“How do you know that if you have little experience with them?”

He flashed her a grin. “I read. Ever since I heard wolves had been transplanted in Oregon, I started researching them. I knew it was only a matter of time before they became thick in the wilderness areas.” He bent to stroke his dog’s head. “Good boy.”

Erin suddenly felt exhausted. “Maybe we should sit up all night.”

He smiled again. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll get up every couple of hours to throw wood on the fire. Just know that tomorrow we’ll be moving your tent here so you’ll have your own sleeping area.”

Just then, Erin heard another wolf howl, and she decided, right then and there, that Wyatt Fitzgerald was delusional if he thought she’d sleep alone in this dangerous place. Two people stood a better chance of fighting off wolves.

Wyatt arranged the bedding in the tent, and he’d tried to put space between their sleeping bags, but in a pup tent, all he’d managed was a scant inch of separation. All Erin had to do was kick her boots off before she retired again, but she decided to keep her footwear on all night. A forest floor was covered with prickly stuff, and she didn’t want to be gimping around out there while she tried to protect her horse if the wolves came in. She crawled into bed and rolled onto her side. She chose not to zip up her bag. Wyatt lay so close she could have reached out and touched him. For the first time, she noticed he wasn’t wearing a shirt. She wondered if he’d been sleeping in the buff when she rushed into his tent earlier and found him sitting up in bed. Now she knew he was at least wearing jeans.

“You going to turn that light off?” he asked.

“Won’t it illuminate our tent and be another wolf deterrent?”

He sighed. “Yes. But it also throws our shadows against the walls, letting them know exactly where we are. I prefer an element of surprise. I’ll feel them if they come in close again, and hopefully you’ll hear them.”

Erin thought it odd that he seemed to have more confidence in his acquired fifth sense than he did in her ability to hear. She sighed and doused the lantern. Blackness settled over her.

“About lanterns inside tents,” he said. “You should think twice about using a light when you’re changing clothes so you don’t give anyone else a peep show.”

Her face went instantly hot. “You could see me undressing?”

No answer. Wyatt couldn’t hear her and he could no longer see her. She snuggled deeper into her sleeping bag. The earth was cold and seeped up through the fill to make her shudder. Her last thought was that it would take forever for her to fall asleep.

* * *

Wyatt awakened to a fabulous feeling of heat and softness pressing against him through his sleeping bag. He rolled onto his side to gather it closer, only to come wide awake when he realized Erin had invaded his space. He almost woke her up and asked her to get back on her own side of the tent, but she lay snuggled up against him like a child seeking warmth. And it was cold. Once they got camp set up, they’d each have a small wall tent with cots to sleep on, which would protect them both from the chill of an earthen floor. But for now, he was the only source of heat she had.