Lost in Paradise Read Free Page B

never should have been there.”
    “A greenie?” Noah had never heard that term before—at least never applied to a woman.
    “Yeah. She wasn’t experienced in the least.”
    “Experienced at what?” Ronan asked as he grabbed two chairs from the table and dragged them over to the bed. He plunked one down next to Noah, sitting in the other.
    “Hiking.” She sniffed again. “We were all hiking. We were supposed to hike from just south of British Columbia to Helena. It was a commercial hiking expedition. At least it was supposed to be.” She bit her lip. “I’m not sure where we were when the grizzlies attacked. I only remember running for the river, hoping that I could lose them if I jumped into the rapids.”
    “Rapids would explain the lump on the back of her head,” Noah said as he looked at Ronan.
    “And you have no idea where you were when they attacked?” Ronan leaned forward in his seat. “Any idea would be better than nothing. We could attempt to send out a search party, if we had an idea.”
    She shook her head. I only know that we were five days out of the area where we started. I know the guide had said something about being a day from Flathead lake, but that’s all I know.”
    Noah met Ronan’s gaze. “The lake isn’t far from here.” Do you think the sheriff could pull together a search party? A group from Mason, maybe?
    Mason would be about a day’s walk from Flathead lake. If Mason had man eaters nearby, he was sure the town’s sheriff would want to know about it.
    “Go call the sheriff and tell him about this new set of developments,” Ronan said as he stood. “I’ll stay here and finish the meal you started. It will still be at least an hour and a half before the rescue workers arrive and I’m starving. ”
    “Okay. I’ve finished dicing up the ham into chunks and washed the potatoes and onions. Just slice it up and fry it all together. I’ll be right back.”
     

Chapter Five
     
     
    “Noah was just about to tell me where your bathroom is, when you came back,” Stacia said as she yanked the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around her. “Would you care to enlighten me, instead?”
    Standing, Stacia tried not to stare at Ronan. She really did. How would she ever sit across a table from the man and eat when she couldn’t stop staring. She’d be drooling next.
    She took a step forward and grimaced. Her legs ached. Her feet were on fire and she could swear someone had beat her about the lower back and hips with a baseball bat. Yes. She definitely needed a soak in some hot water, though a shower would do.
    “I’d really like to get washed up. I feel sticky and gritty.” It was most likely from the sand and river water. It was okay to wash in the river when there were no other facilities, but Stacia refused to walk down to the river for a bath, wearing nothing.
    It had been bad enough to wash in the river with the group. She never knew if one of the guys had been watching them while they bathed. Of course, had they ever caught the men nearby, they would have said something like, I was only here in case you screamed. I wasn’t watching, I swear.
    Stacia had heard that before, from her ex-boyfriend. The jerk watched her and the three girls they had taken hiking as an underprivileged teen camping trip.
    Not only had she lost her license as a guide because of it, she’d had to declare bankruptcy because the parents had sued. Of course Larry had ended up in jail and as far as she was concerned, it served his perverted ass right.
    It had taken her five years to trust a guide enough to hike with him in a co-ed atmosphere and look at what had happened.
    Maybe Stacia needed to give up hiking altogether. She loved it, but apparently, it didn’t love her. Or, rather, it loved to rake her life over the coals.
    Stacia had no reason to trust this man. For all she knew, he could have wanted to stay behind because he intended to force himself on her. At the very least, he probably