Two Nights with His Bride by Kat Latham

of your theaters around here. Anyway, I played a whitewater rafting guide whose group gets murdered by aliens, and he has to save himself using only his raft, paddle and a couple of toothpicks. Did all my own stunts, and the crew gave merafting gear as a thank-you at the end of the shoot. There’s nothing I don’t know about riding the river. And if my bride wants to spend the day in a raft, then that’s what we’ll do.”
    Shit. Controlling his temper had never come easily to Wyatt, and seeing how quickly the spunky Nancylynn he knew had disappeared made him ready to fight. He’d ignored his instincts once before, and Nancy had beenthe one hurt by it.
    This time he wouldn’t back down. He would fight the devil himself to help Nancy see this asshole for what he was.

Chapter Six
    ‡
    “If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married.”
    —Katharine Hepburn
    T he weight of Jared’s arm seemed to grow heavier as the morning wore on. Nancy tried twice to move away from him, but he stayed right by her until her nerves were close to snapping. The skin on theinsides of her cheeks felt raw from how hard she bit down to keep herself from saying all the things she wanted to say.
    Now was not the right time. Thirty minutes earlier—when they’d walked through the forest to talk privately— that had been the time. And she had told him she wanted him to leave so she could have some bonding time with her friends, but he’d taken offense and peppered her withso many questions that she’d finally given in just to save her sanity.
    Sometimes it was better to make peace than to make a point.
    If only she didn’t have that niggling feeling that she’d been making a lot of peace by losing a lot of points lately.
    It’s just the stress of wedding planning that’s getting to us . That had to be it. How could a couple plan a million-dollar wedding without a fewarguments?
    Or a few hundred.
    “All right,” Wyatt said, “this morning we’re going to go through Yankee Jim Canyon, without a doubt my favorite stretch of the Yellowstone. It has everything—interesting history, big rock walls, beautiful scenery, rapids and some sections that are calm enough for floating or swimming, if we want. One word of warning. During a storm last year, a huge boulder brokeaway from the canyon wall and landed in the river. When the river’s higher, it’s totally submerged and just feels like a gentle wave when you go over it. Right now, though, the water’s low, so the current crashes against the rock and forms a wave that crests backward. It’s important not to panic. We either row around it or all paddle hard so we hit the wave straight-on and have enough power to goover it. We don’t want to hit it sideways because it could flip us over. We can decide what to do when we’re approaching it, but we’ll have to act quickly. It’s up to you guys how comfortable you are tackling it head-on. Any questions?”
    They all shook their heads.
    “Good. Let’s get in the boat.”
    Wyatt led the way, followed by Polly and Ruby. Faye had decided to stick around the camp, even thoughJared didn’t need her equipment. Nancy’s stress over the whole situation grew. She’d invited Faye along because she was more than an employee. She was a friend and one of the few people Nancy could completely trust. She couldn’t help wishing Faye was coming instead of Jared, a thought that made her feel like a traitor.
    Wyatt pushed the raft into the river, and they all climbed in and paddledinto the current. He sat behind her, while Jared took up all the room to her right.
    The river narrowed as they approached Yankee Jim Canyon, and Wyatt shouted over the sudden rush, “There’s the boulder up ahead. What do you want to do?”
    “Oh my God,” Ruby said, her whole body visibly stiffening. “Oh my God, oh my God.”
    “All right, we’re going around it.” Wyatt pointed to the left of the