Page 286 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

He grabbed a space blanket out and shook it open. As a small group of tourists passed, an elderly man arched a brow as if to say,Are you crazy? It’s too cold for apicnic.

Drew smiled in response. The snow-covered grass didn’t seem like the best place to set up, so he led her to a picnic bench near the terraces. He helped her spread out thefeast.

“Did you happen to pack plates?” sheasked.

“Shit, I knew I was forgetting something,”hesaid.

“Don’t worry. It’s all finger foodanyway.”

She tore open a package of butter crackers and slapped a slice of cheddar cheese onto it. After adding some salami, she stuffed it in her mouth. So much for dainty. But he liked it. Some women ate like birds and were constantly whining about every calorie. Nothing could be more annoying than having someone stare you down with hungry, judgey eyes while you tried to eat. She ate with gusto—a woman after his ownheart.

“I’ve always thought this was one of the most interesting places on earth,” she said between bites. “I wonder how it allworks.”

“There’s a giant vault of magma under Yellowstone. The heat pushes up and comes out through various natural features, like theterraces.”

“I know that much, but how did they form? Why are they so white?” sheasked.

“Calcium carbonate melts into the water. As it cools, it creates the terraces,”hesaid.

“Isn’t that the stuff inantacids?”

“It’ssimilar.”

“So if I eat too much cheese, I can just lick the hotspring?”

“Uh, no. Not unless you want your tongue to burn off,”hesaid.

“You and your obsession with my tongue.” Shegrinned.

Heflushed.

“What makes the other colors?” sheasked.

“The browns, reds, oranges, and greens come from algae growing in the water,”hesaid.

“How do you know so much about this?” sheasked.

“We took a lot of science trips to Yellowstone when I was inschool.”

“And you rememberedeverything?”

“It wasn’tthatlong ago.” He smirked. “Besides, I have a really goodmemory.”

“One time, we went on a science trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. It was so smelly, but reallyinteresting.”

“Wait, isn’t that in the LA area? I thought you’d never been to the west coast,”hesaid.

Her head snapped up and she stopped mid-chew. When her eyes widened, he realized she’d been caught inanotherlie.

“What’s going on?” heasked.

“What do you mean?” A tinge of fear enteredhertone.

“You’ve contradicted yourself a few times now. I still don’t believe your story about driving from Florida through Virginia to get here. It doesn’t make any sense. Did you really move from Florida?” heasked.

“Yes.”

“And you grew upthere?”

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