As it was, she walked beside him now, her head high, her heels even higher. On the last show she’d worn her heels hiking every day until she’d twisted her ankle and had been forced to wear sneakers. And she never failed to show up in full hair and makeup.
All part of her defense system.
Well, roughing it in the woods for a month ought to fix that.
“We’re almost there,” he said. “Just a few minutes longer and we’ll be at the production camp.”
“And where have all the teams gone? I haven’t seen any of them since a while back when the trail split in three.”
“They’re all relatively close to our camp but far enough away that we won’t interfere with their survival skills or camp life. And each of the teams is far enough away from each other, or in some cases separated by some natural obstacle, that they can’t interact together very easily. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen if the teams worked for it, but I’ve made it pretty hard for them.”
“This is a really different show for you,” she said, glancing his way and almost stumbling. He reached out to steady her but she righted herself. “Well, Treasure Trekkers was pretty outdoorsy, but at least it still had indoor accommodations and common areas.”
“It is different. But I wanted something that would really put people to the test in all kinds of ways. I think this show will do that.”
“No offense, but won’t it get sort of boring for all the teams to be separate all the time?”
Just like Zoe to speak her mind. Another thing he liked about her. He was sick of being surrounded by production people who always said what they thought he wanted to hear. Zoe spoke her mind and it was a relief.
“It might, but I have plans to keep it interesting.”
“You always do. I glad I’m not on the receiving end of your surprises this time. Well, except for the whole hosting gig. And the camping twist. Thanks for that, by the way.”
He laughed. “You’re welcome. Now enough about the show. How have things been with you? I haven’t seen you in the tabloids lately.”
“Thank God for small miracles. I’ve had enough of those trashy magazines tracking my every move. Who would have ever thought they’d care so much about a stupid reality TV show?”
“Hey now. One of those stupid reality shows is paying you a nice sum to be here.”
“True. You know I used to read those magazines all the time. Now I can’t stand to see them in the grocery checkout.”
“They aren’t so terrible. It’s usually good publicity for the shows.”
“Only because you’re not the one on the cover,” she snapped.
“You may have a point there. I’ve only graced the inner pages, never the front. I don’t think anyone would like seeing this mug shot on the cover.”
Her lips curled almost into a smile. “I don’t think most girls would mind too much.”
“Is that a compliment from Zoe Oliver?” he teased. “You really must be feeling out of your element.”
They came around a bend in the trail and the pathway suddenly opened into a wider area. Tents of all sizes were set up around the perimeter with three central fire pits surrounded by logs for chairs.
Zoe stopped and took in the site. He pulled on her arm, tugging her gently to one of the two tents set off to the side a little more than the others. His was the outer most tent while hers was right next door, just as he’d planned. He hadn’t wanted her to feel alone in the woods by making their tents too secluded, but he also didn’t want the entire crew hearing their every move. Strategically placing a film supply tent on the other side of hers meant there would be enough foot traffic to make her comfortable, but also enough privacy that they would have some time alone. Well, if he could finagle a reason to score alone time with her. If not, then at least no one would be around to witness his attempted and failed seduction.
He walked to her tent and unzipped the door, holding it open to the side so she could slip through with her backpack still on her back. As she passed by, he caught the scent of her flowery perfume.
Damn he’d missed that smell.
He’d only had the opportunity to catch a hint of her perfume a couple of times over the course of filming the other shows. But every time he had, the scent made him long to wrap his arms around her and bury his face in her hair. Her scent was delicious, intoxicating … arousing.
“You get settled and I’ll come back in a bit to show you around the rest of camp.”
“Okay.” She nodded, looking around as if unsure of what to do next. “You know where to find me.”
He zipped the door closed again to give her privacy. He knew exactly where he hoped to find her someday soon — in his arms.
• • •
Zoe surveyed her room … tent. Hell on earth might be the most accurate description.
Okay, so maybe hell on earth was exaggerating a bit.
Her tent was larger than she’d expected. Feared. Whatever.
She had imagined Chip giving her a tiny popup tent she’d have to crawl into with no room to move around. Thankfully, her tent was not like that at all. It looked to be about a twelve feet by twelve feet, military styled tent. One that could have easily housed a few people instead of just her.
Along one side of the tent, a cot waited for her with a sleeping bag still rolled up with a few wool blankets folded on top and a pillow. Without even sitting on it, she could guess it wouldn’t be the most comfortable bed she’d ever slept on, but it was better than the ground so she wouldn’t complain. Too loudly.
Beside the bed was a canvas set of drawers. It wasn’t big, but it would hold a few of her things, like bras, panties, and T-shirts. On top of that sat a large lantern, a flashlight, and a radio with a clock on the front. She unzipped the inside flap just above the drawers to reveal a screen style window facing out to the lush, dense forest. A ray of dampened light fell across the cabinet, hitting what appeared to be solar panels covering the tops of the gadgets. Good thing they’d gotten here early enough for a few hours of sunshine to come in her window so everything would have time to charge before it got dark.
