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“Throw stuff at him,” Sariah said. She bent and scooped rocks, flinging them as fast and hard as she could at the bear. Mack followed her advice and her eyes widened as she saw he picked up huge rocks and launched them so hard at the bear, the bear was knocked backward. The bear didn’t advance on them but it didn’t scurry away either. Sariah was breathing hard as she kept scooping and launching but she was running out of decent-sized rocks and so was Mack. He’d dropped the stick she’d given him to throw rocks. He picked it up, aimed it like a javelin and threw it hard. It was too blunt to penetrate, but it knocked the bear backward.

  The bear sort of whined then pivoted and lumbered back down to the stream. Within seconds it had crossed the stream and was hidden by the trees on the other side. Sariah’s breath rushed out of her and she deflated.

  Mack’s arms came around her. He squeezed her close. “You were amazing,” he said.

  Sariah stared up at him. “It was all you. Schnikies! You can throw hard for a lineman. Maybe we should push the Rocket out of his position.”

  He smiled and kissed her firmly. “I love you. How did you know exactly what to do? I thought I was supposed to posture, but that didn’t scare it.”

  “My dad taught me. With black bears who’ve gone after people, many people have been able to fight them off.”

  He kissed her again. “You’re my hero.”

  Sariah laughed. “Back at you.”

  “Thank you,” the girls were next to them and they kept repeating thank you over and over again.

  Sariah hadn’t even noticed them approach.

  “Can we walk down with you?” the redheaded girl asked.

  Mack nodded. “Sure. Let’s get you two out of here.”

  “I can’t believe you just fought that bear.” The blonde girl stared up at Mack with wide eyes. “You’re so hot. Way hotter and tougher than …” She shook her head as if grasping for a heroic enough figure in her mind. “Than Thor!”

  Her redhead friend nodded her agreement. “Thank you,” she said much more quietly than her friend.

  Sariah bit at her lip to keep from laughing. Mack’s face darkened with embarrassment.

  “We’d better go,” he muttered. He gestured in front of him and the girls scurried down the trail, obviously still shaken from the encounter with the bear. The blonde girl kept looking back at Mack with longing and worship in her eyes.

  Mack and Sariah walked together behind them. He checked over his shoulder and she followed his gaze, but the bear was thankfully gone. Mack put his arm around her. “You okay?” he asked.

  “Of course, always okay with the hero who’s hotter and stronger than Thor with me.” She batted her eyelashes at him.

  He squeezed her arm and laughed. “Don’t share that one with anyone.”

  She smiled. “Ammunition is always good to have.”

  He bent and swiftly kissed her. “I still say you’re the hero today.”

  Sariah pointed ahead of her. “They don’t seem to think so.”

  The girls both glanced back at them and the blonde winked boldly at Mack. When they turned around, Mack rolled his eyes. Sariah laughed but she kept her arm around his waist and stayed close to him. He was the hero and luckily for her, he loved her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  After the craziness of fighting the bear, they hiked back to Mack’s rented Durango, said goodbye to his teenage girl fans, and drove to the hotel. They showered, ate a nice dinner in downtown Crested Butte at Marchitelli’s Gourmet Noodle, and then went back to the hotel. Sariah knew she had to show Mack tonight. She had an idea of how to do it. She hoped he would understand the level of trust she was putting in him.

  They walked into their room hand in hand and she turned to him. “Do you want to go sit in the hot tub?”

  Mack’s eyes filled with questions, but he nodded. “If you want to.”

  “I do.” She squeezed his hand and hurried to her room. Slowly sliding into the swimming suit she’d bought in preparation for this trip, a thrill of fear darted through her. She’d never worn a swimming suit without a long-sleeved rash guard over it. This was braver than facing down a bear. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail. Her neck felt naked, exposed.

  Taking a deep breath, she side-stepped very slowly to the vanity mirror. Her left side appeared first and she thought she looked fit and pretty good in the floral swimsuit. Gradually she eased over until her middle and then her right side appeared. She froze. The sight of her bumpy, disgusting skin made her stomach drop. The fire had disfigured her ear, neck, right shoulder, and part of her upper arm.

