That almost made Ty laugh, but he held it in. “There’s a deer family to the right.” He pointed to them.

Imogen started. “Wow. They’re big. And close to the road.” She shot him a wary look. “What other kinds of animals are there here?”

“Squirrel, deer, opossums, rabbit, foxes, maybe coyotes. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing dangerous.” He wasn’t going to mention that occasionally a venomous cottonhead snake was spotted.

“Coyotes? That sounds dangerous.”

“Nah. They run as soon as they see you.” Ty made a mental note never to leave Imogen alone for the next twenty-four hours. In all his years tromping through the Lake Norman State Park, he’d never seen a coyote, and with his luck, Imogen would have a whole pack tear past her and he’d never get her back in the woods.

That thought gave him pause. Did he want to get her back in the woods? He’d reserve opinion on that until they were on their way out of the park instead of the way in, but he suspected the answer might be yes.

“Alright, we’re looking for a sign for a turnoff called Camp Lane. How original is that? If you spot it, give a yell.” Ty had been to the site before, but it had been a couple of years, and he knew he couldn’t find the turnoff on his own. He also suspected he wouldn’t be able to decipher the sign, so he’d put Imogen on the task.

“Okay. So what does one do exactly while camping?” she asked, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

Ty grinned at her. “We’re going to go hiking. Swimming. Fishing. And we’re going to make love in a sleeping bag. Or maybe on the sleeping bag. Depends how impatient we are to get to it. Does all that sound alright with you?”

“I think I can handle that,” she said briskly, pushing her glasses up her nose.

“Good.” He was bemused by her. “And you’re being very polite not to ask, but I want to reassure you that I did read Much Ado About Nothing.” In a roundabout sort of way. “So I upheld my end of the bargain. I’m not sure I could write a term paper on it, but I think I can have a reasonable discussion with you about it.”

She smiled for the first time since he had picked her up. “Thank you. Did you like it?”

“Yeah, I did.” He had to admit, it was an entertaining story. “I was right about Beatrice, you know. Total man hater. And she’s ticked at herself for what she perceives as her own personal weakness for falling in love with Benedick.”

“That’s true. She certainly fights the feeling.”

“What’s so wrong with falling in love anyway? I always imagined it was kind of a good feeling. There wouldn’t be damn near as many songs, books, and movies about it if it wasn’t.”