His Bear Hands (Bear Creek Grizzlies Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

legs of the desk, deflated. She couldn't even meet his eyes. "Right. Sure. I'll just — go."
    She turned on her heel and almost ran into the door. She cleared her throat and tried to steady herself, feeling even worse as he stood and sighed. "Zoe, I didn't mean—"
    She fled. Hustled out the back door, not wanting to go through the kitchen and risk facing Ethan. He would be nice but would probably call her a criminal too. They didn't understand. Sometimes you ended up in something without realizing how you got there. She hadn't set out to be a criminal. It just — happened. And she felt really badly about it. She tried to make things right. She really did.
    Zoe shoved open the door and burst outside, not stopping to think before heading for one of the trails. She took off on the trail Simon highlighted for the tourists. She hugged herself and tried to clear the knot from her throat. She paid her way through college creating characters in video and computer games, then selling them to the highest bidder, she moved money around for people, and somehow ended up working for a company that didn't have the greatest ethics. Then Mick Castellano's people head-hunted her away and suddenly all the brakes were off and she had free rein. All those skills that kept her safe and ahead of the competition were suddenly worth a lot. They paid her a ton, more than she ever could have made using a business degree. It was just digits, moving from one place to the other. Just files and numbers. All make believe. It wasn't supposed to actually hurt people. People weren't supposed to die.
    She stumbled on a tree root in the trail and nearly fell. She paused to take a breath, fighting for control as her breath came faster, a little desperate. Had to get a hold of herself. Life online was so much easier. She could hide in her apartment and do everything she needed to do without ever seeing another person. People just hurt you. You opened yourself up to them, offered them part of yourself, and they hurt you.
    Her vision blurred and Zoe cursed, dashing tears from her eyes. Simon was too good-looking to be nice. He pretended, like they all did, and used that to get close enough to really hurt her. She pulled out her phone and hoped for a signal, any type of connection, so she could call Tate. Tell him to come get her. She would take her chances with Mick and his guys. She could get all the money back, could hide all the files again somewhere better. It wasn't too late.
    Nothing. Not even half a bar. Zoe shook her head. There had to be a phone in the lodge somewhere. It was just a matter of finding it without Simon catching her. She started down the trail again, still looking at her phone as the trail curved and an enormous meadow full of flowers stretched out in front of her. Zoe blinked, more than a little awed. Holy shit. Maybe there was something to all this nature crap after all.
    She fiddled with her phone to take a picture, then froze. Three baby bear cubs, little black roly-poly things with giant paws, played in the flowers. One reared up and chomped the head off a flower, and another one tackled him with a growl. Zoe bit her lip to keep from laughing at their antics, and instead she hit the video on her phone to record them playing. It lifted her spirits a bit so see them rolling around and wrestling. So much cuter in real life than on a computer screen.
    Zoe inched a little closer, off the trail, and zoomed in on the babies. One sat up on his hind legs and stared at her, then made an odd little squeaky sound.
    Something rustled behind her, and Zoe looked over her shoulder. A bear — a much bigger bear — lumbered out of the undergrowth behind her and sat up on its hind legs. Its small eyes flashed red as it looked at her and made a growling noise that set Zoe's heart racing. She fumbled with her phone, trying to remember if she'd read anything about bears. Surviving bear attacks. Maybe climbing trees? Making noise?
    Her mind raced. What the