  Seeing the scars revealed fully in her one-piece swimsuit robbed her of the bravery she’d felt as she put it on. She couldn’t go out there and face Mack. Would he recoil from her or would his eyes simply fill with pity? Mack was such a good man, but how could a man that was fabulous like him want someone disfigured like her? She couldn’t do this. Didn’t want to know the answers to those questions.

  Pacing the small room, she realized she had to either put a shirt on and take her hair down to go to the hot tub or change her clothes and tell him she didn’t feel like hot tubbing now. She knew Mack would take either option in stride, but why couldn’t she trust him to take her scars in stride?

  As she passed the mirror, she caught another glimpse of the disfigured skin. For some reason she pictured Scarlett Lily in her black dress at that Super Bowl party months ago. Scarlett’s skin was so smooth and beautiful and Mack had said she knew his brother. The Quinn family were all perfectly beautiful. How dare Sariah think she could fit in their world? Her stomach flipped again. What should she do? She simply couldn’t face him like this. Mack was so amazing and she didn’t want to lose him.

  She dropped to the floor next to the bed. Kneeling, she bowed her head and begged for help. A calm reassurance flooded her and the remembrance, Jesus loves you.

  She knew it was true. Jesus did love her and he would give her strength. Struggling to her feet, she knew at some point she had to focus on the fact that she was enough in God’s eyes. She trusted Jesus. She had to trust that if Mack was the man for her, he would love her regardless.

  She picked up the coverup she’d brought to wear down to the hot tub, put a hand on her stomach to quell the nervousness, walked slowly to the door of her room, and yanked it open. This was it. Mack’s reaction would determine where they went from here. She’d never loved a man like she did him and she muttered a prayer that he wouldn’t recoil or run from her. He’d faced down a bear. Doubtful he was going to run from some scars. These encouraging thoughts had her walking out of her room and into the main area. She reached up to pull her hair in front of her neck before remembering it was secured in a ponytail. Forcing herself to drop her hand to her side she wrung the coverup in her hand and squeezed her eyes shut, terrified of his reaction.

  She heard his soft melodious voice, “Sariah.”

  Focusing on Mack’s face, she braced herself for his reaction. His eyes traveled slowly over her right side but didn’t linger there for long. His eyes continued down, taking in the floral suit and her legs then coming back up to rest on her face. He smiled at her. “You look … so beautiful.”

  Sariah’s breath caught. He’d seen her scars but hadn’t really focused on them. She could see that he wasn’t blowing any smoke, but truly thought she was beautiful. Sariah dropped the coverup on the floor and ran at him. Mack opened his arms and she hugged him tight, fully appreciating the finely-honed muscles of his chest and abdomen pressed against her.

  Staring up into his handsome face she finally mustered up the courage to ask, “You don’t care about … the scars?”

  Mack shook his head. He tenderly bent and kissed the mottled skin on the right side of her neck. Sariah thought she would feel disgusted and embarrassed if anyone ever touched her scars, but Mack’s acceptance made warmth dart through her. He ran his fingers along her shoulder and neck and she quivered from his touch. She didn’t have much feeling there but knowing that he was to
uching her scars so calmly made her love him even more.

  Pulling back, he smiled. “I’d better stop or I’ll have more trouble staying in control than I did last night.”

  Sariah could hardly believe how amazing he was. “You’re actually … attracted to me right now?”

  A loud breath popped out of him. “Oh, Sariah. If you could only see how incredible you look right now.” He smiled. “I promised you I wouldn’t kiss you too much again, but you in this swimsuit, looking so beautiful.” He shook his head. “We’d better get to a public place quick.”

  He took her hand and started toward the door. Sariah tugged at him. “You aren’t grossed out by my scars, or embarrassed of them?”

  He shook his head. “I think scars add character. Wait until you see my brother, Griff. His entire back was burned by a bomb. He saved my sister-in-law, Jasmine’s life that night.” He touched her neck again and Sariah trembled from the tenderness of it. “How were you burned?” His brow furrowed, as if he was concerned what her answer would be.

