by Cora Seton
“Having fun?” he asked as if he didn’t believe it was possible at an event like this.
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
“You’re falling for him, aren’t you? Starting to think seriously about staying?”
She wasn’t sure how to answer that, so she told the truth. “Thinking about it.”
“You don’t know the guy very well, though. Who knows what he got up to before he came here?”
He was fishing for drama again. Trying to create problems where there were none. “He was a Navy SEAL.”
“What else do you know about him?” Clem challenged her.
“He’s from Texas.”
“Anyone would know that from Base Camp’s website. He hasn’t told you anything about himself, has he?”
“Sure he has.”
“Name one thing you know that the viewing audience at home doesn’t.”
His insinuating tone bothered her. Anders was taking his time getting to know her, like any normal man would. They hadn’t exchanged pedigrees. “He’s a hockey player.”
Clem straightened. “Hockey player? No one from Texas plays hockey.”
“He does.”
“Imagine that,” he drawled. “Anders has hidden depths. A real mystery man, that one. He popped into the world fully grown, you know,” he added conspiratorially.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Could she push him away? Clem had gotten far too close for comfort.
“Look him up. Anders Olsen doesn’t exist until he’s eighteen. He was never a child.”
“I just told you he played hockey growing up.”
Clem shrugged. “Look up Evelyn Wright, and you’ll find her Girl Scout jamboree picture from when she was nine. Look up Anders Olsen and… nothing.”
He stood up and left, striding off like he hadn’t a care in the world, leaving Eve puzzled over what he’d said. He was right; she had gone to the Girl Scout jamboree when she was nine. Had Anders managed to keep his childhood off the internet? That was a feat these days. Did Navy SEALs hide their past as a matter of course? Had he simply not been active on social media when he was younger? Lots of people hadn’t been, after all. Although, like Clem said, it seemed like lots of older photos ended up online anyway.
“Cold tonight, huh?” A woman sat down near her and broke into her thoughts.
“Yes. Thank goodness for whoever built this fire.” Eve turned to smile at the newcomer and did a double take. “Melissa?”
“Shh. Been keeping an eye on you. Looks like things are going well.”
“They are. For the most part.”
Melissa leaned closer. “Love your dress. I’m totally jealous.” She grew serious. “Was that Clem Bailey talking to you a minute ago?”
“You know Clem?”
“I know who he is—it’s hard to miss Tracking the Stars. Remember my roommate in college? Jana? Her uncle knew him. She got to visit his show once a few years back. Said Clem was a total sleaze. He hit on her—while her uncle was standing right there.”
“Yuck. He’s directing Base Camp now, and he’s a pain in the ass. He just said something really weird to me.”
Melissa kept a watchful gaze on the crowd. “Directing Base Camp? That’s strange. I wonder what happened to his gig at Tracking the Stars? What did he say?”
“He said Anders didn’t exist before he was eighteen. That there’s no information about him anywhere. He kept saying I don’t know Anders well enough to fall for him—which is true, of course. I’m not here to marry Anders. Clem kept pushing, though. He asked for one thing I knew about Anders that no one else did.”
“What’d you tell him?”
“He played hockey as a kid.” Eve relayed the conversation.
Melissa looked thoughtful. “So now Clem has a place to start.”
“What do you mean?”
“If there’s something Anders doesn’t want him to know about the past—something he or his parents were hiding by keeping off social media—Clem can find it. He knows Anders’s age, right? And that he comes from Texas. Now he can search for hockey team photos from the right era. It could take some doing if lots of schools or towns had teams, which I can’t imagine, but it shouldn’t be that hard to find him.”
“If there were photos, wouldn’t Anders’s name pop up?”
“Maybe. Maybe not if he wasn’t tagged in them.”
“Why would Clem bother looking for them when he’s got Anders in the flesh to interview?”
“He’s probably looking for the skeletons in Anders’s closet—and yours. That’s what Clem Bailey does—tries to embarrass people.”
