She knew when he was standing over her because the guy was massive, and the shadow on the ground was massive too.

“If you’re going to lurk, please do so out of my light.” River nodded her head toward her crew. “If you’re bored, Jessie could use some more stock footage right now.”

The beard twitched, giving him away. “You really want to be caught on film putting this up wrong?”

“It’s not wrong, it’s…” Breathing a soft curse, River realized he was right. “I would have noticed that. Trust me, I can stand over you and find lots of things to point out you’re doing wrong too, buddy.”

Dropping down to his heels didn’t make him seem much shorter, not with those broad shoulders and muscled chest. But his normally deadpanned face was creased with humor.

“You aren’t intimidated by me at all, are you?”

“Is there any reason I should be?” River arched an eyebrow at him.

Chuckling, Easton shook his head. “Not that I can think of. I already set up my tent, and we don’t need the dining tent until we get to the snow. Want some help?”

“Nope, but I appreciate the offer.” River’s name might have been fake, but her spine was strong as steel and true. She could, and would, set up her own tent.

“You remind me of whisky,” Easton murmured.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Depends on how long I stay within arm’s reach.”

River wasn’t sure what to say about that, but if she was whisky, he was the biggest, most decadent brownie. And chocolate sauce.

Easton was all the chocolate sauce.

“Why do I have a feeling I don’t want to know what you’re thinking?”

“My mind’s a wild, sticky, confusing place,” River admitted. “Trust me, I don’t want to think what I’m thinking either.”

This time, he didn’t ask. Easton simply took the piece of her tent frame she couldn’t figure out and locked it into place, a casual action by someone who actually could do this with his eyes closed.

“You’re my kind of confusing.” His eyes sparkled with humor. “And you might want to film that.”

“Film what?”

“The grizzly watching us right now.”

He nodded toward the edge of the ridge, some twenty feet away. Sure enough, a grizzly bear was standing there, watching them curiously. At which point River learned something very important about herself. She wasn’t the best at putting up a tent, but at least she didn’t run screaming when a four-hundred-pound grizzly with allergies sneezed.

Jessie would never be able to say the same. Never had River seen anyone panic to the extent Jessie panicked upon realizing there was a bear in their camp.