The last thing in the room was a small cooler. She peeked inside. Instead of finding chilled Perrier and snacks on ice, like she’d hoped, she found a reusable water bottle, a mirror, a bottle of hand sanitizer, some towels, and a few other random things.
Sighing, she took a deep drink from the water bottle. Barely a trickle came out of the bottle. She unscrewed the lid only to find a filter attached to the inside.
Definitely no Perrier around here.
She eyed the cooler. If nothing else, it was another place to put some of her clothes. Although she was going to have to figure out some kind of solution for the things that should be hung, not folded.
“Knock, knock,” Chip said from outside her door, startling her.
“Holy crap you scared me,” she said, unzipping the door to let him in.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. You’ll get used to listening for sounds outside your tent soon enough. All settled?”
She looked at her backpack, still full. “I guess.”
He motioned to the patch of light filtering into the tent from the screened window. “I see you figured out the solar powered gadgets. They need a couple of hours of sun and then they should last you for a few hours of use. If you ever forget to power them during the day, we have extras in an open case beside the supply tent. Those ones will always be fully charged. You can drop your dead one in the case and take a charged one any time you need.”
“Great. You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“I tried. I may have forced you into the wilderness, but even I like a few luxuries out here, like light.” He stepped out of the tent. “Come on. I’ll show you around the rest of camp so you know where ev
erything is. I don’t think living out here for a month will be quite as painful as you feared. As you said, I tried to think of everything.”
“Did you think of indoor plumbing? Air conditioning? Spider control?”
“Yes, yes, and yes. But keep in mind there’s only so much I can do. We are still outdoors and no amount of preparation is going to cover everything.”
“Well an easy solution to that would have been to house us indoors, but I’m sure you already know that.”
“I do.” He pointed to the fire pits in the middle of the open area surrounded by tents. “Over here, we’ll have fires lit each night. Depending on the amount of people who want them, we may light all three or just one.”
She followed him to the tent next to hers. “In here is the film supply. You shouldn’t need to come in here ever, but there will be crew coming and going as needed throughout the course of the show. I don’t think it will bother you at all though.”
They wandered deeper into the base camp. “All those other tents are production people’s private quarters.”
“What about those small tents?” she asked, pointing to a few that were off to the side. They were more secluded than any of the others. Half of them had something that looked like large canvas water balloons above them.
Chip led them over to the closest of the small tents and unzipped the door. A plastic box and a few rolls of toilet paper propped on a branch sticking up out of the ground sat inside.
“My indoor plumbing solution,” he said, sounding prouder than he should have in her opinion. Then he opened one of the tents with the canteen looking thingy above it. “And the shower. I would use these sparingly if possible. The bladder only holds so much water even when completely full and although it has a solar heater, it’s not exactly a hot and steamy experience.”
She peeked over at him and found him looking at her instead of the shower. Maybe it was all that talk about hot, steamy showers, but she suddenly felt hot and steamy herself. Chip’s dark eyes penetrated into hers almost as if he felt the same thing. But he couldn’t. Could he? Surely Chip didn’t think of her in that way. Hell, she didn’t normally think of Chip this way either. Of course, she’d always been attracted to him, and being around him had always made her heart flutter a little, but this reaction was probably caused by the excitement of the day. Her emotions were stressed to the max already and her body was on high alert. That had to be it.
Zoe took a step back. “Great,” she said, clearing her throat which had gone dry, probably from all the fresh outdoor air. “So I’ll be looking forward to the day I get back to civilization again.”
Maybe changing the scenery would get the idea of being in a hot shower — with Chip — out of her mind. Picturing Chip naked wouldn’t help her be less attracted to him. “What’s next on the grand tour?”
“The kitchen and common area.” As he walked a few steps ahead of her, she took a deep breath, feeling as if she hadn’t been able to a moment before. Then she fell into step beside him.
Inside the kitchen tent there were a few tables with camping chairs set up as well as a kitchen-type cooking area with a couple of butane stove tops and a washing basin.
I hope they cater.
Zoe wasn’t the world’s best cook on a regular stove, in a real house with proper utensils and pots. A camping stove was well beyond her skill set. She smacked a mosquito feasting on her arm.
If the bugs didn’t kill her, starvation just might.
“And who exactly cooks in here?” Her expression must have shown her concern because Chip chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.
“Not to worry, Zoe. I’ve hired a couple of cooks to help us. You’re always welcome to use the equipment yourself if you want something special. But the cooks already have a schedule of meals prepared for the time we’re out here so there is no need for you to cook your own meals if you don’t want to.”
Oh thank God.