  She stared at him, dumbfounded by his acceptance. Months she’d been afraid and waiting to show him her disfigurement, and he took it in stride as if she’d just told him about a childhood skiing accident where she hurt her knee or something. “Campfire,” she muttered. “I was five.”

  Relief flashed across his face, which confused her. Where did he think she’d gotten the scars? “That must’ve been terrifying for your parents.”

  “Yeah. My mom still won’t talk about it. I think she likes me covering it up.” She paused and then asked, “Do you like me covering it up?”

  He shook his head. “Every part of you is beautiful to me. If you’re more comfortable with your hair over your neck that’s fine, but I don’t think you should cover it up. It’s part of you. You’re beautiful.”

  Wow. Sariah was still trying to process his awesomeness. Blushing, she walked over and picked up the white coverup and slid it over her head. Mack walked slowly to her. His gaze was intense and the most beautiful smoldering look she’d ever seen.

  He fingered the sleeve of her coverup. “You can wear this if you want,” he said in a deep, throaty voice, “But don’t wear it for me.”

  Sariah felt warm all over. Who needed a hot tub? “You don’t care if I strut down to the hot tub without anything over my suit?”

  He shook his head. “I think you should share your beauty with everyone.”

  Sariah searched his gaze and the sincerity, desire, and love there had her body pulsing with joy and acceptance. “I won’t wear it then,” she whispered.

  Mack’s gaze heated her even more. He reached down and grasped the edges of the coverup. His fingers brushed against her thighs. He pulled it up her body in one of the most tender and tantalizing moves she’d ever experienced. Lifting it over her head, he dropped it to the floor and then his eyes slowly traveled over her again.

  “So beautiful,” he whispered.

  Sariah stared up into his blue eyes. “Have I told you how much I love you?” she asked.

  Mack smiled. He bent low and kissed her. “I love you,” he murmured, then he kissed her again. The kisses quickly grew in intensity and Sariah didn’t even flinch when his palms framed her face and his fingers grazed her scars.

  Mack drew back first. “Like I said, we’d better get to a public place quick.”

  “Don’t want a repeat of last night?” she teased, feeling light and happy and so in love. Soon she’d tell him about the other nightmare associated with her scars, but she didn’t want to tarnish this moment, or how she felt with Mack looking at her with such devotion and desire.

  “No, ma’am. Especially not with you in a swimming suit. Whoo.” He blew out a breath. “And those girls today claimed I was hot.”

  She laughed and let him escort her out of the suite and toward the elevator. Mack thought she was hot, even with her scars. She had officially found the perfect man for her. She loved him so much.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Mack woke up at six the next morning, feeling like he could conquer the world. His legs actually were a little stiff from the biking and hiking but he needed a really intense weight workout today. He left a note for Sariah and texted her phone but she didn’t respond, she must be still asleep, then he headed for the hotel gym. It was decent, as far as hotel gyms went. He worked out for a couple of hours before hurrying back to their suite. He couldn’t wait to be with Sariah again. Today they were going to bike on the trails around town, buy some bear spray, do a hike to Meridian, or Long Lake, as the locals called it, and maybe paddleboard the river. It wasn’t warm enough to want to get wet, but Sariah had proven how brave she was.

  He smiled as he swung the suite door open and rushed for his bedroom. Sariah’s door was still closed, but it was only eight-thirty. He hurried to get into the shower. Even though they would get sweaty again hiking, he didn’t want to stink like a gym rat. Last night they’d gone to their separate rooms after hot tubbing. He wanted to be careful not to put them in a compromising situation, but this time with Sariah was ideal. There was only one worry. He still hadn’t told her that Griff had sent him those pictures and he’d already known about her scars. Would she be upset? His stomach churned at the thought. He didn’t want to keep anything from her, but last night she’d needed his love and acceptance, not more questions about how the scars had caused her torture and trauma.

