Page 58 of The Kiss Keeper
“It sounds like Natalie saved the day, though,” Hal added.
Natalie waved off the praise. “It was nothing. I just told everyone where to go.”
The old man’s features remained neutral. “No one else stepped up.”
“Jake helped, too,” she added.
Hal nodded. “How about you get dressed, Jake, and join me while I go check on the Elks Club?”
“I’d be glad to,” he replied, then took Natalie’s hand. “Unless you need me to stay.”
She smiled up at him with a look of such genuine gratitude the breath caught in his throat.
“Oh, we’ll be fine, dear. And Natalie can help me teach the sisters the four main shading techniques,” Bev answered, retrieving a bowl of oranges from the shelf as Sister Evangeline grumbled.
Natalie squeezed his hand. “I’m good. It’ll be nice to teach with my grandmother.”
He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’ll see you later.”
His fake girlfriend released a tiny gasp, clearly not expecting the kiss. They were supposed to be putting up a ruse of being a couple, faking a connection.
But he wasn’t pretending.
It felt natural.
Shit.
Hal tapped the doorframe. “Let’s head out, Jake. It looks like Bev and Nat have things under control.”
“Yes, sir! Absolutely,” he answered, whipping on his shirt, then grabbing his hat.
He needed some distance from playing the good boyfriend. That had to be it. They’d spent every moment together since he joined her in line at the airport, which seemed like a lifetime ago.
“Be good, you two,” Bev called after them.
He glanced over his shoulder into the art room and caught Natalie smiling and grazing her fingertips across her lips.
This con was getting complicated.
“Life happens fast here,” Hal said, leading him out of the lodge.
“Natalie said each hour feels like a day,” he answered, trying without much luck to get her out of his head. He couldn’t squander this one-on-one time with Hal. Any information he could glean from the head of the Woolwich family could be imperative in his plan to persuade the man to sell.
“It’s more like each hour feels like a month. There’s not a lot of bullshit when it comes to life at Camp Woolwich. Time is precious, and the moments here count.” The man stopped walking and inhaled a deep breath. “Do you mind if we rest for a second?”
“Sure,” he answered and stared at the waterfront, teeming with kids swimming and splashing as a pair of Sunfish sailboats bobbed with the current.
“Do you sail?” Hal asked.
He shook his head. “Not anymore.”
“I see,” the man replied.
“It’s beautiful here,” he said, hoping to shift the conversation away from himself.
“You’d know a thing or two about that, wouldn’t you, Mr. Teller?”
The breath caught in his throat. “I don’t understand what you mean, Hal.”
