Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
It’s awesome and scary, all at the same time.
The lights in the cabin are still on when I pull up behind the house near the back door. Hopefully, Zack is settled in there. I am so embarrassed that I made the hall-pass comment earlier. But in my defense, I never in a million years would have expected that Zack Prescott was the person ringing the doorbell, and he has been my hall pass since he did a few rom-coms that I fell in love with in my mid-twenties. The man is sexy. In fact, I think People magazine has named him the sexiest man alive twice.
Because he’s that hot.
And now I find out he’s my man’s best friend, which is mind blowing. I hope I didn’t hurt Tucker’s feelings with the hall-pass comment. Because that’s not cool. I’ll have to talk to him about it.
I’ve just stepped out of my SUV and am about to walk inside when I hear . . . something. An animal noise, like a huff, that has me pausing in my tracks.
Shit. That sounded like a bear.
I turn in a circle, my eyes wide as I try to see better in the dark. At first, I don’t see anything at all, and just when I’m about to run for the door, I see eyes glowing not ten feet away from me.
Oh God.
“Hi.” I lick my lips and slowly inch toward the back door, fumbling in my pocket for my phone without taking my eyes off the bear. I can’t tell if it’s a black bear or a grizzly because it’s mostly in shadows, but I pray with everything in me to a god I don’t even believe in that this bear doesn’t have babies nearby. Because if she does, this could turn very bad, very fast.
I glance down quickly to dial Tucker’s number, and he answers on the first ring.
“Hey, Duch—”
“Come out the back door now. Bear.”
“Don’t you fucking move.” His voice is hard, and I can hear him running. “Darby, how far away?”
“Feet,” I whisper, and I can hear the fear in my voice. But before I can say anything else, the back door opens, and I hear Tucker run onto the deck.
“Hey!” He yells, and the bear huffs again. “Get out of here. Go on!”
I back up a few steps, not willing to turn around.
“I’ve got you,” Tucker says calmly. “You can walk up here. I have a rifle trained on her, baby.”
I spin and run up the stairs, and when I’m next to Tucker, I turn to find that the bear hasn’t moved. And then suddenly, two little cubs come bouncing out from under the deck toward their mama, and I let out a gusty breath.
“She would have killed me,” I whisper. “Jesus, I didn’t see them—”
“Shh.” Tucker wraps his free arm around me and kisses my head, then turns back to the bear. “Go on, Mama Bear. Take your babies and go somewhere else.”
He shoots one shot in the air, and the bear turns and runs away, the babies running after her.
Suddenly, the cabin door flies open and Zack comes running out, dressed only in boxer briefs, and I have to bite my lip to keep from gasping.
They gave him the superhero role for a freaking reason.
“What the fucking fuck?” Zack demands.
“Bear,” Tucker says. “She was staring Darby down.”
“Sorry if that woke you,” I add.
“No, she’s not,” Tucker says, and kisses my head. “Go back to bed, Z.”
Zack shakes his head and goes back inside, and Tucker leads me into the house.
“Well, I was tired,” I tell him. “And now I need a drink.”
“How was work?” he asks as he takes down two glasses and pours us each a finger of whiskey.
“Everything ended up okay.” I accept the drink and swig it down all at once, enjoying the way it burns on the way to my stomach. “Then I came home to that. At least she wasn’t a grizzly.”
“Either way, mama bears are not to be fucked with,” he says.
“I didn’t see her. She was in the dark. I heard her, and then I froze and looked around, spotted her. She was warning me. Did I upset you with my hall-pass comment earlier?”
He blinks at the quick change of subject, and then he lets out a laugh and shakes his head.
“Everyone has something to say when it comes to Zack,” he replies with a shrug. “The girls all love him. I’m used to it.”
“No, I am not those girls. I was taken by surprise, that’s all. You’re way hotter than Zack.”
Tucker smirks and reaches out to tuck my hair behind my ear. “I know.”
He doesn’t look mad or hurt. He genuinely looks like he thinks it’s funny.
“I want to apologize if I made you feel any kind of way.”
“You didn’t.” He grabs my hand and tugs me to him, wraps his arms around me and kisses me thoroughly, making my knees weak. “But there are no fucking hall passes for either of us, ever.”