Page 47 of His to Defend

Harper looked down at her feet and then back up into her eyes. “I’m doing this wrong.” She took both of Nina’s hands in hers. “Promise me you won’t freak out.”

“I’m already freaking out.”

“Nina.” Her friend stared sternly into her eyes until finally Nina swallowed hard and nodded.

“Okay,” she managed. “I won’t freak out.”

She wasn’t sure that was a promise she’d be able to keep, but it didn’t look as though she had much of a choice.

“What do you need to tell me?”

Harper opened her mouth and shut it quickly. “I have an idea. Meet me at Kade and Ella’s cabin in fifteen minutes, okay?”

“You want me to wait?” She shook her head, causing her hair to flip around her face. “No, Harper. Tell me now. You’re scaring me.”

“I promise you there’s nothing to be scared of.” She slipped her hands out of Nina’s. “And I really think it would be better if I showed you, okay?” She ran to the other end of the porch and called back, “Fifteen minutes.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

He tried, and his intentions were good, but after Ryker left Nina’s bed, he couldn’t make himself drive out of town and away from her. It was only a few hours’ drive back to Jackson Valley, but despite the fact that Jacksonville had been his home almost his entire life, it was the last place he wanted to go. No doubt his grandfather had already heard the news. It couldn’t get any worse.

No. It was already as bad as it could get. Because he didn’t care what his grandfather thought. For the first time in his life, Ryker understood something that was deeper and stronger than anything his grandfather had ever tried to impose on him.

For the first time, he understood what drove his cousins.

Love.

He tapped the bar to signal another drink. He could hardly taste the whiskey, and even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to drink enough to forget Nina. Bears had an incredibly fast metabolism, and it was almost impossible for them to drink to the point of being drunk.

The bartender slid another glass in front of him as his phone vibrated with a message.

Nina?

He would have laughed at himself if it wasn’t so bloody sad. It couldn’t be Nina texting him because they’d never even exchanged phone numbers. They’d been too busy having sex and mating to bother with any of the details.

“It’s probably for the best,” he grumbled as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to see a text from his editor, Tyler.

Available for a job?

A job would be a good thing. It would take his mind off Nina and the biggest mistake of his life. If he could just get out on the rocky face of a mountain with his camera in hand, there’d be no other choice but to focus on that moment and nothing else. His mind would clear. It would have to. Because when you were climbing a mountain, there was no other choice but to focus.

Definitely. He typed in his response to his editor before he could change his mind.

A moment later, his phone rang.

“What’s the job?”

“You’re going to want to get on a plane right now.” Tyler got straight down to business. “It’s the one you’ve been waiting for.”

The Alps.

Ryker knew without even asking what the job was. He’d been after Tyler for months to put him on the extreme shoot in Switzerland. It was a group of skiers and snowboarders who every year found the craziest peaks to lay fresh tracks on. The areas were only available by helicopter and they were dangerous. Very dangerous. Especially for the photographers and videographers. It was perfect.

“When do I leave?”

Tyler laughed. “I knew you’d be interested.”

“I’m more than interested.” There was no trace of humor in Ryker’s voice. “When?”