Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
I take hold of the handle and ease the window open slowly and quietly. I don’t want to alert anyone to my presence. The night is cool, the air crisp and scented with the musty scent of rotting leaves, wet soil, and tree sap. The trees rustle gently with each soft gust of wind that passes, branches leaning like they’re reaching to embrace each other. There’s louder rustling, too, like someone or something crunching through the undergrowth. I pull back behind the curtain, worried that I’m going to be spotted by Evan or Hunter.
Peeking through the gap, I strain to see who’s out there. Maybe it’s Robert doing whatever it is he needs to do. Who needs to do things in the forest at this time of night? Maybe it’s his job. He’s never talked about what he does for a living. I’ve let him push things into my most private places and yet I don’t know. He could be a doctor on call. What other professions take you out of bed in the middle of the night? Mine is one. Firefighter? Vet? CIA?
Oh Lord, now my mind is all over the place, but there's something out there—something big.
I catch sight of what looks like a furry haunch at the edge of the tree line. It’s shadowy, so I can’t be sure, but it looks like a bear. A big-ass bear like the ones I ran from earlier. The trees wobble as though they’re being disturbed by something passing through. Is there another bear? Could it be the same ones?
Shit.
I’m trapped in a house surrounded by wild animals. Even if I could find a way out of this room, I couldn’t go outside.
Bears.
There aren’t supposed to be any wild bears in this area. It’s not a national park. Where the hell have they come from?
I keep watching as the movements of the trees go deeper. Then, suddenly, it stops.
Have they found somewhere to sleep? That would be the only explanation. As I watch, waiting to see more movement, a person emerges from the foliage, naked. Then another man, and another.
The Bjorn brothers.
What the hell are they doing in the woods, without clothes, with bears?
This is the second time they’ve been around at the same time as the bears.
I’m so damn confused. They speak quietly, so I can’t hear more than a murmur. They’re almost at the door when one tips his head up to my window. His hair is shaggier than his brothers, and his mouth a grim line. Our eyes meet, and Hunter stops, his eyes fixed on mine, flashing the same shade of glittering gold as the first night, cutting through the darkness and making me gasp with shock and awe.
The others stop and turn, too, and Robert mutters what looks like a curse.
I wasn’t meant to see whatever this is, and now I’m in trouble, for sure.
15
GOLDIE
I quickly close the window and jump into bed, pulling the covers over me and gripping them tightly around my neck. Shit. Shit. Shit. Maybe they didn’t see me. Maybe I can get away with it if I just act naturally and pretend nothing happened.
The sound of a door banging downstairs makes me jump. My nerves are so on edge that I can barely breathe. Footsteps climb the stairs, and my heart beats with each thud.
I’m a stupid woman for getting myself into this situation. A stupid woman who has put her sexual desires before her safety.
When the key turns in the lock, I brace myself.
Robert’s handsome face comes into view. “You settling in okay?”
He’s seriously making small talk with me after what I just saw.
“Err…yeah. I guess.”
“Sorry about that. I just had something I needed to do.”
I blink slowly, baffled at his behavior.
“Something naked in the woods with your brothers?”
Robert stills, his hand on the door handle.
“Naked triplets in the woods and bears. Lots of giant brown bears.”
Robert’s shoulders rise, and he inhales a deep breath. He doesn’t look happy that I’ve been snooping, and I draw back even further against the headboard, cowering at his disquiet.
“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath, shaking his head. “This was a bad idea.”
“This?”
He runs his fingers through his hair, leaving it sticking up. “I’ve put you in danger.”
“I seem to be in danger everywhere.”
Robert rounds the bed and sits on the edge, near enough to touch me. “Goldie. When you snoop around, there’s a chance that you’re going to stumble upon things you’re not supposed to know. Things that are better kept a secret or things you’re not ready to hear.”
I let the covers fall so that my hands rest in my lap. “Yeah, well, I’m named after the nosiest girl in fairyland. Goldilocks’s whole personality centers on her curiosity.”
“And look where she ended up.”
“Running from the bears,” I say, shaking my head. “I’ve done that once already this week and survived.”