Page 32 of Accidental Groom

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter. “You scared the shit out of me.”

His jaw is tight, his brows glued together. “You can’t hike alone out here. Especially this early.”

I blink at him.Another order.“Excuse me?”

“Black bears,” he says, like that explains everything. “They roam through here regularly. It’s the start of fall, too, so they’ll be more aggressive, preparing for winter. It’s not safe.”

My mouth opens, then closes, searching for the right words. “So you… what? Saw me leaving and followed me out here? Were you watching me?”

Something flickers across his face — guilt, maybe, or embarrassment. “I got a notification from one of the trail cameras. Saw you walking in the reserve alone. Sprinted, actually, not followed.”

My eyes go wide. “You’ve got cameras out here?” The words come out sharper than I intended. “Are you monitoring my every fucking move?”

“No, it’s for security?—”

“Bullshit.” I turn and start walking again, deeper into the woods, faster this time. “It’s for control. Don’t lie to me.”

His longer stride catches up to me far too easily. “Elena. I’m being serious about the bears.”

“And I’m being serious about my privacy.” I don’t slow down, don’t bother looking over at him. “I’m thirty years old, Harry. I think I can handle a nature walk without a chaperone.”

“Not when that nature walk could get youmauled.”

Despite my irritation, there’s something in his tone that makes me glance at him — real concern, not just the controlling behavior I’d assumed. “Have you genuinely seen bears out here?”

His hand reaches around to the backside of his body, not facing me, fiddling withsomething, and when it reappears, I nearly launch myself into the bushes.

He’s holding a fuckinggun.

“Three times in the past month,” he says, shaking the handgun as if to exaggerate his point. “Once, a mother with cubs, which makes them a million times more dangerous.”

“Oh my god, Harry, put the gun away?—”

“Do you think I would’ve chased you down out here with this without a good reason?” he adds, slipping it back into what I now realize is aholster.“I know you think I’m being domineering, but this isn’t about watching you. It’s about keeping you alive.”

“Fine,” I mutter, raising my hands in mock surrender. “I get the message. I’ll be careful.”

“Why do you say that like you’re two seconds from running off in a random direction? Do you think I won’t follow you?”

I roll my eyes. “Because I’d rather you didn’t join me for my walk.”

“If you’re insisting on walking through dangerous woodland, then I kind of have to,” he grunts, pushing his hair back from his face. It’s not even styled — too early, I assume, for him to have gotten that far in whatever routine he has.

“You really don’t.”

“These are my woods, Elena. I know where the bears den, which trails to avoid. If you’re determined to hike, then I’m determined to make sure you come back in one piece, not trailing your intestines along the dirt.”

“I can handle myself,” I hit back.

“Oh?” The sarcasm in that single syllable makes my teeth ache from clenching down. “Please, tell me, how do you intend to defend yourself against a bear? Do you have a gun in that fanny pack?”

I huff my annoyance. “No, I have a granola bar, which I’m sure could buy me a few seconds if I threw itenticingly.”

He stops dead in his tracks, pinching the bridge of his nose like I’ve exhausted him by just existing. “Please don’t tell me you’re serious.”

I unzip the bag and hold the granola bar up for emphasis.

“Dear god,” he murmurs, slowly starting to walk again. “For the record, a bear would absolutely preferfresh meatto a fucking granola bar.”