bad enough that he’s out here alone. But with the storm, we may never find him again.”
“But—”
“Go look in the back of my truck,” he said.
She glanced at his truck, then back to him. Then blew out a breath and headed over to his big black Ford Raptor. The truck bed had a cover on it and she folded it back. Inside was a live trap with two black bear cubs that were about four months old.
She came back a couple minutes later. “Fine. Have you seen him at least?”
Donovan grinned. In addition to being gorgeous and a calming force and someone who took care of everyone around her—including him, for some reason—Naomi was also an animal lover.
She was damned near perfect as far as he could tell.
“Yeah, caught a glimpse. He ran off that way.” Donovan pointed to the west as he got to his feet.
“What happened to the mom?”
“Hit by a vehicle, it seems.”
“These poor babies.”
“I know.”
She met his gaze. “It’s really not safe out here for you either. At least you got two of the cubs. I know it’s heartbreaking to think about leaving him behind, but come on. Your safety is important too.”
Donovan couldn’t look away from her. A part of him recognized that of course she would say something like that. Most human beings would be pleading for another person to keep themselves safe in a storm like this. But honestly, Donovan wasn’t used to people worrying about his safety. Griffin, sure, but Donovan had worked his ass off to keep things from Griffin that would make his brother worry.
He hadn’t made tight friendships in college on purpose, and when he’d been shooting his original TV show and then more recently, his YouTube series, the risks he took and the dangerous situations he’d found himself in worked for ratings. It was incredibly rare for someone to tell him to be careful. This was nice.
And it didn’t hurt that she was incredibly beautiful. If you had to be fussed over, being fussed over by a gorgeous woman was definitely the way to go.
Still, there was an orphaned bear cub out here.
He looked around. “Fuck.”
He felt her hand on his shoulder. “I know. But you need to be safe too. And if something happens to you, who’s going to take care of the other two bears?”
Well, his brother, Griffin. Or Tori. Or Jill. Or one of several wildlife veterinarians at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.
But instead of saying any of that, he nodded. “Okay.”
Because if something happened to him, then Naomi would have to get those two bear cubs back to town for care from another veterinarian. And suddenly he realized that she was out here risking herself in the storm because of him. If anything happened to her, he would hate himself.
“Hey, what are you doing out here by yourself?”
“I’m not by myself. I’m with you.”
“You didn’t have to come.”
“Someone did,” she said firmly. “And with everything going on in town, everybody else is crazy busy.”
She was definitely the type to just step up and do what needed done.
Damn. Suddenly, he needed to get her back to town. “Okay, let’s go.”
Once he got the cubs settled, maybe he could put Naomi in charge of watching over them and he could sneak out and come back down here.
“Donovan, there!” Naomi suddenly pointed off to the right.
He glanced over and, sure enough, saw a flash of black fur moving between the trees.
He took off without a word, jumping down the embankment and sliding about two feet before getting his boots under him. The bear cub was frightened, but also disoriented without his mom to lead him and definitely vulnerable to coyotes, bobcats, and other bears. It hadn’t gotten far from its mother’s body and Donovan knew it had been coming back to check in.
The poor little guy. Lost, lonely, and confused, and probably starving. As hard as he would work to rehabilitate the cub, at the moment, the animal’s condition would work in Donovan’s favor. The bear would be weak and that would make it much easier to sweep him up and get him into the truck with his brother and sister.
Donovan dodged around a tree and ducked under a branch just as the bear came around a bush. It stopped, sliding on the wet leaves, and dove under another bush, scampering up the hill. Swearing, Donovan slipped and then charged in that direction.
But he pulled up short as he came over the crest of the roadside