escaped Miles as her face grew warmer, no doubt also growing redder by the second.
“I’m calling it a night,” Paige said, getting up from the chair, completely forgetting the hot chocolate in her hand. It sloshed over the rim of the mug and down the front of her shirt. Great. Just what she needed on night one at base camp — to look like the clumsy girl she normally wasn’t. Now they’d all think the reason she and Cassidy were such fast friends was because of their affinity for accidents — clumsy girls united.
Not to mention, now Miles would realize she could be flustered with a simple smile from him. Awesome. One of the many reasons guys as sexy and confident as Miles didn’t go for girls like her … why Brad hadn’t gone for her either. Because no guy who could make you forget yourself with a smile or a nod — or hell, by sitting in a chair in a fitted tee — could ever find an ordinary girl like her worth his time or interest.
At least now she wouldn’t have to worry about how she acted around him since there was no possible way he’d ever look at her as anything other than the girl who spilled hot chocolate on herself.
Paige let herself back into the room she shared with Zoe. It would be a long, long month sharing a room with her, but there was nothing she could do about it. Better to suck it up and make the best of things as always.
She grabbed the tank top and shorts she wore for pajamas and quickly changed, thankful that on this show she didn’t have to change in the bathroom every day like she’d had to on
The One
. This time, Chip hadn’t been allowed to put cameras and microphones in every corner of every room in the hotel. Only the common areas had cameras. She’d heard something about privacy laws since parts of the hotel were still open to regular guests.
Paige didn’t mind at all. She’d hated feeling like a caged mouse in some giant lab experiment on the other show. At least here she could escape to her room for privacy as needed.
Zoe strolled into the room just as Paige pulled her tank top down to cover herself. So much for privacy.
“Could you knock next time?” Paige asked. “I don’t really want to flash my chest to everyone walking by the room when you barge in unannounced.”
“Go change in the bathroom if you’re a prude. It’s not like anyone would see anything anyways.”
“Gee, thanks.” Paige climbed into bed and propped herself against the wall so she could relax with her book for a while before falling asleep. Reading always helped her unwind and de-stress after a busy day. “I’m not a prude. I just don’t believe in showing off my assets to anyone and everyone.”
“First you’d have to figure out what your assets are to show them off. When you’re ready for your big girl boobies, you just let me know. Until then, I wouldn’t worry about anyone noticing you — naked or not.” Zoe laughed and disappeared into the bathroom.
Paige gritted her teeth and forced herself to focus on the words in front of her. What she needed tonight was to get lost in her book and forget that Zoe even existed for a while. Just as she felt her shoulders relaxing, sounds of Zoe singing filtered out of the bathroom.
Sighing, Paige put her book aside, clicked off her light, and rolled away from the bathroom and the noise Zoe called singing. No chance of forgetting she existed when her squawking made it impossible to read.
Nope. Better to just go to sleep and let today end. Finally.
Chapter Five
Miles pulled off the winding dirt road and into a small deserted parking lot at the beginning of the trail. This was their third cache of the day and they still had yet to find a prize in one. He’d hoped this one was remote enough that they’d be the first to find it and maybe there’d even be some money inside.
They grabbed their logbook, GPS, and a couple of water bottles and started down the trail. The GPS said they had half a mile to go. A long hike made longer by Ben