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But Hoas a berserker, a bear If the bear’s instinct was to kill her, could he stop it?

If she continued to see Howard, wasn’t that akin to playing Russian roulette? What if he couldn’t always control the bear?

Arong when Elsa didn’t answer his textHe’d asked her toher break, but she never responded

He’d half expected this She had a lot to adjust to, and she’d said she needed tirow to the point that she rejected hion Nest, contey that would convince her he could be trusted The bear inside him wanted to haul her off to his nearby cabin and ravish her until she surrendered herself completely

Howard snorted The bear tended to think only in physical ter tohe wanted He wanted her to choose him He wanted her to love him and come to him of her own free will

For it wasn’t just her body and beautiful face that attracted hience, her wry sense of huenerosity, vulnerability - everything that ot to know her, the more he craved her

He wanted to hold her, kiss her, make her moan with pleasure, and watch her shudder with release He wanted towith a kiss Wanted to cheer her on when she crafted beautiful cabinets and ork He wanted her to succeed Be happy

He thought back to the wish he’d ret He wanted his love to bring Elsa joy

Face it You’re in love with her

The thought didn’t alar in love with her, and he’d never been teht

The only proble a berserker Any woht mind would be afraid to date a man who could turn into a beast And Elsa had it even worse, for she was descended fro line of women ere apparently killed by berserkers

Somehow he had to convince her she was safe with him That she could trust hiht in the park She’d wished that he could be trusted

That meant that deep inside, she wanted to trust him, wanted to fall for hiive her what she truly desired He wasn’t going to give up He wouldn’t even wait

He would press forward

Later that afternoon, Elsa was alone, working in the kitchen The other guys were in the front parlor and dining roo by two feet to e and her crew had returned fro the guys today Yesterday, they had found the flowers and Howard’s card on the counter, and now they were having fun teasing her

She busied herself in the kitchen, re the cabinet doors Her plan was to sand and refinish the existing cabinets before building new ones that hly cleaned, inside and out

She was grateful for the hard work It kept her ht of the dream

She snorted How foolish could she be? She wanted to think about hirabbed hold of her neck?

Tired of being on her knees with her head inside a cabinet, she straightened and stretched This was hot, loves, then used some bottled water to wash her hands in the sink and splash so noise, signaling a textto tell hiht a pang to her chest It was going to hurt hi her And it was too cruel to reject hie But if she saw hie, handsoe

Look out the

She peered out the kitchen , and her heart swelled There he was, standing near the woods How long had he waited there to catch a glih the ?

He concentrated on the phone in his hands, and soon her phone dinged again

I have a picnic basket

She glanced out the , and he was lifting a large basket for her to see A bear with a picnic basket Her et that at Jellystone Park?

Don’t turn er Smith

She smiled and texted back Is it full of donuts?

Come and see what’s inside

He pocketed his phone, then reached into the basket to pull out a checkered blanket He stretched it on the ground under the canopy of trees

Elsa watched as he res from the basket Horrible Howard He knehat a curious person she was

She was also hungry and thirsty It was after four in the afternoon, and she’d had only a salad for lunch After long hours of physical labor, the picnic looked terribly te No doubt it was cool and breezy beneath those trees, not hot and stuffy like the kitchen And he was setting it up close to the house There were a bunch of guys in the house, and her aunts were stationed on the front driveway After a week of no action, they spent , but they still had their weapons in the trunk

It should be safe to meet Howard For a little while She wasn’t much to look at, with her dirty work clothes, but did it e jabbed at her heart

She grabbed the hairbrush out of her handbag, then quickly brushed her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail

She took a deep breath Enough with the procrastination Just get the rejection over with A quick strike would be less painful

She lanced back at her and s Stay strong Deterne?"

He filled a second wineglass hite fizzy liquid "Sparkling white grape juice" He handed her a glass "I thought this would be best in case you had to operate any htful of hiainst hers and drank

Good Lord, she’d never realized how sexy aup and doith each s Don’t think about that! She shook herself and took a sip The juice onderfully chilled She downed the rest of her glass

"Good?" He watched her, his mouth curled into the half smile that caused his cheek to dily sensation in her mouth

"Have a seat" He motioned to the blanket

"Well, actually" She eyed the plate filled with green grapes, red strawberries, water crackers, and slices of cheese Another plate held an assortment of Ghirardelli chocolate squares Would it hurt to share a few bites with hiht" She sat on one edge of the blanket

He sat on the other side with the plates of food between thelass" He leaned closer to pour lass

She took a sip "This was very kind of you"