“Mom,” Ollie said with a reverent tone.
Jilly looked up from her plate.
“Levi’s waffles are almost as good as Pete’s.”
One of the moms sucked in an audible breath. “I wouldn’t tell him that, sweetie.”
Jilly laughed. “She’s right, but you can tell Levi. I think he’ll like that.”
Gray, who sat on her right, nudged her elbow. “Guessing by the look of your hair, you know what he likes.” He said it completely under his breath and she could see from looking at the others that they hadn’t heard, but she still fought the urge to smooth down her hair or poke her brother. With her fork.
She glared at him, but he only smirked and reached across to grab a strawberry off her plate. “Your boyfriend is a hell of a cook.”
Before she could respond, Levi swung through the door of the kitchen with a fresh plate of waffles.
His gaze found her immediately. “Who wants more?”
The question brought up memories of last night, and her entire body heated. His eyes darkened, which meant, of course, he noticed. He refilled the platters on the table as some of the kids cleared their plates and one of the moms hustled them outside.
They were so cute, some of them still in their pajamas fromthe night before, lining up to scrape their plates. Ollie came over after she scraped her plate, and tapped Levi’s arm.
“Hey. How was breakfast?”
Ollie crooked her finger, so he bent at the waist and she whispered in his ear. Gray and Jilly shared an amused glance. A happy kind of pressure tightened her chest.
“Are you serious?” Levi said, leaning back and looking at Ollie.
Ollie, hands on her hips, nodded so fiercely, her ponytail bobbed up and down.
“Might be the best compliment I’ve ever had.”
Ollie grinned. “See you.” And she was gone.
Everyone cleared out except Levi, Jilly, Gray, and two kids who were working together to push the dish cart toward the kitchen.
Grayson stood up. “Let me help.”
He helped the kids navigate their way through the swinging door.
“She said my waffles were better than Pete’s.” Levi placed his hand on the back of Jillian’s chair, brushed his lips against her cheek. “How was your breakfast?”
“Delicious.” After kissing him, she whispered in his ear, “I agree with Ollie.”
He cupped her cheek, his forehead touching hers. “You don’t have to say that, baby. You already own my heart.” Her heart seemed to hug itself with happiness.
Just as Levi’s mouth found hers again, Gray yelled through the kitchen door, “That’s right, guys! It’s time to head outside. Through the dining room.” He walked through the swinging door grinning at her and she knew he’d given her a heads-up.
There were two teams of nine kids, three parents on each. They were tucked into a grove of trees just behind the lodge witha bunch of everyday supplies that they’d use to create shelters. There were plenty of branches and rocks to utilize for their makeshift structures. They had ten minutes to form a plan as a team and twenty minutes to build.
As they worked together, some of them sniping at each other, some working wonderfully together, Gray came to her side.
“This has been incredible, Jilly. Better than I imagined. You really think this is a cost-effective way to bring more revenue?”
“I do. And I have more ideas on how we can trim the budget a little more. Levi’s food is amazing, but I think we can get that cost down with Shane.”
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” Grayson said.
The timer buzzed with a warning. “You have two minutes, campers,” Jillian said, holding up her stopwatch.
