Bringing Home the Bear (3 page)

She
walked over to the rod, picked it up, and headed back his way.

“Okay,
you want to get in front of me here,” he said pointing so she’d stand at the
edge of the stream.

“Like
this?” she asked moving ahead of him.

“Exactly
like that.”

Trent
took two steps toward her, anticipating what it would be like to have her body
close, and smell her right under his nose. He put his arms around her so he
could take the rod into his hands.

He
breathed in deeply.

Her
hair smelled like spring in the Flathead Valley. Her odor was almost
intoxicating to him. Despite the nip in the cold morning air, her body was warm
as it permeated through her jacket and even into his body. Suddenly very tempted
to kiss her neck, he decided not to scare her at this point.
Take things nice and slow.

“Okay,
just relax your arm and throw back the line, just like this,” he said quickly
flicking his wrist.

She
moved with him like they were one and it felt so good. The line went out into
the middle of the stream without any trouble.

“I
did it. Well, you did it,” she said. She sounded excited and overjoyed about
such a simple thing. He liked it.

“Nope,
it was all you, I just merely guided you,” he said close to her ear.

“You
think we’ll catch anything?”

“We
might be in luck because it looks like it’s going to rain, and that’s always a
good time for the fish to bite.”

“That’s
good to know. Hey, am I stopping you from doing some fishing of your own? If I am,
just tell me.”

“Nope,
I love helping a new fisherman or fisherwoman.”

Actually,
he hadn’t realized that he still had his arms wrapped around her, and the side
of her face just mere inches from his lips until she’d just spoken. She wiggled
a little, sending her butt back into his crotch.

That
felt good.
Too good.
And now he had another mother of
all erections. With them standing this close together, there was no way she
didn’t know about it.

Emily
suddenly turned around and looked him directly in the eye. He thought maybe she
was going to slap him, but instead she took him by surprise and kissed him.

Chapter Four

Wow, where did
this come from. I’m never usually impulsive, never take the lead, but let the
guy follow.
So why now?

Come on, isn’t
it obvious? The man’s gorgeous with a capital G. That’s why.

He
kissed her back, prying open her mouth with the tip of his tongue so it could
slip over the threshold and tease her own. The fishing had now been long
forgotten as they let the rod slide down to the ground, and he almost lifted
her off her feet as their kiss deepened.

He
was a complete stranger. He lived in the wilderness…well sort of. She had to be
crazy.

Emily
pulled away, seeing the look of hurt and puzzlement on his face as he knitted
his eyebrows together.

“I’m
sorry. I don’t know what you must think of me,” she said, looking down at the
ground. She hoped he didn’t see her blushing. She knew she was because she felt
the burn in her cheeks.

He
put his fingers under her chin, pulling her face up so she was forced to look
at him.

Trent
was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Big brown eyes that she could have
sworn she’d seen someone before, but couldn’t think where.

“I
think you’re pretty. That’s what I think of you.”

“I
didn’t mean that…”

He
put his thumb over her lips, sealing them and preventing her from saying
another word.

Trent
leaned his body toward her, kissing her again as the first of the raindrops fell.
The splatter quickly turned into a downpour, and he pulled away as zigzags of
water ran down his cheeks.

“You
had breakfast yet?” he asked.

She
shook her head.

“Come
on, I know the best place in town to get one.”

He
took her hand and pulled her down by the edge of the stream and then up a path
with some steps that led to a house, which she assumed, was his place. Was this
the infamous best breakfast in town he’d just mentioned?

Trent
opened the door and encouraged her to go inside.

Obviously is.

It
was a gorgeous open plan styled house with a big frameless window that
overlooked the stream and trees below it.

“You’re
drenched. Would you like me to find you a t-shirt and some jeans? We can hang
up your wet clothes up to dry while you eat,” he said.

“I
don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

“No
trouble at all. I have the clothes and I was going to cook breakfast for myself
anyway.”

Her
clothes were starting to feel uncomfortable now that they were dripping wet.
And she could hardly sit on his chairs with wet jeans.

“Okay,
that would be great.”

“Follow
me,” said Trent.

Another
thing she’d never done. Accepted a strange man’s invitation to his place but
somehow she sensed she’d be safe with him. Definitely was a day of firsts for
her.

Emily
followed him into what she assumed was his bedroom. It looked like a log cabin
with a huge bed and dark quilt on top of it. He opened the closet and pulled
out a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He handed them to her.

“The
bathroom’s next door if you want to go in there, and you can hang your stuff
over the top of the shower rail. I’ll be in the kitchen which is just down the
hallway.”

“Thanks
so much for this.”

“Anytime.”

She
walked out of his room and into the bathroom where she shut the door and looked
around. It was small, but for a guy’s place, it was spotless. No clothes
littering the floor, no tubes of half-squeezed toothpaste sitting on the
countertop. No socks or boxers sticking out of the laundry bin in the corner.

She
took off her jacket and flung it over the top of the shower rail and then
stripped off her shirt and jeans. As she pulled his t-shirt over her head, she
recognized the scent that she’d detected when he’d stood behind her at the
stream. She couldn’t describe it, but it made her almost swoon. Maybe that’s
what was making her act out of character.