“Good thing I don’t have many skeletons.” Did Clem already know about her work for NGOs? Would he tell Anders about it? It’s not like it was a big secret, but she’d been downplaying her past because she didn’t want anyone to guess her real purpose for being here.
“I’d better go. Hang in there, okay?” Melissa said.
“You, too. You must be so bored at that hotel.”
Melissa shrugged. “Not that bored. I… met a guy in town. A cowboy—a real one. I guess technically a rancher. He owns his own place. We’re going out to dinner tomorrow night.”
“Really?” Eve perked up. This was an interesting development. She couldn’t picture Melissa with a rancher.
“Might as well. When am I going to get another chance to date one?”
“I don’t know. Have fun. Send me a photo.”
“Will do. You have fun, too. Anders is even better looking in person.”
“You’re right,” Eve admitted.
Melissa frowned. “Don’t get hurt, Eve.”
“I’m trying not to. See you soon.”
Melissa slipped away into the crowd. Eve stood up, looking for Anders. She finally spotted him close to the head of the line at the concession stand and went to meet him. “I’m just going to duck into the bathroom. Be back in a minute,” she told him.
Coming out of a stall a few minutes later, she bumped into Avery.
“Holding up all right?” Avery asked as they washed their hands and primped in front of the mirror.
“I’m having fun. I’m not in any hurry to get back out there, though. It’s freezing.”
“I know,” Avery said sympathetically. “But you need a few romantic interludes before we can get to the part where you stay and marry Anders.”
Eve, heading to the paper towel dispenser, nearly tripped over her own feet. “That’s not a sure thing.”
“Why not? He’s hot for you.”
“It’s not like he’s got a lot of choices, right?” She hadn’t heard a word about any other women in the running. From what she’d seen, Chance Creek was a small town. Anders’s only other option was to find a woman online.
She’d yet to see him spending much time on his phone.
Avery, looking in the mirror, straightened her hat. “He took one look at you when you washed up here and fell hard.”
“You think?” Eve didn’t believe that. He was a man, and she was a woman, and nature was taking its course, but a man like Anders wasn’t going to fall head over heels with her at first sight.
In her case, she’d been lusting after him for months. It was only natural her hormones would kick into high gear when she got here.
“Yeah, I think. He’s the one whose arms you collapsed in. He’s the one who carried you into the bunkhouse. It’s Fate. Now get back out there and lure him to the altar.”
Eve had to laugh, and when she left the ladies’ room, her step was lighter than when she’d gone in. She found Anders where she left him.
“Thanks,” she said when he handed her a hot cocoa. “What a night, huh?” They watched a young man walk by in a down jacket and shorts as they made their way to the bonfire.
“I’ve been people watching,” Anders said. “There are definitely some characters out.”
“You got that right.” Clem was certainly one of them with his assertions that Anders had never been a
child. “Anders Olsen is your real name, right?” she joked.
Anders choked on the drink he’d just taken, coughed and spluttered, and finally found his voice. “What kind of question is that? Is Eve Wright your real name?”
Hell. Double hell. If he thought she was interrogating him, he might start interrogating her back. How could she deflect him?
Drama.
“It is for now,” she said quickly. “But Eve Olsen has a ring to it, doesn’t it?”
Anders blinked, and too late Eve realized what she’d done. She’d distracted him, all right, which was good.
She’d also essentially proposed to him.
Whoops.
Chapter Seven
‡
Eve Olsen.
Anders took a breath, opened his mouth to speak. Closed it again.
Anders Olsen is your real name, right?
He didn’t know what to make of her question. Had Eve somehow figured out his ruse, or… did she want to marry him?
She looked almost as shocked by what she’d said as he felt, and Anders didn’t know how to answer her. He had to say something, though, or she might guess that she’d just uncovered his secret.
“Eve Olsen,” he repeated slowly, buying time. “Yeah. It does have a ring. But—”
“I didn’t mean you have to marry me. Shit. Shit, shit, shit,” Eve said. “Now you think I’m some desperate celebrity chaser, and I’m not. I swear. I just—it just popped into my head—”
Anders relaxed a little. Her embarrassment wasn’t feigned. “I didn’t think you were proposing,” he assured her. “You just caught me off guard. I always thought I would be the one to pop the question.”
