Chapter Seventeen
Posy
“Which one are you?” I called. “And why are you hiding like that?”
“It’s me.” He emerged from behind a tree—impressive that the trees were so big these bear shifters could hide behind one. “Judah. And I didn’t want to startle you.”
“I see.” I stood straight up, suppressing any embarrassment in the name of pride. “I’m not startled.”
“No, I get that.” His gaze settled on me, taking in every inch of me from head to toe, from nipples pointed with the cold to ankles I didn’t even know could get goose bumps. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” I said, forcing myself not to cross my arms over my chest. “I grew up with shifters, and you expect me to be shy?”
“I’m sorry because I didn’t just walk up and tell you I was here. I’m glad you are not trying to hide your beauty. But I think you’re cold, and you’d better come out and get dressed so we can get back to the others.”
Trying to lift a foot, I shivered. “I-I am not sure I can move. I’m just too frozen.”
“Then I’m coming in to get you.” He bent at the waist to unlace his boots then stepped out of them.
“We didn’t dream of a mate all these years only to lose her to frostbite.
” Rolling up his pant legs, he strode into the stream and lifted me into his arms. “You’re so cold.
Why did you come down here, anyway? To catch your death of pneumonia? ”
“N-no.” She shook her head. “I needed a bath.”
“And in twenty-degree weather, you thought the best way to do that was in snow melt? Instead of waiting until we get back to the campground where you can use that big tub in your trailer?” He marched out of the stream and onto the bank, reaching down for his shoes and socks and picking them up while holding me with one strong arm.
“Can you handle these until we get to where we spent the night?”
I took the shoes and socks he should be wearing instead of walking barefoot. “Of course, but I need to put my clothes on, too.”
“What a shame,” he muttered. “To cover up something so beautiful.” But he did set me down long enough to dress.
“And with such inadequate clothing.” Shrugging off his jacket, he wrapped it around me before lifting me again and starting back for the trail.
“If you’re going to travel with us, you’ll need to be better prepared. ”
Travel with them? Beyond this week?
Did I dare hope?
“I’ll need some guidance,” I told him, resting my cheek on his chest. “This is the longest trip I’ve ever been on, you know.”
“We should have helped you sooner,” he soothed.
“Sometimes, we forget other people aren’t used to living out of a suitcase for weeks on end with everything they need.
It’s an art we didn’t learn overnight, either, and I could tell you some stories.
For example, the time we went swimming with the sharks, and the company managing the cages was, shall we say, less than reputable? ”
“Oh no!” I stopped shivering, I was so shocked. Also, I was wrapped in his jacket and held tight against his warm body. “What happened?”
“Picture this. You’re out in the middle of Shark Lagoon—our nickname for it—and you didn’t bring any of your own equipment because they promised to have everything you needed.”
“So that sounds good.” I tipped my head back to look up at his face. “But I’m gathering it wasn’t?”
“Picture rust. The cage on the ship we chartered was more rust than steel, a fact we did not realize until we were already way out at sea, thousands of miles from home, and with a video to shoot. It was early on, and we were figuring a lot out, and of course were on a shoestring budget because we hadn’t hit our first million subscribers. Not anywhere near.”
“I haven’t ever seen that video.”
“It didn’t make the cut because unlike some of our misadventures which are cute or funny or have satisfying endings, it was a nightmare from start to finish.”
“Oh no. Did any of you get hurt?”
“Not us. But someone else. I have the footage you can look at if you ever want to.”
I shuddered. “I don’t know. While I love the idea of seeing an exclusive Three Bears Road Trip, I’m not good with gore.”
He chuckled. “It’s not quite gore, but I can do an edit to save you from the accident.
We could have done that and put it out there, but we had a contract with the shark cage people as sponsors, and if we had put it out there, we couldn’t have told our viewers the truth.
We were contractually prohibited to do anything to hurt their business—which our opinion 100 percent would have done.
Good news is, they are out of business now, after a few lawsuits, and the contract is no longer an issue. ”
“So, are you going to put it up, then?”
“Maybe so. I’m starving. You?”