Chapter 1

Chapter One

" W ait up, Dean," Andrea called out. He stopped and turned as she tried to catch up with him on the pathway. "Gosh, why is everyone always in a hurry around here?"

Andrea Bergman was a petite blonde with skin that easily darkened to a warm honey color in the summer and yet was a soft white in winter that he mentally compared with white rose petals. Her right arm, from her wrist all the way up to her shoulder blade, was covered in tattoos. He desperately wanted to spend hours exploring the delicate lines and brightly colored scenes.

It was spring on the Florida panhandle, which meant the days were warm when the sun was out, but the early mornings and evenings still held a bite from the chill in the air.

Thankfully, it was still early enough that the pollen on all the pine trees that currently surrounded him had yet to drop. That also meant that the bright flowers that ran along the edge of the asphalt pathways that weaved through the forest like dark veins had not bloomed yet, though there were plenty of the hardy plants that could survive the colder nights of the generally mild winters of the area he had always called home.

River Camps was a unique adult's only resort with a summer camp vibe that five friends had opened a few years back. He'd known its owner, Elle Saunders, now Elle Costas, pretty much as long as he'd known Andrea.

Elle and four of her friends—Zoey, Scarlett, Hannah, and Aubrey—had once met at the very same camp when they'd been teenagers. They had dubbed themselves the Wildflowers, a name that stuck, and the adult women, most of which had children of their own now, still called themselves that.

They had inherited the defunct all-girls summer camp a few years back and had turned it into an extremely successful business that drew so much attention that each of the nearly fifty cabins around the property were fully booked year-round.

The camp offered a private beach, three swimming pools, an exclusive golf course, zip lines, paddleboats, sailing, tennis, pickleball, and volleyball, as well as classes such as yoga, skilled self-defense, woodworking, painting, and pottery making. There was so much to do on the massive property that not even the employees ever felt bored.

All of the employees had more than one job to do. You weren't just a waiter, you were a camp counselor. Every day during your shift, you oversaw at least one event. Dean's favorite counselor task was helping out during dance lessons and playing partner to all the women who were unable to talk their husbands or partners into taking the class with them. His next favorite was helping out with the zip lines.

Dean waited and smiled back at Andrea, watching her until she stopped directly next to him.

Why in the hell hadn't he made a move on her yet? Oh, that's right. His feelings for Andrea went beyond anything he'd ever felt before. Which scared the shit out of him.

From the moment he'd seen her in second grade, Andrea had stolen his heart. Once, when he'd been drunk at an after-football party, he'd decided to make a move on her. Then he'd seen Tommy's arm around her and had backed off.

He'd thought of trying a few more times over the years but their friendship had grown, and he was pretty sure she considered him friend material only. So he'd given up but secretly wished that one day he'd have the balls to tell her how he felt.

"What's up?" he asked as he threw an arm over her shoulders and started walking a little slower to match her pace.

"Can you cover for me today at lunch at the volleyball net. I'm supposed to referee two games," she asked him, and he felt his heart break a little.

"Sure, why?" He knew he'd hate the answer but needed to hear what she was up to. Who she was going to be with.

"I have a dentist appointment," she said quickly. "I forgot about it until they just called." She groaned.

Andrea had been in and out of braces in her youth and now, as an adult, she was wearing the invisible liners most days.

"What about Kara?" he asked.

"She's booked solid during lunch. Gosh, I really need to hire a third person." Andrea sighed and glanced over at him. "You still happy waiting tables?"

He chuckled. "I'm not officially certified to do your job."

"We both know you're better at it than I am." She nudged his ribs with her elbow. "It's just about five hundred hours of training and a test. Easy peasy and you'd be rolling in the big bucks instead of working for dollars and getting stuff spilled on you all day." She touched the spot of dried food he'd spilled earlier that morning.

He thought about it. "Who would train me? You?" he joked.

"Sure." She smiled back at him. "You could come in on your days off or switch up your hours a little if you want?"

The thought of spending that much time with Andrea thrilled him. Besides, he'd been trying to save up to purchase his own place instead of renting the small apartment he had in town.

Everyone knew that the massage therapists raked in money at the resort.

"Think about it." She touched his arm and then squeezed it. "About today?"

"I'll cover for you," he agreed easily.

The smile she flashed him was all the reward he needed, but then she surprised him by wrapping her arms around him before dashing back down the pathway.

He stepped into the main building on the campgrounds and waved to Beth as he walked by the front desk. Beth, a young dark-haired woman who was always cheerful yet had a sad look behind her amber eyes, waved back at him as she continued to talk on the phone.

He made his way down the hallway and knocked on Elle's office door. He stepped in when she called out for him to enter.

Elle sat behind her large desk while Zoey and Hannah sat in chairs facing her. Elle waved him in and waited until he shut the door.

"Is it done?" Elle asked him eagerly.

He nodded and the three friends squealed with delight.

"When?" Hannah asked.

"Tomorrow evening," he answered with a grin.

"Remember, no one can find out until then," Zoey said, her eyes narrowing at him.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "The Wildflowers and their secret missions."

"Hey, when you're married and trying to keep secrets from your spouse, you'll understand why we have to go to such lengths." Elle pointed a finger at him.

"Isn't this sort of stupid?" he asked and all three women glared at him. "I mean, it's the anniversary of when you hired them, not your weddings or birthdays or anything."