“Speaking of food,” Chip said, “the cooks will prepare a hot dinner later. Until then, can I interest you in a soda or a bottle of water and a sandwich? I might be able to cook gourmet meals at home, but out here I’m a little out of my league.”
Gourmet meals? She’d never imagined Chip to be the kind of guy to cook for himself if it wasn’t on a grill, let alone someone able to make gourmet meals.
“I’ll take a sandwich and water, thanks.”
Chip grabbed them sandwiches and they turned to find a seat. A couple of camera guys she recognized from previous shows sat at one table chatting happily amongst themselves.
“Should we join them?” Chip asked.
Zoe shook her head. She just wanted to relax and settle in. Putting on her happy face and trying to be entertaining wasn’t at all appealing right now. “I’d rather not. How about the empty table instead.”
For some reason, she didn’t feel like she had to put on much of an act for Chip. Maybe because he’d seen her through the highs and lows of the other shows, he’d already seen the worst in her.
Well, maybe not the worst. No one saw that side of her.
She’d never let that happen.
“Now that you’re here, do you think you’ll survive for the month? It’s not so bad, right?”
She shrugged. “It’s not exactly the Ritz, but I think I’ll manage.”
“You seemed to do just fine hiking, camping, and geocaching on the other shows. I figured you’d be okay with this too, once you saw you wouldn’t be completely roughing it. I did my best to provide some conveniences.”
“I appreciate the effort, but I still might hate you a little for dragging me out here. Couldn’t our teams have to live in a spa or something instead of the wilderness? Survive the deadly seaweed wrap without fainting from the smell. Or maybe drinking the infamous green smoothie without gagging.”
They laughed together.
“I’ll keep that in mind for a future show.” Chip took a bite of his sandwich while looking at her as if he was studying something.
“What?”
“I’ve never seen you this relaxed. It’s nice.”
“It’s easier to relax without a camera following me around twenty-four, seven.”
Chip seemed to watch her a lot. His eyes were so warm and caring, she couldn’t help but let herself melt into his gaze more. He was so different to her now that she wasn’t a contestant. Was he like this — warm, friendly, caring — to all his staff, or only to her?
He placed his hand over hers where it rested on the table, squeezing gently. If she thought his eyes were warm, they had nothing on his hands. His touch sent a wave of heat up her arm and through her body, settling low in her belly.
She could really get used to this new feeling she had around Chip if she wasn’t careful.
But she had to be careful.
Chapter Three
Chip reveled in the knowledge that he’d possibly just wormed his way into a tiny fissure in the wall … no, fortress, surrounding Zoe. He hadn’t realized it would be as easy as a look, a smile, and a touch. If he’d known, he would have tried long ago.
Of course, that would have gotten him in trouble before. Producers couldn’t flirt with contestants. But now they were both crew so the rules had changed.
But his feelings for Zoe hadn’t changed at all.
He was still as captivated by her as he was the first time he’d laid eyes on her. Still as amused by her as the first time he’d spoken to her. And still as distracted by her as he’d been the first time he’d watched her walk away. Damn, she had a great ass.
“If this is what you’re like when there’re no cameras around,” he squeezed her hand again and dropped his voice low so only she would hear, “I wonder what you’re like when there aren’t people around either.”
She pulled her hand out
from his as if it were on fire and picked up her sandwich instead. Her shoulders went back, the softness in her features replaced by hard edges and narrowed eyes.
Wow. He really must have said the wrong thing. Damn it. And right after he felt like he made progress with her. He may have briefly found a tiny crack in her wall, but she’d patched it up with plaster and cement.
“Sorry, Zoe. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable.” Her voice was confident but he wasn’t an idiot. She was lying through her perfectly white teeth.
“Excuse me, Mr. Cormack,” said one of the younger production assistants they’d hired from college for the summer. “But I need to put this box of supplies away and no one told me where to put them.”
He sighed. Why did he have to do all the work around here? Seriously. If he took a sick day, production would come to a screeching halt, which was exactly the reason why he’d never taken one.
“Well,” he started then paused, trying to come up with the girl’s name. When he couldn’t, he continued. “What kind of supplies are they?”
She set down the box with a thunk on the table and pulled a couple of handfuls of cords out. Instantly, the cords unraveled and twisted together. The sight of tangled wires and cords annoyed him like nothing else.
“What are you doing? You’re making a mess,” he snapped, sounding a little meaner than he’d meant to. But really, how hard was it to pick up a mic pack without completely tangling the cord?
“I … ” She blushed and looked at her feet.
He clenched and unclenched his jaw a couple of times. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t know what she was doing. She was new. He had to remember that.
She fumbled with the mic packs, dropping one. As she attempted to catch it before it hit the floor, the others in her hand slipped, tangling even more.
“Oh for the love of — ” He jumped up and grabbed the things from her hands while she bent to get the mic pack from the floor.
Unscripted Love: The Complete Reality TV Romance Collection Page 48