Next,
she pulled on his jeans and doubled them over at the waistband because they
were a good four or five inches too long for her. She hung everything up to dry
and then headed back out into the hallway, smelling food already cooking as she
made her way to the kitchen.

Emily
saw Trent standing at the stove turning bacon in the pan with a fork.

“That
smells wonderful,” she said.

“You
want some coffee while this cooks?”

“Sure,
and I can get it,” she said spying a coffee machine and mugs sitting next to
it.

She
poured herself a mug of coffee and then leaned up against the wall, watching
him put bread into the toaster.

“Is
this your permanent or vacation home?” she asked.

“Permanent.
It was my dad’s place before he died.”

“It’s
beautiful. So I guess you work from home.”

She
was being nosy and hoped he didn’t mind.

“No,
I’m a cop but I’m on sick leave. I got shot.”

“I’m
sorry to hear that. I guess law enforcement can be dangerous at times.”

He
shook his head while he buttered the toast. “No, I got shot while I was out
walking. Some guy was hunting and I got hit in the thigh.”

“Geez,
I hope he got into trouble over that.”

He
shrugged his shoulders “It happens more than you’d think. You want to sit down
and eat this before it gets cold?”

“Sure.”

Emily
pulled out a chair from under the table and sat as Trent placed a platter of
bacon and scrambled eggs, and another plate with buttered toast on it, in front
of her.

“Do
you get lots of wildlife around here?” she asked.

“Yes,
just about everything, why?”

“I
heard wolves howling last night.”

“You
don’t have to worry about them, they’re my…”

She
looked at him.

“My friends.
I mean I leave
food out for them. And they’re a friendly pack.”

“Don’t
they tell you not to encourage them?”

“Well,
if you know what you’re doing it’s okay.”

“And a bear.
Can you believe
a bear looked in the window of my camper last night?”

“He
was probably curious,” said Trent, picking up a slice of bacon.

“Maybe,
but he scared me so much I thought I’d have a heart attack.”

He
put his hand on top of hers.
“Nothing to worry about.
He just had good taste.”

“Yeah,
like in eat me.”

“He’d
never do that,” said Trent picking up his mug of coffee.

“They’re
unpredictable. That’s what my dad always said.”

“You
don’t have anything to worry about him as long as I’m with you.”

“Don’t
tell me you feed the bears too,” said Emily. She reached for another slice of
toast.

He
shook his head. “So what do you do, and what brings you fishing in these
parts?”

“I’m
a fourth grade teacher from Missoula who knows nothing about fly, or anything
type of fishing for that matter, but I’m here as a proxy for my dad.”

“For your dad?”
He took some
more scrambled egg.

“He’d
planned out his whole summer and fall itinerary with fishing and hunting, but
then he had a heart attack and the doctor said the excitement of landing the
big one
wouldn’t be good for him, so he
sent me in his place. It’s his camper I’m staying in and it’s his fishing
equipment too.”

Trent
smiled and took another sip of coffee.

“Yeah,
I guess it does sound amusing if you’re not the one who’s the proxy.”

He
set his fork down on the plate. “So you want some expert help catching the
big one.”

“You
would be my hero forever. And I have to take a photo as proof I did it. I was
thinking of just buying some damn huge trout or salmon at the store and taking
a selfie, but I guess a true fisherman knows a real thing from the store kind.”

He
laughed. “That’s true and it would be cheating too.”

“I
guess. Well, at least I’ll have lots to tell my class when the new school year
starts.”

“That’s
what I like to hear, looking on the positive side of things. Hey, it looks like
the rain’s let up a little so you want to go back out and see if we can land
the big one?”

****

“I
have this one boy whose nose continually runs and his mother never sends him to
school with tissues, ever. I sit at my desk and I think if I put a sponge on a
stick I could just reach across the wipe it for him and I wouldn’t have to
watch one drip after another.”

Trent
laughed. He loved hearing all about the kids in her class and the funny stories
she had about her life as a teacher. It was obvious she loved her job and the
kids too, even the ones with runny noses. He watched her lips moving as she
continued talking while they fished. He wanted to kiss her again, but he was
being patient. The opportunity would arise again. He sensed it in his
bear
bones.

“You
wouldn’t like to visit the class one day would you? I mean as a cop for career
day this October?”

The opportunity to see her again.
He liked the
sound of that.

“Sure,
I’d love to.”

Trent
felt the line pull and guessed something big had taken the bait.

“Okay,
hold the rod steady and we’ll pull it in together. I think you might have
gotten something that your dad’s going to be envious about.”

He
assisted her with pulling on the line. He was right, one of the biggest trout
he’d seen in the stream hung from the end of it.

“Beginner’s
luck,” said Emily.

“No,
he probably just wanted to take a look at the pretty woman who was sitting at
the water’s edge holding the rod.”

She
smiled. “I almost want to throw it back,” she said as Trent took it off the
line. “At least I have to take a photo of it to show my dad that I actually did
it.”

She
dug out her phone, but Trent had a better idea than her just taking a photo of
the fish all by itself.

“You
hold it and I’ll snap a photo for you.”

“Okay.”

She
handed him the phone and he gave her the trout.