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“I don’t like it,” I answered stubbornly. “It’s a dangerous job.”
She moved closer and slammed into my shoulder playfully. “Most of the time, I study data in a laboratory. Running into a bear is a rarity.”
“They can be aggressive.” Jesus! Didn’t she know that something bad could have happened?
“He was up and sniffing. That’s usually curiosity and not aggression. But I agree. He was a huge male. But we were invading his territory. That’s always a very small risk that you take when you hike. Especially in this area.”
“I was more worried about snakes,” I said, pissed off at myself because I’d hardly considered other risks.
“Human-and-bear encounters happen. But being mauled or killed by one is a rarity. For the most part, they’d rather avoid humans.”
“No more hiking,” I told her as we arrived at our tent.
I waited until she was inside, and then closed the door behind us. It was going to take a hell of a long time to forget the sight of her in front of me while we were having a confrontation with a damn grizzly.
Maybe she was able to handle it well, but I was probably going to have nightmares about what could have gone wrong.
I bent down to reassure my canine, who was clearly still confused by what had happened. “Good boy,” I told him as I stroked his head.
Charlie was easy. After a minute of affection, he was back to normal.
Jade took off her jacket and bent down to pet Charlie, too. “He was a good boy. If he wasn’t so well trained, we could have had trouble on our hands.”
As I straightened up, I asked, “So what do you do if a bear charges?”
She took off the belt around her waist, and dropped the hiking tools and bear spray on the kitchen counter.
“It depends,” she replied. “Sometimes they’ll do a fake charge to get you to move away. But if they’re really going to engage, you wait until they’re within twenty-five feet or closer and hit them with bear spray.” She looked up at me and added, “Hey, you really look worried. Are you okay?”
“Not completely,” I admitted. “I was afraid you’d get hurt.”
“You were worried about me?” she questioned softly, her expression slightly surprised.
“For God’s sake, I brought you here, Jade. And something could have happened to you because I picked the wrong damn place to go.”
I wasn’t afraid to admit I’d been pretty damn scared that the bear would go rogue and hurt her.
And it would have been my fault.
“I’m fine, Eli. I was nervous the first time I had a close encounter with a bear. But I guess I’ve learned that the worst thing a person can do is panic. I’ve had years of experience and research into animal behavior. You haven’t. I know it’s pretty terrifying.”
“I wasn’t afraid for me,” I rasped. “I was worried that something would happen to you. One mistake and you could have been dinner.”
She came forward and touched my arm. “We didn’t make a mistake, Eli.”
I had her in my arms before she could blink, and I held her so tightly she probably couldn’t breathe.
We stayed that way for a couple of minutes, and the feeling of her safe body against me eventually calmed my ass down.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I released her slowly. “Yeah. I’m good.”
I was a damn liar. I still didn’t really want to let her out of my sight.
Lighten up, Stone! If she wasn’t scared before, I’m probably making her anxious with my behavior.
“I should make a few calls and let the local wildlife stations know that we had a grizzly encounter. They like to monitor when the bears begin moving away from the park.”
I took off my jacket and started to remove my boots. “No problem. We can go to dinner right after that.”
“Thanks for caring about my welfare,” she said softly.
I looked up at her from my stooped position. “Thanks for making sure we weren’t on the dinner menu for Smokey.”
She laughed as she rummaged for her cell phone.
I kicked off my boots, determined that I’d never see Jade in danger again.
My damn heart would never survive if I had to see her vulnerable and not be able to do anything about it a second time.
CHAPTER 15
JADE
Our last day at the mountain resort was bittersweet for me. I wished we could stay longer, but Eli had been true to his word, and we weren’t hiking at all today. Instead, he’d made me pick out an activity that would involve more people in one spot.
I knew he’d been scared about the bear encounter, and I also realized that he’d been terrified for my safety.
For some reason, his worry had touched me more than it really should have, considering we had been facing an enormous grizzly. But I had sensed his fear, and I could feel that he wasn’t worried about himself getting mauled.
His concern had all been for me, so I wasn’t about to complain about not hiking.
I’d chosen a beginner class to learn how to rappel down a rock face.
I’d done some easy free climbing, more out of necessity to view wildlife than as a hobby. As I glanced up at the rappel spot, I realized why Eli had chosen to sit this one out. I estimated the height to be no more than forty feet, and Eli was an experienced aided climber who had taken on some of the toughest rock faces in the world.
The relative ease of the task didn’t dampen my enthusiasm. I was elated to start learning to climb, and rappelling was a skill I needed to have if I was going to take on some bigger cliffs.
I looked over at Eli as he spoke with the instructor. They appeared to be deep in conversation, and I had to wonder again why he wasn’t very thrilled about this particular class.
Is it because he’s already an expert climber? Or is there something else bothering him?
He’d been reserved since we’d had our bear encounter yesterday, and he seemed even more distracted this morning.
Maybe he’s just anxious to get back to work.
I had no doubt that he’d fallen behind because of the time we’d spent together, but I was determined to be there to help him catch up when we returned to San Diego. I was learning so much during our morning sessions, and I was convinced I could keep learning while I was acting as Eli’s unofficial intern. My hope was that I could take the load off him just a little once I got up to speed on his businesses.
I looked at my classmates for the rappel. There were three others who were standing around finishing their morning coffee, and I smiled as two of them looked up and waved at me before resuming their conversation.
I zipped up my coat after I’d tossed my empty coffee cup into the trash. It was still early, and it was kind of frigid. The temperatures were starting to get colder, especially during the night. Not that I really noticed until I got outside. The lodgings were warm and toasty, and came complete with a wood-burning fireplace.
I put my hands in my pockets to warm them up as I glanced again at Eli and the instructor. They were still having a conversation, and neither one of them looked all that happy.
Eli had made some phone calls last night after I’d called the local wildlife biologists who kept track of the bears in the area. I didn’t remember him getting into bed because I’d drifted off before he’d even gotten to the bedroom.