“You will be! I mean, I want it to be you. I mean, I don’t want—” Eve gave up with a groan that made Anders chuckle.
“I know what you mean,” he said.
“I’m just going to curl up on the ground and die,” she said mournfully. “Me and my big mouth.”
“When it’s time to propose—if it’s time to propose—I’ll do the honors.” He nudged her with his shoulder. “Does this mean you’re considering it?”
“Marrying you? I don’t expect you to want to marry me,” she said in a rush, “but with Clem practically dictating that you do, it’s hard for me not to at least think about it—abstractly.”
“And what do you think about marrying me and living at Base Camp for good—abstractly?” Would she brush off the question or answer it?
Eve looked away. “I don’t know,” she said finally. “I didn’t come here looking for this, you know?”
“I do know. You had a boyfriend.”
She blinked, as if she’d forgotten all about him. Good. That was progress.
“I… like it here,” Eve said. “I like… you.”
“That’s a good start.”
“We’re ready to head home if you are.” Boone caught up to them near the bonfire.
“I’m ready to get warm,” Eve told him. “What about you, Anders?”
“Sure thing.”
She was grateful their conversation had been interrupted. Good thing it would be time for bed when they got home so she wouldn’t have the chance to slip up again and ruin everything. Thank goodness Anders had bought that she was thinking of marriage—and didn’t realize she was repeating Clem’s insinuations. It had never even occurred to her that questioning Anders’s bona fides would get him questioning hers.
That had been a narrow escape. She couldn’t afford to mess up like that again.
In the truck, Hope rode up front with Curtis, and Eve was sandwiched in back between Anders and Avery. Anders found her hand in the dark and held it all the way home. She let him, torn between desire and worry.
Back at Base Camp, he detained her when the others trooped inside.
“Just want a minute alone,” he whispered before drawing her into another kiss. His mouth moved over hers softly at first but then demanded more. Despite her intentions, Eve gave in and leaned against him in the snow, enjoying every minute of it. When his hands slipped to her waist and he tugged her closer, she nearly moaned. She’d give anything for the chance to be with him.
She was well and truly in trouble.
And she couldn’t stop now.
She’d held his hand the whole way home. Kissed him several times.
They’d talked about marriage.
That had to mean something, Anders thought. “I had a good time tonight,” he told her.
“Me, too.”
It was cold out here, but he didn’t make a move to go inside. “Eve—” Anders made up his mind he wasn’t going to hold back, even if he was concerned he was moving too fast. He didn’t know if it was Fate that Eve landed here when she did, or just circumstance, but he meant to make the most of it. He liked everything about Eve. Her feistiness. Her interest in his work. The way she immediately got along with the others—even Renata, whom no one got along with.
She was intelligent. Caring.
Beautiful.
Until he’d met her, he hadn’t realized how much he’d been keeping to himself these past few years. Didn’t realize that part of the reason he’d joined Base Camp was because he’d known he’d have to take a relationship deeper than he’d allowed himself for a long time. First his feud with his father, then his time with the service had kept him thinking short-term rather than about marriage.
Now he wanted to find his match.
He wanted Eve.
If only they could be alone for a minute…
Anders considered the situation. “Listen, my house isn’t finished inside, but it’s got four walls and a roof. We could go there—” He threw an arm up to protect himself from the sudden glare of a floodlight. Clem and a cameraman stood nearby. The camera was rolling. Capturing everything they did.
Everything they said.
How long had they been there?
“By all means, let’s go to your house, Anders. Filming inside will be much warmer,” Clem said with a shit-eating grin.
Anders stifled a curse. He took Eve’s hand and hurriedly ushered her toward the bunkhouse instead. “You’ve got great timing,” he muttered to Clem as he passed.