  As he got out of the shower, he heard Sariah’s door open and close. Then he heard his bedroom door open. He hurried to slide into his pants and opened his bathroom door, steam following him out. Sariah was waiting just inside the bedroom door. He noticed her hair was covering her right side again. Had they regressed from last night? Had he not responded correctly, shown her exactly how beautiful she was to him?

  “Hey.” He smiled but she didn’t return it. “What’s wrong?” Mack hurried across the small bedroom to her.

  She held aloft her phone. Anger flashed in her eyes, but she also looked very vulnerable and beautiful right now. “This is wrong, Mack. I knew I shouldn’t fall for somebody famous.”

  “What’s going on?”

  She shoved the phone against his chest. Mack took it and scrolled through the article, some online celebrity magazine. “Has another impoverished Udy girl captured a famous Patriots’ player’s heart?” was the first line. He scanned the article. It made Sariah and Lily look like gold diggers who had pulled the wool over Mack and Hyde’s eyes. He remembered hearing about stuff like this last spring when Hyde and Lily started dating.

  “It’s just some stupid ragtag,” Mack said. “You can’t let stuff like this bug you.”

  “Oh, I can’t? Maybe it would bug you if you were the one being made out to be a whore.”

  “What?”

  “Did you not see the pictures?”

  Mack shook his head.

  “Scroll down.”

  He obeyed and the pictures started popping up. Somebody had been following them the past couple of days. Crested Butte was a great vacation spot, there were probably other famous people here and these scummy paparazzi had followed them and found Mack and Sariah. Mack didn’t think he was notorious enough to have someone tailing him, but his family was. Had he brought this on Sariah? His stomach filled with dread.

  There were pictures of them at dinner, walking hand in hand along the quaint main street of town, and several pictures of them walking into their room, one with Sariah tugging on his arm, grinning up at him, with a caption, “Sariah Udy obviously can’t wait to sleep her way out of poverty.” Then there were the pics of them in the hot tub. Mack’s arm was around her shoulder, but her neck and right ear were clearly visible. Below the picture was a caption, “Maybe Mack Quinn doesn’t mind a deformed girlfriend, as long as she puts out.” He winced. Why were these magazines so harsh and crude? Probably to bring attention and sell ads.

  He handed the phone back to Sariah. “I’m sorry that happened. I’ll have my agent contact the magazine and take the article d
own. It’s obvious slander.”

  She glowered at him. “It’s all over the internet, Mack. Are you going to fight them all for me? Are you going to protect me from other pictures being taken?”

  “Of course, I will.” He caught her hand. “Sariah, I’m serious about how much I love you. These lying articles don’t matter to me.”

  “Well, they matter to me.” She pulled her hand back. “And I want the truth from you right now.”

  “Okay.” What truth?

  “I couldn’t get over it last night, how great you reacted to seeing my deformity. How kind you were. Then it hit me.”

  His stomach sank as she stared pointedly at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “You already knew.”

  He clenched his fists. Dang Griff and Navy. The only option now was through. “I was going to tell you, but I wanted you to trust me, to share with me.”

  “You know how important trust is to me.” She seemed to shrivel before him as she tucked her hair around her neck. She backed up a step. “And I definitely don’t trust you now.”

  “Sariah, please.” He held up a hand. “I didn’t go looking for it. My brother sent me some pictures.”

  Her eyes widened. “The pictures?” her voice squeaked.

  He nodded. “The ones where somebody is holding you.”

  Her face blanched and she backed up again.

  “Please, Sariah,” he said again. There were so many arguments and explanations he wanted to make, but she had to trust him, she just did.

  “How long ago did you see them?”

  “A week,” he admitted.

  Her eyes were full of accusations. “And you didn’t say anything to me?”

  “What did you want me to say?” He tried to not be frustrated, but he was scared this wouldn’t end well and he didn’t know how to make it better. All he knew was he couldn’t lose her. He’d tried his very best to get her to trust him and now he’d muddled it up. “From the first day at your school I knew something was wrong, how could I not? I’ve been waiting the past couple of months for you to trust me and show me. I didn’t want to just force it out of you.”