I smile. Is that code for our first “date”? “Yeah. Sounds good.”

Kyle rests an arm casually over my shoulder, in a way that could be explained away as simply friendly to any casual onlooker. “Before we’re on lockdown and we have to do this counselor thing all over again.”

I groan, though in truth there’s nowhere I’d rather be this summer than in this moment, with him.

I’m pretty sure I’ve never been in a car this old before.

Or one that has its side-view mirror duct-taped in place.

“Shotgun!” Eric charges for the passenger-side door of Kyle’s car, testing the handle. It’s locked.

“Nice try.” Kyle meets his best friend’s eyes.

Eric throws his head back in mock-dismay. “Fine. But do you know how uncomfortable your backseat is, bro?”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re sitting in it.” Kyle smirks, unlocking his door with his key and folding his seat forward for Ashley. She scrambles in, crawling over the passenger seat to pop a small knob on the other door, releasing the lock from the inside.

God, this is an old car.

“If I make out with him, do you think he’ll let me sit in front on the way back?” Eric mumbles, easing his tall body in, then fumbling with the seat’s latch to reset it for me. “It’s not working, Miller.”

“ ’Cause you’re doin’ it wrong.” Kyle rounds the car. With one flick of his wrist, the passenger seat snaps back into place.

“Thanks.” I smile, his proximity stirring my blood.

“No problem.” He backs me up against his car, pressing his body into mine. I bite my bottom lip to hide the goofy smile threatening as I feel how much he wants me.

His heated gaze drifts down the plunging neckline of my emerald green tank top before lifting to settle on my mouth.

“You lovebirds wanna get excommunicated from Wawa? Because Darian wasn’t kidding around,” Eric warns.

“We’re not breaking any rules. Read the fine print. There aren’t any campers here,” Kyle throws back, his eyes lighting up with mischief. “If this is all I get for the week, I need to make the most of it.” He weaves his fingers through my hair and tugs gently, just enough to pull my head back and expose my neck. The kiss he sets just below my jawline sends shivers through my body.

“Come on, you can hump each other in town. I’m starvin’!” Eric complains.

Kyle sighs heavily, his lips shifting back to my mouth. “Can we drop them off in town and then leave?”

“It’s forty minutes to walk back, isn’t it?”

“They could do it in thirty, if they have to run in the rain.”

I burst out laughing. “You’re terrible.”

He grins. “Am I?”

I revel in the feel of Kyle’s lips as he deepens his kiss, his hands beginning to wander, one of them hooking the back of my thigh to pull my leg up around his hip, his fingertips skimming over my bare skin, his pelvis pressing harder against me. I can only imagine what tonight could bring, if we can find somewhere private to steal away. The very thought has my own hands wandering, sliding around his waist, pulling his body tighter against me, reveling in the feel of his soft cotton T-shirt as I imagine peeling it off him later.

The sounds of tires crunching on gravel sounds behind us, breaking us free.

“Someone’s lost,” Kyle murmurs.

I turn. And frown at the familiar black Lincoln SUV with tinted windows now parked beside us.

Eddie, my dad’s hired driver, steps out, offering me a curt nod on his way to open the back passenger door.

Out comes my father.

“Dad!” I exclaim, dashing forward. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

“Can’t I surprise my daughter?” he says evenly, smoothing the lapel of his typical crisp, tailored navy suit. The fact that it’s muggy and warm hasn’t stopped him from dressing so formally, and on a Saturday. Obviously he was coming from an important meeting. His cold blue eyes flitter around us, taking stock of the campground, before landing on me once again. My friends back home are convinced that my dad belongs on an afternoon soap opera, not just because his very presence commands attention but also because of his deep, velvety voice.

“Of course. It’s just . . . you’re hours away.” I wrap my arms around his broad shoulders.

He returns the warm embrace, and it instantly brings me back ten years to my six-year-old self, curled up on his lap, watching him read through building proposals.

“I was looking at a potential investment property today that’s only forty minutes away, so I figured I’d take the opportunity to swing by.”

“You should have called.”

“I thought your cell phone doesn’t work well out here.”

“You’re right. Good thing you caught me. We were just heading into town.”

“Is that what you were doing.” His sharp, raptor’s gaze shifts to settle behind me.

And with that look, any hope that Dad’s attention was engrossed in a report when he drove up—and that he missed the public mauling—withers away.

I feel my cheeks burn as I take a step back and clear my throat. “Dad, this is Kyle. Kyle, this is my dad.”

Kyle steps forward, extending his hand. “Hi, sir. It’s nice to meet you.”

My dad pauses a moment to assess Kyle’s face, then his hand, before finally taking it. “I take it you’re a camp counselor, too?”

“Yeah.” Kyle reaches up to scratch his bicep, inadvertently flashing the ink on his arm.

My dad’s eyes narrow but he says nothing, his focus instead shifting to Kyle’s car.

“Can’t say I’ve seen a Pinto on the road in quite some time. For good reason, it would seem.”

Kyle dips his head to hide his smirk. “It’s my brother’s car. I’m just using it for the summer.”

“And what’s he using?”

“Uh . . .” Kyle seems caught off guard by the question. “Nothing. He went away for a while.”

“Traveling!” I flash Kyle a warning look. Not even a minute and we’ve already somehow stumbled dangerously close to the topic of Kyle’s family situation.

A frizzy head pokes out of the car window then. “Hello, Mr. Calloway. I’m Ashley. It’s nice to meet you! I met your wife last weekend. Would you like to come to dinner with us?”

A glimmer of amusement flashes across my dad’s face before it turns stern again. “No, but thank you for the invitation. In fact, I’m going to steal my daughter for a few hours. If that’s all right with her,” he adds.

As if I could say no.

“I guess I’ll see you guys later?” I try not to sound reluctant. It’s not that I don’t enjoy seeing my father. It’s that I don’t want to lose my one free night a week with Kyle.

“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Calloway,” Kyle offers stoically.

Dad makes a throaty sound. “Yes. Come, Piper.”

He has already decided that he doesn’t like Kyle. My stomach aches with disappointment. But behind that is a flare of anger. He’s not even giving Kyle a chance!

Kyle’s gaze flickers to my father, then back to me, and I wonder if he can tell. He shrugs. “We’ll be around here later.”