Lost Without You by Heather Thurmeier Read Free Book Online Page A

fun.
    â€œEach team will have to hunt, forage, and scrounge whatever food sources they can find. You’ll each have thirty minutes to track down food, then you’ll have another thirty minutes to prepare a meal using the fire pits and cooking utensils you see here.”
    She looked around, noticing for the first time the fire pits and very basic cooking gear stacked beside each. It had been easy to miss the cooking areas at first since each was tucked into its own alcove of rocks. The surrounding trees and bushes made natural barriers between the different areas, which would provide the teams with privacy while cooking.
    Zoe glanced to Chip who stood there smiling, clearly enjoying this challenge he’d designed. Chip really had done her a favor not putting her on the show. She would have failed horribly at this challenge. And at surviving around their primitive camps too.
    She looked back to the contestants still waiting for the last of their directions before they were given the green light to get started. She forced herself not to stare at the camera directly in front of her. She’d always been fine as a contestant not looking directly at the camera. She knew not to do that. But as a host, sometimes she had to talk to the camera and other times she had to talk to the contestants. Getting the right balance of both was trickier than Spencer Daley, the host for her shows, had ever made it look.
    â€œAfter you prepare your meal, you’ll dish it out onto five plates then set your plates over here to be judged. Everyone will taste the other team’s offerings, but no one will know which team cooked which dish. Each team will then pick their top two favorites as well as their choice for least favorite meal.”
    She paused for a moment while the production person flipped cue cards. “Are you curious to know what’s inside the boxes?”
    The teams cheered louder than before.
    She smiled. “Then let’s get this challenged started so we can pick a winner. Teams, your thirty minutes of prep time starts now.”
    The teams each took off in a different direction, almost as if they’d been told which way to go. Rick’s team sprinted off ahead of him, but he walked past Zoe slowly, smirking at her as his eyes traced a path from her hair to her toes. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling in response to his evaluation.
    â€œI’m gonna cook you up something real nice, baby. It’ll be like our first date, out here, in the wild … It might even make you want to get a little wild yourself.” He walked off with a wink and she burst out laughing, climbing down from the tree stump she’d been perched on while hosting. He was too much.
    â€œDo girls actually fall for lines like that where you come from?” she asked him.
    He turned back toward her. “Their panties certainly do.”
    Zoe felt her cheeks burn at his words as he walked off into the woods after the rest of his team. Her panties weren’t dropping for him because of one meal … or for any other reason actually. Maybe Rick was more of a player than she’d realized when she’d started her “harmless” flirting with him.
    She glanced over to where Chip stood, well within hearing range of that little conversation. He looked as if he was studying a production clipboard, but if the expression on his face was any indication, he was rather pissed at a production note. More likely, he’d just heard Rick’s comments too. And if she wasn’t mistaken, he seemed more turned off by them than even she was.
    â€œEverything okay, Chip?” she asked, hoping she sounded casual.
    â€œFine. Why?” he asked, not meeting her gaze.
    â€œYou seem a little annoyed at your clipboard.”
    â€œI’m fine, Zoe. Nothing to worry about, just a little hiccup in the production schedule to work out on the fly.” He scribbled a few notes in the margin then handed it