So he took her to the ropes course and they climbed up into the trees, one careful step atatime.
“It’s gorgeous up here,”she said when they’d settled on a highplatform.
“Quiet,right?”
She turned her face into the breeze. “Yes. But alsosomethingelse.”
“Bird’s eye view of theworld?”
“That’s closer. Getting up off the ground.” She turned her face back to his and gave him a bright, beaming smile. “Lots of potentialuphere.”
So much potential, he thought as he gazedather.
Afterward, he climbed a free-hanging rope just to show off, and then she dragged him back to the cabin to break in the newly pushed togethermattresses.
“What other dirty camp fantasies did you have as a kid?” she asked, running her fingers over his bare chest as they lay together, wellsated.
“I was a teenage boy surrounded by a lot of skin. I don’t know, probably allofthem.”
“I went to camp twice,” she said. “Not quite like this. Science camp one year, sailing camp another. Closer toBoston.”
“That’s whereyou’refrom?”
“Born and raised. My parents still livethere.”
“You don’t have a strong Bostonaccent.”
She laughed. “I never really did. My parents have slight British accents, from school in India and then a few years they livedin England before they immigrated to the States. But maybe because they didn’t have the Boston accent at home, that prevented me from picking it up too strongly at school? And by the time I was in high school, I knew I wanted to be a journalist, and probably on television. So I mimicked that flat accent and convinced my parents I should have voicelessons.”
He tried to picture a young Priya,earnest and intent on storming New York and seizing control of CNN. “Another thing we have in common. I knew I wanted to be a Navy SEAL from a few months after mydaddied.”
And now they were both at a crossroads in their careers. Did they want to continue? Or had they burned out their passion and needed achance?
“What are you thinking now?” Priya asked as she twisted around andpropped herself up on her elbows, lookingathim.
“You can probablyguess.”
“I don’t think I can. You have a knack for figuring me out. I’m not nearly thatobservant.”
He laughed. “One of the first things I liked about you was how observant you were. How you could see who had a storyinthem.”
She bobbed her head to the side. “Maybe. Okay, yeah. But when it comes toyou…” She gave him a soft look, her dark eyelashes fluttering against her pink cheeks. “You confound me,Grady.”
“Big word for asimpleguy.”
“You are far fromsimple.”
“You think? Tell me what you see. I see you watching me. What areyouthinking?”
“How good you look in nothing but basketballshorts.”
He laughed. “I’ll take that as acompliment.”
“That’show I intended it.” She pushed up onto all fours, her breasts hanging down from her body, and he knew she was about to distract him with sexagain.
He caught her face between his hands. “Actually, you've been watching me since I got here. Trying to figure me out. You don't need to treat me like a puzzle, Priya. I'm an open book. What do you wanttoknow?”
Her eyes sparked, but shewasn’t going there. “Nothing. I don't want... well. Actually, I do want you. I want you naked. I love your brand of stress relief. But I don’t expectanythingelse.”
