a lot of effort into sculpting their bodies. Not the type to indulge in chocolate.
I realize I’m staring at the planes and ridges of his stomach visible through his thin T-shirt, and quickly look up to welcome him back with my standard Hilderness smile. Too late. The glint in his eyes is proof that I’ve been busted.
“Find everything you need?” I ask, and immediately roll my eyes at the breathy sound of my voice.
Luca sets his items on the counter with a chuckle. He pushes the anti-itch cream forward first. “I sure hope so. I don’t know if I can put up with any more whining.”
I ring up the tube of cream. “Tell your friend to avoid the plants with three leaves from now on.”
“Oh, I will.” Luca picks up a Water Wars sheet and glances over it. “Is this what’s going on out there today?”
“With the water guns and flags? Yeah. Hilderness likes to have week-long themes and contests to get the campers involved,” I explain. “Winner of Water Wars gets a free game of paintball.”
Luca’s eyes crinkle at the edges as he reads over some of the rules of the event. “This must really suck for the employees, getting sprayed by water guns all day long. Who willingly signs up for that?”
“We don’t.” I shrug as I continue scanning items. “But the pay is good, so we tolerate the boss’s crappy ideas with a Hilderness-approved smile.” I show him my work smile as I reach for the pile of candy bars.
He smiles back, but says nothing more on the subject. He merely watches me as I work and try my damnedest to not buckle at the knees under the power of his gaze.
This is my chance. I can play this game with him, and continue to avoid the questions I need answered, or I can suck it up and find out what he knows. I take a deep breath, gathering the courage I need.
“So did you stick around long? At the party the other night?” I ask conversationally as I finish scanning and pull a paper bag out from underneath the counter. When I look up, his smile is gone.
“No. I left early,” he answers.
“Were your friends there with you?” I ask lightly so as not to sound like an interrogator.
He meets my gaze and nods.
I look down and focus on bagging his items. “It’s funny . . . I barely remember getting home. It’s like the second half of that night was a dream.”
His chuckle sounds forced. “Too much to drink?”
“No.” I look up, hold his gaze. “That wasn’t it.”
My breaths come hard and fast as I wait for his response. He says nothing, but he doesn’t have to. He knows what happened at the party. He knows I know what happened. We stare at each other silently, each wordlessly daring the other to be the first to say it aloud.
The bell on the door rings, but neither of us looks away. Not yet.
Not until someone calls his name from the entrance. “Luca? You find it?”
Luca breaks first. He blinks, severing the connection between us, before he turns. His answer is clipped, his voice deep and gravelly. “I got it.”
His friend glances at me, then back to Luca. I recognize him as the one who drove my car that night.
Something passes between them in the look they share. As if speaking only for my benefit, Luca’s friend says, “It’s time to go.”
Luca nods stiffly, then hands me a debit card. I glance at the name before swiping it.
Luca Caspan.
I recognize the name. Everyone with a Castien Valley zip code knows the Caspan name.
The Caspans are a bit of an urban legend around here since no one has ever claimed to have met one. Some swear the family, and their lake bordered by miles of forest, does not exist. Others swear they have seen the lake and the mansion that sits on its glistening shore. We all know there is a locked gate in front of a dirt road ten minutes outside of Castien Valley, but no one knows exactly where it leads. It is rumored to belong to the Caspans.
His words earlier make more sense to me now. If the rumors are true, and Luca is one of those Caspans, then he isn’t an out-of-towner here on vacation. He’s sort of a local, only not by usual Castien Valley standards. He is one rich son of a bitch, with a mansion, his own private lake, and a thousand acres of wilderness at his disposal. What in the world is he doing here, camping at Hilderness, if he has all of that only a few minutes away?
My eyes widen slightly when I hand the card back to him and find him already watching me. He’s waiting for me to ask about his name, but I’m not going to do that. I look down at the machine as it chirps and groans over the transaction, and bite my tongue just enough to keep my mouth shut. After what feels like an eternity, it spits out a receipt.
I place it with his purchase before sliding the bag across the counter. “There you go.”
He hesitates only a few seconds, but it feels much longer. When he reaches down and curls his arm around the bag, I notice the thin silver chain around his neck—the same he wore at the party. Whatever pendant dangles from it is still hidden under his shirt. Of course, I can’t help but admire again how nicely that fits him.
By nice, I mean tight.
By tight, I mean molded to every inch of smooth muscle.
My eyes dart up when I realize I’m blatantly checking him out. Again. “Water wars,” I blurt.
He stops, looks at me, and tips his head to one side. I hold up a finger as I fumble under the counter with my other hand. I find what I’m looking for, and lay them on the counter for him.
“Your complimentary water guns,” I explain.
“Right.” A slow grin spreads across his face. “Free game of paintball. I nearly forgot.”
I drop the three small weapons in the bag. “Have fun.”
He nods, starts to turn. His friend sighs from the doorway when he stops again. He leans halfway across the counter, and I gasp at his sudden nearness.
“What time do you get off work?” he asks.
The bell dings. Someone must enter the store, but I don’t notice anything except the swirls of different shades of blue in Luca’s eyes. There’s blue and then there’s really blue. It takes me an embarrassingly long time to remember how to form a sentence. Even then, it’s not much.
“I’m off at three.”
His gaze travels down, settles on my lips. “Have plans?”
I’m tempted to tell him no if only to find out what he would ask me next. Instead, I tell him the truth. “Pizza night with my dad. It’s sort of a thing we do.”
His smile is faint, but it still reaches his eyes. “Sounds like fun.”
“It can be.” I glance uneasily toward his scowling friend.