“Yep.” Gunnar shuffled his cards, then looked at Julie. “Poker or rummy?”
She pressed her lips together to contain her smile as Sunny huffed.
“Well… tell me who she is?” Sunny shook the book in Gunnar’s direction.
“Nope.” Gunnar popped the “p” for emphasis.
Sunny glared across the tent at him, but he just ignored her and dealt the cards. Julie’s gaze bounced between the two, loving the sibling back and forth that she’d missed so much. When he didn’t answer, Sunny lifted her eyebrow in a look that meant war.
“Did Gunnar tell you he read quite a few books over the winter?” Sunny smiled a calculated look at Julie.
“Um… no.” She tried to stifle her amusement.
“Sunniva.” Gunnar never used Sunny’s full name.
Whatever she had on him must be good.
“He practically devoured my romances. He’d snatch them up before I could even get to them.” Sunny played up the drama.
“Not true.” Gunnar tossed a card into Julie’s growing pile. “And you’ll never find out about Bristol now.”
“So, you didn’t read the books?” Julie grabbed up her cards but didn’t look at them.
He stared at his hand, his mouth shifting to the side in thought as he moved cards around. “No, I read them.”
“Okay.” Julie snickered and glanced at Sunny, who rolled her eyes.
“I just didn’t devour them like my twerp of a sister is claiming.”
“What did you think?”
“They were…” His pause had Julie leaning closer. “Enlightening.”
He speared her with a look so steeped with heat she wondered just what was in these books of Sunny’s. His eyes dropped to Julie’s cracked lips that were far from attractive. Yet, the longer he stared at them, the more she wanted to lean over, chapped lips or not, and press them to his. He winked at her, and instantly her cheeks were on fire.
“Ugh, stop.” Sunny whacked Gunnar on the arm with the book. “I only read clean romance, and you know it, you lug.”
“Sure.” He drew out the word.
“Really. Anything more than kissing, and I get uncomfortable.” Now, Sunny’s cheeks bloomed a bright red. “That’s not to say the scenes aren’t steamy.”
“You’ve got that right.” Gunnar wagged his eyebrows up and down, earning another whack from the book.
“They just don’t go too far,” Sunny continued, throwing another glare at Gunnar before softening it. “Please, you have to tell me who Bristol North is.”
“Don’t think so.” Gunnar lifted his cards at Julie. “We playing?”
“Please.” Sunny laid her hand on Gunnar’s arm.
“It’s a secret pen name for a reason, Sunny.” He shrugged her hand off.
“I won’t tell a soul. I promise.” She replaced her hand. “You can trust me.”
Gunnar stared at her, his face softening. “I know I can.”
Since the expedition got on the way, Julie got the distinct impression that Sunny had a major issue with trust. Gunnar’s soft words brought tears to Julie’s eyes. He had to know how important it was to Sunny that he trust her.
“Okay, listen. I really can’t tell you who she is, but what if I ask her to contact you?”
Julie liked that Gunnar wouldn’t tell them the secret.
Sunny nodded, her excited look deflating a little. “I can respect that you don’t want to break her trust. How’d you find out who she is?”
He shrugged, shifting the cards in his hands. “She needed help moving some stuff. Some boxes tipped over and dumped a ton of her books.” Gunnar stretched out his leg behind Julie, so it pushed along her body. “Are we playing or not?”
Julie tucked her head to her cards, pressing her lips tightly to contain her smile. Gunnar may not say a lot, but she was learning so much from the things that he did. One thing was for sure, he still wanted to see those he loved happy. It was what she’d always admired about him.