Wade Travers was walking alone again.

He hadn’t exactly intended to go on this particular walk, but his feet seemed to carry him out of his room, down the plush carpet of the main house hall and out onto the moonlit lawn of their own accord.

He strode past the pavilion where the fruity guitar instructor with the ponytail flirted with one of the lifeguards. Wade considered busting up their little party, but it wasn’t worth the bother when they were only talking. Maybe on his way back down he’d see some tits if he went over to scare them back to their cabins.

The pool lights were off, so the stars reflected in the lake beyond stood out against the darkness. Wade wondered carelessly if Honey would think walking by the lake was romantic. He’d do it if she wanted to, even if he got a couple of mosquito bites and the muddy bank ruined his Cole Haans.

But only if he was pretty sure he’d get some action afterward.

That was the problem with Honey McCarthy. She was not a reliable piece of ass. As a matter of fact, she had managed to avoid giving it up at all, in spite of Wade’s big-hearted attempts to romance her, including a trek off-campus to a nearby burger joint he loved.

But Honey was unmoved by his advances. She had even supposedly decided she didn’t want to date him.

An ordinary guy might have kicked the dirt and moved on.

But Wade was way too smart for that. He was rich, or at least he would be as soon as he had access to his trust fund. And he knew how women thought. He had even bought that sneaky, best-selling book about how to trick a man into proposing by pretending you didn’t care about him. And one of these days, he might even read it.

Honey wasn’t from a rich family, and she wasn’t smart enough to get rich on her own. Wade couldn’t blame her for being sly by trying to land a guy like himself. As a matter of fact, her low cunning had earned her his begrudging respect.

He had no intention of marrying her, of course. But with that strong, curvy body of hers he knew she’d be a fun lay for the summer. He always had one. And she would enjoy the perks that went along with dating a stakeholder’s kid.

As it turned out, Wade was learning that he liked a little challenge. So long as no other guys went sniffing around her, he’d give her a long leash. For now.

And no other guys would dare go sniffing around. Staff and guests weren’t allowed to fraternize. And staff members weren’t technically allowed to date, although that rule was never really enforced. But it didn’t matter. The male staff knew better than to get in the way of anything Wade Travers wanted.

He hummed a little tune to himself on his way up the hillside, stopping only when he got to the big staff cabins. He didn’t exactly want anyone to know that he was up here.

It wasn’t that he was a creepy stalker or anything like that. It was just that he worried about Honey up in the senior ladies staff cabin with only the two other girls. Their living room was a screened porch - anyone could get in there if they wanted.

So Wade liked to come up here some nights and keep a vigil. So far he had never got close enough to hear what they were talking about, but he liked the sound of their female voices and the sweet ripple of Honey’s laugh through the screen.

And if anyone ever came up here to give them any trouble, of course, he’d be right here, ready to protect her.

He reached the rhododendron bush that normally concealed him, and then slid his phone out of his pocket. He pulled up the camera and did that reverse pinch motion on the screen to zoom in.

He lifted the phone out of the bushes, without revealing himself. The cabin was lit inside, so he could often see the girls sitting around in their nighties. The one girl, Addy, never seemed to be out of her bathing suit, and the other one, Nikki, had a hot little teddy. Wade had thought more than once about having a quick fling with one or both of the others, just to make Honey jealous.

But tonight was not going to be a night for such pleasant schemes. Because what Wade saw in the camera frame made his blood boil.

There was a man in the cabin.