My startled brain can’t come up with a response, even as part of me is preening at the compliment.

Relax, he just said “nice face.”

Are compliments covered in the contract?

Still standing sentry, Shane is unaware of the mental chaos his comment has caused. “Sorry I kicked you. I was trying to get you out of the way in case it got pissed—”

“—when you punched it in the face,” I finish for him.

With a light chuckle, he finally looks away from the woods for longer than a heartbeat. “You okay?”

I give him a thumbs-up and immediately feel silly. Shane grins, his dimple distracting me from my mortification. He’s entirely too relaxed, considering we were seconds from a bear attack.

“How are you not freaking out right now?” I press myself up to my ass, looking for my leggings. Crawling over to them on my hands and knees feels awkward, but I’m so happy to be alive that looking silly is low on my list of concerns.

“I am on the inside.” He tilts his head to the side, cracking his neck. “Pretty sure that took ten years off my life.”

“I think I got a dozen new gray hairs,” I mutter. My underwear is MIA. Pulling on my leggings, I gesture at my backpack. “Your clothes are in there. I think the bear ate my underwear.”

Shane smiles, bigger this time, and that adorable, entirely out-of-place dimple throws me off-kilter again. I look away, not wanting him to see the way it makes me want to smile back reflexively.

He tugs his pants and shirt out of the bag. “Nice of you to leave me the briefs. Would have been a painful chase otherwise.”

I laugh at that. “I didn’t want to completely incapacitate you. That wouldn’t be very sporting.”

“Here.” He tosses me his shirt, already having slipped on his pants. “Lost yours somewhere during the chase. I’ll replace it. And the underwear.” His voice sounds muffled as I tug the shirt over my head. “I owe you leggings too. I’ll start a list.”

My good mood sobers slightly. We were lucky. I know bear attacks aren’t common, but we were sleeping. Naked and smelling like sex and sweat and all sorts of things a bear might want to taste.

Including sunscreen.

I shiver. The thought of walking all the way back through the woods makes me uneasy.

Checking my watch, I see we dozed for about twenty minutes, not including the bear showdown. The sun will be setting in a half hour. The hike back will take far longer than that. I brought a flashlight just in case, but I don’t want to be out here in the dark alone, not after seeing the bear. As I’m weighing whether I want to ask if I can go with him or suck it up so I’m not a burden, Shane slings my backpack over his shoulder.

“You ready? The farther we can get before dark, the better.”

I blink at him. “Didn’t think you did this.” I gesture vaguely between us. “You know, since it kills the whole mood. That’s why it’s chase, fuck, leave. I’m pretty sure that was in the contract.”

Rubbing a hand across the stubble on his jaw, he gives me a look like I just suggested we try to find the bear and invite it for a threesome. “Do you want to walk back in the dark alone?” he asks incredulously. “Knowing there’s a bear around?”

“No,” I huff, sounding like said bear for a moment. “Of course not. It just surprised me.”

“I’m not sure what that says about me if you’re surprised I don’t want you roaming around the woods at night with a bear.” He sounds thoughtful. Something about it makes me feel like he’s a tiny bit serious—as if he cares what I think about him.

Interesting.

“There’s a flashlight in the bag,” I offer.

“Good thinking.”

I shouldn’t feel a little thrill of pleasure at the praise in his voice. I also shouldn’t care that he gives me an approving look. But I do. Though I may not have won today’s hunt, I’ve impressed him with my preparedness. It’s something.

Despite loving the woods, walking through it in the dark immediately after a bear encounter isn’t my favorite activity. It’s enjoyable with Shane, though. He tells me about the property, how he bought the house five years ago and renovated it. That his brother, Caine, and sister, Delaney, each own a small part of the acreage. As an only child, that sounds fun, and I tell him so. I wait for him to mention their parents, but he doesn’t, and I don’t ask. He’s steering the conversation away from family when there’s a rustling in the bushes in front of us.

We halt, Shane training the flashlight on the bushes. They shake and shift, the branches rattling. Shouldering his way in front of me, he stands up straight, clearly intending to intimidate what I assume is the bear coming back for a second sniff. While I can appreciate the gesture, it doesn’t seem like a great plan. I step up beside him, pressing close, hoping we’ll look like one formidable beast.

The bushes rustle louder, the movement closer.

“Get behind me,” Shane hisses, trying to shuffle in front of me again.

“We’re scarier together,” I hiss back, moving with him.

Before he can respond, a creature emerges from the bushes, freezing in the flashlight’s beam. A raccoon. One who looks like it’s regretting every choice that brought it to this encounter. Eyes shining yellow, it pauses for a split second, then turns to rush back into the brush. We stare. The raccoon makes so much noise in its escape that I laugh, even though my heart rate hasn’t dropped yet.

Shane relaxes, his shoulder bumping mine. Then he’s laughing too, a deep rumble that makes my stomach tighten.

“You were willing to fight a bear with me?” He nudges an elbow into my side as we begin to walk again.

“I wasn’t going to do the actual fighting. You’ve proven you have that covered.”

He chuckles, and we fall into a companionable silence. Shane stays close the whole way back, our arms brushing. His skin is warm against mine, but I feel even warmer on the inside. Cozy, despite the circumstances. There’s a sense of otherworldliness being surrounded by trees, enveloped by the dark. Crickets serenade us with their nighttime song the whole way back.

At the house, we part ways. The porch lights steal the night magic of the woods, any comradery gained by our brush with the bear left among the pines. We’re employer and employee again. I try to ignore the sensation of loss settling over me. This is the natural cycle. I shouldn’t mourn it any more than I’d grieve the setting sun dropping below the horizon. But a small, foolish part of me does.

• • •

As I shower off sweat and dirt, I try not to think about how fun it was to walk back with Shane, how almost couple-y it felt. Being woken up from a post-sex snooze by a bear would be one hell of a first date.

A man doesn’t leave you to get eaten by a bear, and you think it’s a date?

He did say I have a nice face…

I can’t let myself think tonight was anything more than basic human decency. I’ve learned I can’t trust my instincts. I never doubted Keith. Looking back, I can see what should have been warning signs. The way he was never home, the way his phone was always in sight, how he was always a little too friendly with women. But I was sure he loved me, so I didn’t question the red flags. I just let those fuckers fly.

I’m contemplating what the future looks like sans Keith as I wrap myself in a towel and start to brush out my wet hair. I’ve convinced myself that it’s going to be good when I feel something suspicious on the back of my skull. Abandoning the brush to explore with my fingertips, I probe the tiny lump. It shifts from my prodding but doesn’t come free.

Damnit.

I don’t have to see it to know what it is. A tick. Lodged directly on the back of my head, sucking my blood, and, considering we’re in Maine, possibly giving me Lyme disease. Despite the near-bath I took in bug spray before the hunt, I’ve been invaded. I weigh my options.