Page 109 of First Bride to Fall
No, that was hard—and made her lightheaded.
She had to breathe a little.
She sucked in a breath, and the hulking image loomed closer.
Okay, not good.Her pulse pounded.Not good at all.
Something shuffled in the grass, and Nell bit her lip.
She’d heard there was wildlife in these mountains. All kinds. Including people-eating bears. But the bears only attacked when they were really hungry and the people were careless.
Nell’s heart stuttered.
What did bears consider careless? Probably people like her, who’d left potato chips out as bait. Or maybe as bear appetizers.
If she’d been smart, she would have had that pocketknife of Grant’s on hand. But no, she was dumb. Which meant that she was extra tasty, because she was basically available.
Free lunch!
Or.Dinner!
Linner?
She felt faint.
It turned toward her, probably smelling her in the tent. Inwardly, she groaned. Of course, she’d usedstrawberryshampoo, and bears loved berries. Everyone knew that.
She decided to run and scream. Really loudly. Because seriously, by staying in here, she was making herself into the inside part of a tent sandwich. The meaty part. It was probably too much to hope the bear was a pescatarian or only into plant-based. This wasall Grant’s fault.
The monster raised a grisly paw and reached for the tent flap, and her hair stood on end, her pulse racing. Fight-or-flight time!
She shoved her arms out in front of her, shielding her face with her hands, and rocketed forward, screeching like a wild woman.Noooo. Don’t eat me…“Arghhh!”
Wham!She rammed straight into the beast, and it caught her in its arms.
Chapter Nineteen
“Nell?” Grant peered down at her ashen face. “Are you all right?” He steadied her shoulders in his hands, and her knees shook.
“Gr—Grant, oh!” She blew out a breath. “It’s you.”
“Who did you think it was?” He chuckled. “A great big ol’ bear?”
“That issonot funny.” She straightened her posture and smoothed back her hair. “But, uh. Yeah? Maybe?”
He felt bad for making her panic. Poor thing. She really was not a natural in the outdoors. She’d probably be ready to go home at any minute, which was all well and good. He didn’t need another moment between them like they’d experienced in the kitchen with that dish towel, or like yesterday’s waterplay with the hose. He’d never be able to get her out of his head—or out from under his skin—then.
“I’m sorry I startled you.” He stared at the erected tent. “But wow, look at you! You did all this?”
She gave him a shaky yet proud smile. “I did.”
He studied their surroundings, noting she’d made other accomplishments. “I see you got the bedroll done, and the sleeping bag, too.”
His eyebrows arched at the fire ring. “And the campfire is set up and ready to go. Very good.” Which was a lie. It looked more like she’d deposited a willy-nilly supply of sticks in a heap rather than intentionally laying a fire, but that didn’t matter in the scheme of things.
She seemed to notice that he’d showered and changed. “How long have you been back?”
“About fifteen minutes. Why?”
