some cookies. She was pretty sure cookies weren’t the ideal food for bears, but she also knew they were notorious for stealing food that wasn’t properly stored, so she made a mental note to ask Liam. Until then, she wasn’t promising the bear anything, so he would have to settle for her friendship.
“After you left yesterday, Liam took me to the main house, and I used the oven there to bake the rest of the cookies, so everything turned out okay in the end. I made more cookie dough this morning, and once baked, there will be plenty to share with everyone.”
The bear grunted, and she looked down at him, trying to decide what he was trying to convey with that sound.
Unfortunately, that meant she wasn’t paying attention to the road, and her foot slipped on a rock. She didn’t fall, but the uneven surface made her lose her balance, and she shuffled toward the side of the road as she tried to recover.
She gained her balance a second before reaching the side of the road, but when she tried to turn back toward the bear, she stepped on a loose piece of asphalt, and her ankle twisted, sending her face first toward the ground.
She dropped the bowl and reached out with her hands to stop the fall, but it was no use. Her palms slid on the forest floor, and the weight of her body, combined with the slanted terrain, pushed her forward. A small rock that was buried in the underbrush flew up and hit her on the forehead, but luckily, the momentum slowed seconds before she slammed into a tree.
The bear roared behind her, and a second later, Liam was by her side.
“Elle!”
He pulled her hair away from her face and swore.
“I’m okay,” she said, pushing herself up from the ground. Her palms stung, and once standing, she looked down to see she was covered in dirt.
God, Liam probably thought she was a hot mess.
“You’re not okay,” Liam said.
One minute she was standing next to him, and the next she was in his arms. His big, muscular arms. She knew she wasn’t light, which meant Liam was super strong, and that knowledge made her pussy tingle. She’d never dated a man who could lift her, let alone lift her without breaking a sweat, and her desire for him skyrocketed.
One arm was wrapped around her back, and the other was tucked under her knees, and she could think of no other place she would rather be…unless it was in his bed. Feeling the weight of his body on top of her like a blanket, all warm and thick and heavy.
Liam inhaled deep, as if he could smell her arousal, but he didn’t say a word as he started walking up the small incline she’d slid down. He also didn’t look at her, keeping his granite-like face looking forward, and she longed to lean forward and kiss his cheek. She wanted to know what his skin would feel like under her lips.
Stop it! He’s not interested in anything physical.
At least not with her.
That truth doused her arousal, and suddenly she remembered the mixing bowl filled with cookie dough. And the bear.
“Wait,” she said. “My mixing bowl. Is my dough okay?”
“You’re bleeding,” he growled, the sound reminding her of the bear. “You need first aid.”
“There it is,” she said, ignoring him.
She wasn’t bleeding bad, and she didn’t want to waste the dough if she didn’t have to. The bowl sat nestled in a patch of greenery, and the lid was still on. As long as the bowl hadn’t cracked, she would still be able to salvage her cookies.
Liam huffed, but he bent down and allowed her to grab the bowl, and then he started walking toward the main house. Elle looked back over his shoulder, but she didn’t see the bear anywhere.
“Where did the bear go?” she asked.
“What bear?” he asked, tightening his grip on her.
“The bear who was walking with me. You didn’t see him? And where were you? I didn’t see you anywhere near us, and then suddenly you were there. How did you get to me so fast?”
“I didn’t see the bear, and I was walking down the hill behind you. When you fell, I ran to catch up to you.”
She nodded her head, but she wasn’t totally convinced. How come she didn’t hear him coming down the hill? Wouldn’t the bear have run at his presence? Or at least alerted her that they weren’t alone? And