Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Agreed.” His face was a mixture of anticipation and resentment, but I knew that last part wouldn’t last long.
“Good,” Tristan said. “So, meeting adjourned?”
“I’m going to split some logs. I’ll be in a bit later,” I said.
Drew took a load of wood back to the cabin, but Tristan stuck around. “How do you fit in this plan since Sierra practically runs in the other direction every time she sees you?”
“Could you say that without grinning next time?”
“Sorry,” Tristan said, but he didn’t sound very sincere. “I’m just very used to women having the opposite reaction to you.”
“Me, too,” I grumbled.
“In spite of what our rather unobservant young colleague thinks, I noticed you trying not to intimidate her.”
At last, someone willing to give me some credit. “It hasn’t been easy.” Partly because she was drop-dead gorgeous, and also because avoidance wasn’t in my nature.
“She needed it, though. Otherwise, she would’ve run off and ended up in a pile of broken bones at the bottom of the hillside.”
“Yeah. But the question is, how do I get to know her better without scaring her off?” We’d likely be stuck together for at least another week. No way I’d be able to make it that long without revealing my true nature.
Oddly enough, Tristan was thinking along the same lines. “Maybe it’s time to let her see the real you. The good, the bad, and the ugly.”
I scoffed. “There’s nothing ugly about me.”
Tristan rolled his eyes again as he picked up a load of firewood. “You know what I mean.”
I sighed. Yes, there was definitely some good and some bad in me. But the question of how to reveal either to such a skittish young woman was one that would require some serious thought.
It was days later before I came up with a plan. In that time, Sierra worked like a fiend on my laptop. She’s shared the news about the director who wanted to take a look at her screenplay—something truly impressive. She seemed to be doing everything she could to take advantage of the opportunity, and I admired her for that.
On the other hand, she disappeared nearly every day at three when we did our workout. A few times, she stayed inside, but she never got any real work done. She just spent her time sneaking peeks at us while trying not to look like she was.
I had to chuckle every time I hiked past her little snow fort. It actually wasn’t badly done. When I was a kid, I’d learned the bucket method, too. But it was taking her a long time to build it, and I still didn’t have a clue as to why she was doing it.
When she went took Zeus out to her fortress of solitude one morning an hour or two after breakfast, I decided to make my move.
I had to take the long route so that neither she nor Zeus would notice me. It took forever, but finally I made it to the spot where I went to be alone and to think. There was no snow fort, but I’d got it set up the way I liked it. Then I gave a loud, sharp whistle.
Soon, I heard him coming, and I couldn’t help smiling. Zeus was as much of a brother to me as Tristan was. Not as good of a business partner, though.
I knelt down to pet him as I waited. I heard her coming from a long way away. She wasn’t very good at moving through the snow, but then again, she didn’t have very good boots.
She entered the clearing and stopped short, out of breath. “I—you—I thought he’d run off.”
“He always comes back.”
Her breath came out in warm clouds. “I just wanted to make sure.”
“Thank you for keeping track of him.”
She nodded. “What are you doing out here?”
“Target practice.”
Her eyes went to the bow and arrows slung over my shoulder. Then she scanned the clearing until she spotted the target about forty yards away. I’d rigged a heavy wool blanket up between two trees. A bullseye was painted on it, and I’d propped up loose branches behind it so my arrows wouldn’t sail on through and get lost in the snow beyond.
Comprehension filled her face as she realized the truth of what I’d been doing when I left the cabin with my bow.
Tristan had said I should show her the real me. This was part of it.
Moving slowly so as not to alarm her, I reached back and grabbed an arrow. Notching it, I adjusted my stance and took careful aim. The arrow flew cleanly through the crisp air and hit the second ring of the bullseye. Thanks to the branches behind it, it bounced back and onto the ground under the target.
Sierra was silent as I shot a few more times. Finally, she spoke. “Where did you learn archery?”