Free Heart Of Gold by Bird Jessica Page B

She's your
age.”
    Cort
frowned. “How old is she?”
    “Fifteen.”
    “She's
younger than I am. I'm sixteen.” There was a stern note to his voice.
    “Oh,
sorry.” Carter hid her smile. “They're coming on Saturday. And even
with the age difference, I think you'll like Ellie. She's funny and very
smart.”
    He
shrugged offhandedly. “Yeah, sure. Hey, are you going to be okay up here
all alone until then?”
    “Absolutely.
I'm used to camping by myself.”
    “But
there are dangerous things in these woods and it's almost a week. Maybe you
should stay at our house.” He looked worried for her, his brows drawn in
arches over his eyes.
    “I'll
be fine.”
    “Maybe
I should stay up here with you.”
    Carter
was about to answer cavalierly when she caught the expression on his face. It
was full of hopeful warmth.
    Uh-oh,
she thought, as she began to see his attentiveness in a different light.
    She
smiled at him gently. “That's very kind of you but I'm looking forward to
some time by myself.”
    “Oh.
But I could come up during the day, though. You'll need help before your team
gets here, right?”
    “I'm
sure you have other things to do.” She rolled up an empty duffle and
crammed it into a vacant crate.
    “I
would have other stuff, if I was allowed to have a life,” he grumbled.
“I wanted to go crosscountry or hiking this summer but my uncle gets his
kicks out of torturing me.”
    “Well,
it's not going to be fun and games up here. I'm going to be working
nonstop.”
    “That's
okay, I just want to be with—up here.”
    Carter
fell silent, unsure what to do as she glanced in his direction. The kid's eyes
were showing the aching vulnerability that came with young crushes, and she
felt at a loss. She hoped that whatever he had for her was merely the amorous
equivalent of a twenty-four-hour virus. An intense case of infatuation that
he'd get over quickly. She didn't want him to get hurt.
    “Is
it that you don't want me here?” His voice wavered.
    “It's
not that, but—”
    “Great!
I'll come every morning. Early.”
    Carter
shook her head ruefully and decided it was too bad they didn't have some kind
of over-the-counter that could clear up puppy love. A decongestant for
fantasies.
    “All
right,” she said. “But I'm going to put you to work. And don't come
before eight. I'm really ugly until I've had my coffee.”
    “I'll
bet that's not true.” The words were blurted out as his eyes skipped away
from her.
    “Cort,”
she began softly. She wasn't sure where she was going to go with it but she
needed to set some boundaries.
    “What?”
he asked with an optimistic tone.
    The sound
of snapping twigs turned their heads and they both stiffened as Nick came out
of the woods. He was wearing hiking boots and shorts and had a maroon
sweatshirt tied around his waist. Carter looked away from him quickly and
concentrated instead on Cort. As the kid's eyes turned resentful, she decided
the intrusion was like stepping out of quicksand and into the path of a
stampede. Not an improvement, just a change in perils.
    “I've
been waiting anxiously for that tent-staking report,” Nick said smoothly
to Carter.
    She felt
her skin flush.
    “I
think I should stay up here with her,” Cort interjected with force.
“At least until the others come.”
    Nick's
eyebrow arched.
    “She
needs someone to protect her.”
    His uncle
laughed. “Based on my limited experience with Ms. Wessex, somehow I doubt that.”
    “She
shouldn't be alone.”
    “Then
she should come down to the house. You, however, are not going to stay up here
with her.”
    “Why
not?”
    As anger
and frustration flared between the two, Nick looked up to the sky. “Let's
not do this.”
    “Tell
me why!”
    “Carter,
is there anything you need that you don't have?” Nick asked pointedly.
    “I
want you to tell me why!” the kid shouted.
    “Cort,
I'm not going to do this now.”
    “Don't
brush me off.”
    “I'm
not brushing you off.”
    “The
hell