Page 15 of Sunshine for the Grumpy Grizzly

“Must be some exotic supermarket in Twin Falls.”

“Supermarket?” Outrage transforms his rugged features. “I hunted it all myself.”

“No way?”

“Of course.” He looks so confused, I almost laugh.

Almost. Because he also looks real fierce and sexy. Of course, he hunts his own meat.

After a few minutes,a low hum of voices reaches my ears. “Looks like they finally figured out how to read a map,” I say.

Preston gives a dry, snorty sound. I stare at him startled.Ohh… he’s laughing. And so am I. It wasn’t even funny, but it just feels so good to laugh with him.

“They’re not in a real good mood. That mean one is threatening to leave.”

I strain my ears, but I can’t pick out any individual voice. “How can you hear that?”

He shrugs. “Because I’m a b?—”

“A what?”

“I’ll tell you later.” He reaches for another log and dumps it on the fire.

Slowly, slowly, my colleagues emerge from the trees, their grumpy faces swimming into view like a bunch of Halloween fright masks.

“Goddamn it,” Natasha is carping. “they’ll have a lawsuit on their hands.”

Well, she’s the one who decided to wear heels to a mountain retreat. And I thought she loved the “great outdoors”.

“Ohh—” she breaks off.

In perfect unison, they stop dead.

“This is… neat,” one of the girls says.

“Cool,” Dan, the publishing manager agrees.

“Oh my god, fairy lights!” squeaks Kellie, the secretary.

A flicker of pride lights in my chest. Automatically, I look for Preston.

He’s looking for me, too, and when our eyes lock, a grin spreads across his face.

Darn, he’s even more handsome when he smiles.

“Beer?” Preston says.

Multiple heads snap in his direction. He goes to a cooler I hadn’t even realized he’d brought and… gets mobbed. Every single one of my male colleagues, and a bunch of the girls rush over to him, all grabby hands.

After that he’s the man of the hour.

The whole evening goes like a dream. Trey, the IT guy, brings out a set of speakers and starts DJing. Preston works the barbecue like a man possessed, and everyone lines up for second and third helpings. They’re allhappy. Those frowns have been turned upside down and they’re chatting and laughing and getting drunk. The guys start throwing their arms around Preston and calling him bro.

My heart lifts.Thisis the team-building weekend that I longed to give them.

Once everyone else has been served, I go up to the grill.

“Hey,” Preston says. “What kept you?” His voice is low, and it spills through me like a caress.

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