WILD MEN OF ALASKA

chapter TWENTY-ONE

He’d given her three days. Now he was getting his woman back.

Chocolate hadn’t worked, neither had flowers, but there was no way Eva would be able to turn away a puppy.

Lynx didn’t care if this wasn’t playing fair as he was way past fair.

With the cute little pup in his arms, he felt very confident that he’d get inside Eva’s door. That was until Eva opened her door and his heart pounded at the sight of her, and his carefully planned speech floated off into the atmosphere.

“Hi,” he managed to say.

“Hi,” she returned.

The puppy squirmed in his arms, bringing him back to his plan and off how pretty Eva looked in her silky blue blouse and sexy short skirt. He wondered what color her undergarments were today.

“This is Kiski.” Lynx held up the runt puppy Fox agreed was more suited as a pet than one of the dogs he trained for sledding. “You need someone to help you navigate this country. She’s a good start. I’d be better, but she’d go a long way in helping you with the local wildlife.”

When Eva didn’t say anything right away, he rushed on. “Dogs come in handy. She’ll make a good companion, and bears don’t like the sound of their barking.”

“What about moose?” Eva bit her tongue to keep from smiling. How did one resist a big man holding a little puppy? A puppy that wasn’t going to stay little for long. Not with those saucer-size paws.

“They’re not too fond of them either.”

She held her hand out to Kiski, who lavished her fingers with her pink tongue. How could she resist the blue and brown-eyed pup with the bandit face? Turned out she didn’t want to. “Okay, I’ll give her a try.”

“You’ll have to take my word for it, but she likes you and would like us to make a home for her. Together.”

“She told you this?”

“Kinda.” He looked down at the puppy in his arms who was currently trying to eat the buttons off his shirt. “So what do you say? Remember, she wants us both as her parents.”

Eva let the smile spread over her face. The man was too damned adorable. “Depends. Are you house broken?”

He set the puppy down, who promptly began chewing on the laces of his Timberland boots. “I’m house broken where it counts.” He started to hope. “Do you feel better about what I told you?”

“I don’t understand why I do, but I believe you. But before we go any further, there’s something you need to know about me. I drive men off.” She lowered her eyes and muttered, “Or drive them gay.”

“Eva, I’m not going anywhere, and no way in hell will I ever turn gay. I’m willing to prove it over and over and over—”

“I get the idea.” She huffed a deep breath and tried again. “You haven’t seen me on my bad days.”

He cocked a brow in jest. “It gets worse than this?”

She made a startled, insulted sound. “Are you taking me seriously?”

“No. You’re talking nonsense and on some level you know it. Eva—”

“Listen, I’m about the only available woman in town who isn’t related to you. I’m convenient.”

“Fairbanks isn’t that far away. I’m not attracted to you because you’re close. There are easier women to be attracted to.”

“Hey.”

“Well?”

“Okay, so that last one might have been a stretch.”

“Don’t insult us both. You need me. You love me.”

She sucked in her breath, and he waited her out. “We haven’t known each other long enough.”

He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her in close for a kiss. Her toes curled in her high-heeled sandals before he was finished.

“Time means nothing. Sometimes you just know. Forget everything and just tell me what’s in your heart.”

Eva searched his eyes and saw nothing but love and sincerity. This man really loved her. And she hadn’t shown him the best side of her either. If he could love the worst of her, they were bound to make it.

“I love you, Lynx. Every crazy thing about you.”

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. “Thank you.”

She pulled back. “Thank you? I just told you I loved you. Reciprocate, mountain man.”

He swung her up into his arms. “Oh, I plan to, woman.”

Lynx carried her inside, with Kiski trailing after them trying to attack his boots. Lynx tossed Eva onto the bed, sacrificing his broken-in Timberlands to the pup, and then proceeded to show Eva in detail how very much he loved her.



THE END