“Always have. So, Eve…” The man got in Eve’s face. “Looks like you’ve managed to get close to Anders. How long have you been following Base Camp? Was Anders always your first choice out of the men on the show? Or would anyone do? Hey!”
Anders shoved Clem into a snowbank and whitewashed his face. The cameraman filmed it all, until Anders spotted him and snarled, “You want to take a turn?”
Byron stopped filming. “I’m good!” He backed away.
Anders turned in time to see Eve slip inside the building.
“Damn it,” he said to Clem, who was coughing and sputtering, wiping snow from his face. “Now see what you’ve done.”
“You’re going to pay for that, Olsen.”
“I already am.”
“It’s not usually this bad,” Avery said as they got ready for bed in the bathroom. Eve was helping Avery with her gown and corset. “Clem is really trying to stir things up. I’m sorry he said all that to you.”
Eve’s cheeks still burned from Clem’s accusations. “I didn’t come here to sleep with Anders,” she said again. Maybe she had lusted after Anders in the quiet confines of her own home, but that didn’t make her a groupie.
“Don’t let Clem get to you.”
He had gotten to her, though. Partly because he was right. Until a few days ago, she’d never imagined herself meeting the cast of Base Camp, let alone participating in the show, but she had been drawn to Anders since the first episode. He wasn’t flashy like some of the other men. He didn’t dominate a room the way Boone did when he showed up. He wasn’t movie-star pretty like Jericho Cook. He didn’t have a Scottish accent like Angus McBride, who’d been keeping a low profile lately because the woman he loved had left the show and gone back to California. Nor was he a joker like Curtis could be.
Anders was… Anders. A serious man with a funny, sexy streak who got things done and cared passionately about what he was doing. It was that quiet passion that had struck her right from the start.
Clem was right; she’d watched the show… and found Anders to her liking. That didn’t mean she’d had some creepy crush on him back when she’d been watching him on TV.
Damn the interfering man. If Clem hadn’t been around, she’d have gotten the chance to be alone with Anders. She’d wanted to go to his house. Wanted to discover what he’d do next. Would he have kissed her again?
Maybe tried for something more?
She went all warm and liquid inside just thinking about it. Maybe they’d known each other only a day or so. She was attracted to him.
Was that wrong?
Was she a groupie, after all?
“Stop it. I can tell Clem’s gotten into your head. Whatever he’s been saying, don’t listen to him!” Avery insisted.
“He’s saying I made this all happen somehow because I wanted to be with Anders.”
Avery met her glance in the mirror curiously. “Did you telepathically force your boyfriend to dump you near Base Camp and drive off without you?”
“No!” And she kept forgetting her fake boyfriend. She had to keep her story straight.
“It would be an interesting superpower.”
“I don’t have a superpower.” Eve had to laugh. Avery was right; she was being ridiculous. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t use it to get dumped on a country road.”
“Exactly,” Avery said. “So Fate has thrown you and Anders together. Go with it, if that’s what you want.”
“I don’t know what I want,” Eve said, discouraged. “And I’m supposed to go back home to work in a few days.” Except she needed to extend her time at Base Camp without Anders proposing to her—or anyone discovering her true purpose here.
“You should stay through New Year’s.” Avery stepped out of her gown and into a comfortable pair of pajamas. “No one gets any work done Christmas week anyway. Do you really have to go back before the first?”
“I suppose not. Do you really want me here that long?” Inwardly, Eve perked up. Maybe extending her stay would be easier than she’d thought. Her parents wouldn’t be home this year. They were still in Europe and would spend Christmas with relatives in Germany. Her siblings meant to make the most of their absence to stay at home Christmas morning or head to their in-laws’ houses. Each of them had invited her to tag along, but she’d demurred, citing the drive times and the fact she had to be back to work. Before all of this had come up, she’d braced herself for a lonely holiday. Luckily, Melissa hadn’t had plans, either. Her folks had moved to Florida a few years back, and although she’d been invited to celebrate with them and their new friends, they understood when she chose to do something else.