"It's the most important of anniversaries." Zoey stood up slowly. "If those three men hadn't strolled into our lives"—she waved towards her two friends—"then we wouldn't be Costas. Sisters for real." Zoey smiled at Hannah and Elle. "That day nine years ago changed all of our lives."

"Which is why we're tricking them and throwing a party." Hannah smiled.

"You three are always throwing parties," he pointed out. "It's sort of your job."

They all laughed. "This one is for us, not guests," Elle said. "Thank you for your part."

He shrugged. "All I did was ask them to lend me a hand tomorrow night moving some stuff. I sort of think they suspected something."

It wasn't as if he didn't normally hang out with Owen, Dylan, or Liam Costas all the time anyway. Hell, when Owen and Hannah had moved a few years back, he'd been there helping load and unload the truck along with a few other guys that he worked with.

When he'd asked the three brothers about the next night, they hadn't so much as raised a brow in suspicion, which in itself was a warning they suspected something.

"Thank you," Elle said standing up. "We'll take it from here." She rubbed her hands together. "Oh, you will be there tomorrow, right?"

He nodded. "I'm off, but I'll be there."

The three friends smiled at him and, before they could drag him into another one of their crazy and fun schemes, he walked out of the room.

Nine years. Had he really been working here that long? It seemed like just yesterday. He'd never worked at a job more than six months before coming here.

Waiting tables wasn't a boring job. No job at River Camps was. Still, for the rest of the day, while he served food, cleared tables, and refereed a few volleyball games, he thought about Andrea's offer.

Maybe it was time for a change. He was going to be thirty at the end of the year and what did he really have to show for it?

A shithole apartment above a laundromat, a truck whose payments ate up most of his tips each month, and a phone full of numbers belonging to women he's stopped seeing because, let's face facts, they weren't Andrea.

Right after the lunch rush was over, he made his way to the building that was still called the pool house but held four massage rooms, tanning beds, and a sauna, in addition to changing rooms for anyone needing to switch into swim attire. It sat directly next to the largest pool on the grounds, which had a large outdoor bar where guests could order food and drinks. The sandy volleyball area sat directly opposite the pool house on the other side of the pool. It was one of the busiest locations on the grounds come summer months.

Now, with the sun high in the sky, there were a handful of guests lounging around the pool, but the water was still only seventy degrees, so no one was in the water yet.

Inside, there were four guests in the waiting area, and he wondered if he'd have to wait to talk to Andrea.

"Hey," Kara said as she stepped out of one of the back rooms.

"Hey." He smiled at the young blond woman.

Kara and Dean's friend Carter, who was a local vet and oversaw all of the horses on the grounds, had recently gotten married. He'd had the pleasure of standing up as best man for his friend. Carter, Brett, Damion and he were as close as four guys could be without being blood. "Is Andrea busy?"

Kara glanced down at her watch. "She should be ending her current session…" She broke off when the door beside her opened and Andrea stepped out. "Now." She chuckled and stepped past him. "Mary?" she called into the room, and Kara's next client stood up and followed her down the hallway.

Andrea smiled at him and then moved out of the way for Kara and her client to walk by.

"Thanks for filling in for me earlier," Andrea said as she walked over and looked at the computer screen behind the reception desk.

"Sure," he said, feeling suddenly stupid. "Um, I was thinking about what we talked about earlier."

Andrea's eyes moved back up to him. "Oh?"

"Yeah, I mean, if you're okay with it, I have tomorrow off. I can shadow you."

Her smile was quick. "Be here at six."

"Jesus, in the morning?" he balked, causing her to laugh.

"I've seen you here earlier than that." She nudged his shoulder. "Six, here, tomorrow." She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you're serious, that is." She glanced around the waiting area and then called out. "Mark?"

An older man stood up and made his way towards them. "See you then," he said, stepping aside.

He could see why they needed a third person. Before he managed to get out of the building, two more people came inside and wrote their names down on the list.

Come summer, he knew that they would only take appointments instead of allowing customers to walk in and sign up for the next available spot.

As he walked down the pathway back to the main building, he started wondering why he'd waited so long to try something new. Not that the past few years working at the camp had been boring. Hell, if anything, they had been filled with too many things.

First, the craziness of Ryan, an old employee he'd flirted with, who had almost shot and killed Dylan. If Zoey hadn't been such a kick ass, the crazy woman would have succeeded. Of course, that just set Ryan off, and she did everything in her power to make life hell for the five best friends for the next few years. Then Hannah had been kidnapped. There was the hurricane where Levi had almost died. The camp had sustained a lot of damage, and Aiden and his crew had kept busy fixing the damage done to some of the cabins and building new ones.

Then there was that whole fiasco with Lea, who had almost died at the hands of two racist asshats. That ordeal had scared everyone and had forced the camp to hire full-time security, headed by Brett Jewel, who had married Lea shortly after taking the job. Every employee in the camp had to undergo bi-monthly emergency training to keep up to date on what to do in cases of emergency weather or crazy people who wanted to harm guests or employees.

The last scare was when Damion had been shot by Lisa Tribberton, who had had a psychotic break and had killed her husband a few days prior.

No, working at the camp was anything but dull. Which is why, he supposed, he'd been content waiting tables.

Until now. Just the prospect of learning something new, a real trade, excited him. Almost as much as working side by side with Andrea.