Page 54 of The Kiss Keeper
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, it’s…”
The best thing ever. Like no sensation he’d ever experienced. Scratch that. It’s exactly the best thing he’d ever experienced because she was his kiss keeper. Those lips. That smile. Despite everything that he had on the line, all he wanted to do was take her into his arms, press his lips to hers, and kiss her until the world disappeared.
“It’s what?” Natalie asked with a tantalizing curve to her lips.
He stared into her eyes, completely lost. “There’s nothing better than kissing your aunt Natalie.”
Natalie’s gaze softened, drawing him into a place where only love and kindness existed, as the children threw out a chorus of moans and groans but went silent when the camp bell rang.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Five rings!
“It’s an emergency!” Annabelle cried.
That’s right. Five rings told everyone to—
Natalie gasped. “We need to get to the flagpole at the center of camp. That’s where everyone is supposed to meet if there’s ever an emergency.”
He nodded. He remembered the drill from back when he was a camper.
The kids set off down the trail with Finn at the head of the line as he and Natalie followed behind.
“What do you think it is?” he asked.
“I don’t know. A lost child. Maybe a medical emergency. It could be anything,” she replied when Fish came huffing up the trail.
“It’s an all hands-on deck situation,” the big man said, turning to jog alongside them.
“What happened?” Natalie asked.
“Your grandparents had a few community service activities planned for the week.”
“Okay.”
“They’d scheduled a car wash and invited a few community groups to camp.”
“Which ones?” Natalie asked.
“The local Elks Club for some fishing, the high school marching band to swim in the cove, and the retired nuns from the convent are here, too,” Fish answered, counting off the groups on his fingers.
“Nuns?” Jake repeated.
“Yeah, Hal and Bev open the camp up all the time to the community. Bev does an art class with them,” Fish answered.
“What’s the problem?” Natalie asked.
Fish slowed to a walk and mopped his brow with a handkerchief. “They were supposed to come on different days this week, but they’re all here right now.”
“Right now?” Natalie parroted back.
“Right now,” the man replied.
“All of them?” she questioned.
“Yep, all of them. And your grandparents aren’t here. Your grandpa had an appointment, and then they were going to pick up the lobsters for tonight,” Fish replied as they came out of the woods to find complete pandemonium.
“Oh, boy,” she said, followed by an overwhelmed sigh as the children continued down the hill and ran into the crowd.
