Win digested that as she made herself take a bite of the bison and veggie-noodle lasagna Kai had served. She was eating for two, after all.
“You have to meet her,” Avery said. “It’s going to be worse the longer you put it off. Angus is giving her a tour of Base Camp right now. When you’re done, let’s take your dishes back and get some tea together. You’ll meet her, hang out for a minute, then we’ll come back here. That works, right?”
“I guess so.”
Fifteen minutes later they entered the bunkhouse kitchen and handed over Win’s dishes to Kai. Returning to the main room, Avery pulled her to a small table under one of the windows where a model of Base Camp was laid out. She nudged one of the miniature greenhouses into a straighter position.
“Here they come,” she hissed. “Act cool.”
The door opened, and Angus, Leslie and Byron walked in. Angus came to a halt and frowned when he noticed Win and Avery.
“I recognize everything at Base Camp,” Leslie said brightly. “I even know I’m supposed to sleep on this side of the bunkroom.” She strode over to where Win and Avery were loitering. “You’re Avery Lightfoot. I met you at dinner, although I already knew you from the show, of course, and you’re Win Lisle—wait!” Leslie made a face. “What are you doing back? I thought you’d left. When did you—” She turned on Angus. Turned back again. “Wait a minute, you saw her in town, didn’t you? And you—” She pointed an accusing finger at Win. “You’re here to steal my man!”
Win was too surprised to answer. Angus made an incomprehensible sound. Even Byron winced.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” Leslie went on. “You want Angus back. And you all promised you’d give me a fair chance. You promised all of us backup brides.”
“I—”
“Well, you can just go back to wherever you came from because you can’t have him,” Leslie declared. “You left. Now it’s my turn. I said I’d marry Angus McBride, and that’s exactly what I’ll do, because we Bakers stick to our word! That’s a pretty color on you, though; is that one of the dresses you had before, or did you get it made when you decided to come back? Did you go home or take a trip somewhere? Have you been to Europe? Germany is my favorite country. They eat a lot of sausage there, and I like sausage. They’re also great engineers, and I have a lot of respect for a nation that’s decided to all be practical. I think we could learn something from them, don’t you?”
“I—”
“I’m going to sleep over here a little away from you, because you’re my rival and rivals shouldn’t spend a lot of time together because they might become friends, and that would be even worse if I married my friend’s ex and not my rival’s ex, you know? I once knew a girl who dated her sister’s husband’s brother and then married her sister’s husband. That’s got to be seriously awkward at Christmas, don’t you think?”
“I’m not—”
“Is that a scale model of Base Camp?” Leslie moved closer to the small table where Greg Devon’s carvings sat. “I saw that on the show and thought it was so cute; it’s like a doll house, you know, but really a doll camp. A doll community. Because it’s not really a house; it’s the whole thing. The land and the houses and the hillside and even the forest. And where’s the creek? I like the creek. I bet there’s fish in there. Maybe not now. It’d be cold for fish. Do you think they feel cold? I do.”
“You need a bed!” Angus burst out. He strode to the cupboard where they kept the sleeping mats when they weren’t using them, pulled one out and tossed it to Leslie, who caught it handily. When she’d undone the strap and spread it on the floor, he tossed her a sleeping bag and pillow. She caught them, too, and got to work making up her bed.
“One thing about Angus, rival,” Leslie remarked to her as she worked. “He’s kind of cranky, don’t you think?”
Win had never thought so before, but Leslie was right; he sure seemed short-tempered tonight.
“I think you’re exactly right,” she said solemnly and was rewarded by a glare from Angus, who’d clearly heard her.
Leslie scooted a little farther away. “I’m already starting to like you,” she sighed. “Stealing your man is going to be hard.”
“Dude, you love Win, not this Leslie person,” Kai said when Angus slipped into the kitchen for a cup of coffee the next morning. He was going to need it; he hadn’t slept nearly enough. Win and Avery had left the bunkhouse soon after he arrived with Leslie last night, much to the surprise of Leslie, who hadn’t known Avery had moved into Walker’s tiny house. Sleeping with only Walker, Leslie and Byron in the bunkhouse with him had been awkward to say the least.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he said, filling his cup.
Leslie had still been talking a mile a minute when Walker turned out the lights, and Angus had braced himself for a long night, but she’d piped down and fallen asleep almost immediately.
He’d lain awake quite a while, his thoughts on Win. If he was honest, he’d thought long and hard about going to Avery’s tiny house, throwing Avery out and pulling Win into his arms. A few hours with Leslie had him craving Win.
But then he always craved Win.
“Why did you agree to spend a month with Leslie?” Kai asked.
All those months without hadn’t changed how Angus felt one bit. Every fiber of his being still ached to touch her. He kept imagining the curve of her jaw, her full lips, the weight of her breasts in his hands. His groin stirred—again.
He was out of control.
Long ago he’d decided that once a woman made up her
