Page 49 of Beastly Mountain Man

Then she came after me.

There was no gradual transition into the snowball fight.

Within minutes she was throwing fast, missing often, and treating every hit as a personal debt that required immediate repayment.

Bear made everything worse.

He chased every snowball, snapped at powder in the air, and twice ran straight through Caprice’s line of fire. She started using him as moving cover.

“This isn’t how it works. He’s on nobody’s side.”

“You never established rules about canine shields.”

“Then he’s an independent contractor.”

Bear plowed into a drift and disappeared up to his shoulders.

Caprice laughed so hard she bent at the waist.

I hit her in the hip.

She straightened.

“That was cheap.”

“You were distracted by your independent contractor.”

“I notice you accept my terminology when it’s useful.”

Caprice came at me with a snowball in each hand.

I ducked the first.

The second clipped my hat and knocked it sideways.

She shouted in triumph.

Bear barked and ran between us again.

I reached for more snow.

Caprice took off.

Her stride was shorter in the loaner boots, but she was faster than I expected. She almost reached the nearest pine before Bear decided running together required physical participation and cut across her path.

Caprice tried to dodge him.

One boot sank deep into the powder.

She went sideways into a drift and disappeared almost to her waist.

I was moving before she finished landing.

“You okay?”

Her head came up.

Snow covered one side of her hat, cheek, and shoulder.