Page 42 of Cisco

Thinking about tomorrow—Tuesday—the first full day of camp, Hilly would normally be going over the entire day’s schedule in her head, but she couldn’t get past the fact that Cisco would be showing up sometime in the early afternoon, and it would be the first time she’d seen him since that kiss…

That epic kiss.

At least that’s what it had been for her.

And what had she done? She’d shut him down.

Sort of.

Hilly restlessly shifted to her side, punching her pillow.

What the hell was wrong with her? The best lip-lock of her life, and she’d basically told Cisco to take a hike until the end of the season. Which had killed her. But how had it affected him? For a guy like Cisco, getting pretty-much rejected, had to be a first. With that cheerful grin he always kept plastered on his handsome face, Hilly was certain he attracted women like badgers to honey. But…

As much as she wanted him, she refused to be a badger.

So, she’d put him off; told him they couldn’t have anything going on over the summer. That he’d have to wait until the camp and her schedule cleared at the end of August. By that time, she figured, he would have found out who she was—who she’d been—and he’d either turn up his nose and run the other way, or he’d go the pity-route and offer up a few charity-dates before jettisoning her sorry ass.

Hilly didn’t like either of those options, but Cisco making fast tracks away from her—not dragging out his rejection—would really be preferable. Which brought her full circle to thinking she should just tell him who she really was, and let him skitter back into the woodwork; no harm, no foul.

Right. Not happening. Can anyone say starry-eyed and chicken-shit?

Hilly sighed, rolling to her back once again to stare at the shadows moving across her ceiling that were cast by the night’s nearly full moon. She let her anger take hold. Why had she been blindsided with this when she’d worked long and hard making a solitary, comfortable life for herself? Why couldn’t Chief Ildavorg have sent a complete stranger, or a female cop to run the self-defense courses? What kind of mean-assed fate had stepped in so that now, twice a week, she’d be face to face with a guy on whom she’d crushed nearly twenty-years earlier?

The sucky kind of fate, that’s what kind.

Hilly rolled her shoulders, then brought her arms out from between the sheets to smooth annoyingly at her quilted comforter, plucking at the stitching and tufts with agitated fingers.

Dammit. She needed to settle and get some shut-eye.

Enough of feeling sorry for herself.

Cisco was only one, in a cast of over a hundred people with whom she’d interface over the summer, and she needed to think about all of them.

Her expression soured as she thought about the most annoying person on that list.

Debbie Gorner.

The woman—a complete unknown on Hilly’s plate this year—had already bugged the hell out of her. It would take all Hilly’s strength not to have words with the woman before the first week of camp was even finished.

As promised, after several false starts, the brash blonde had finally waltzed in late Sunday like she owned the place, waving Hilly off and going straight to her cabin where she’d stayed for the rest of the night.

All day today, while giving various excuses, Nurse Gorner turned up her nose at the camper’s meet-and-greet, the getting-to-know-you exercises, and even the two delicious meals Ellen Sothard had cooked and served up. Unbelievably, the nurse had stuck close to her cabin, eschewing all but the most necessary of interactions, letting Hilly know that she preferred eating her own food, which she would procure and provide for herself.

Not exactly the team player Hilly wanted at camp. But she supposed she couldn’t bitch too much. After all, she’d been in a bind, and the woman had stepped in on short notice to help her out.

Besides, Buffy and Ellen had Hilly’s back as two extremely sane adults on premise. Then there was…

Nope. Hilly twisted on her coverlet. She would not let her mind travel to Cisco again.

Instead, she refocused on camp issues, and in her head, ran through her staff counselors, one by one.

She had no uncertainties at all regarding the skills of those five teenagers who were returning to camp. Lisha, Fran, Jadan, Mateo, and Lance had all dropped seamlessly back into their roles as mentors and cheerleaders, making their new charges feel comfortable.

Midge, Bailey, and Maya, the new girls, looked to be picking things up quickly, with only Bailey holding herself somewhat aloof.

No. Aloof wasn’t the correct adjective for the teen. She was more like…self-assured; perhaps even cocky. And Hilly hadn’t missed the way she’d looked at a few of the boys she was working with like they were succulent fruit, ripe for picking.

Hilly would have to keep an eye on that one.

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