“That’s crazy.”
“That’s how most bear shifters do it,” Jim spoke slowly and steadily, fighting the rising anger in his gut. “I don’t want this, okay? Yes, even a week ago I would’ve been fine with it, but there is no way I want to drop everything I’ve got right now to go play happy families with some stranger.”
He slipped on his shoes.
“Where are you going?” Damon asked. “You’re not still thinking you can find Lillie, are you?” His eyes widened. “Oh shit. What’re you going to do about her?”
“One thing at a time. It’s not this woman’s fault she’s been chosen to be my bride. I can’t just send her a phone message and tell her to go home. It’s possible I’m going to have to do some fast-talking to get out of this contract, but I have to get out of it. Plus, I need to find Lillie, but I can only do one thing at a time. And that means I have to go to Whitehorse first.”
“Or you could forget all of them, say screw the whole business and we take off for an extended bike trip.” Damon raised a brow. “There’s still Lady Luck on the line. I handed her in to the judge yesterday, and the man is not going to give her back to anyone who hasn’t met the requirements we arranged.”
Jim stilled for all of half a second. “Screw Lady Luck.”
“Seriously?” His friend’s jaw hung open. “You know damn well you have a better chance in this race than I do. Your bike is faster and you’re a better rider than I am. You’re really willing to throw away your chance to win rather than staying here for one more day, two tops, and getting it done? I mean, the woman up at your house can sit there for weeks, for all that it matters.”
“And what am I going to do when Lillie returns? Tell her I have to go talk to the woman who is supposed to be my wife, so I can break it off with her, but hey, stick around. I should be back in no time.” The entire situation had turned crazy so quickly, Jim’s head was spinning. “No. You do the ride, and get Lady Luck. I’m going to make my own luck and get what I want. And who I want, and it isn’t this strange woman, it’s Lillie.”
“But—”
“Give it up, Damon. It’s just a damn coin. Lillie is real flesh and blood and passion, and I’ll be damned if I let anything come between us.”
Damon stared for a long while before he shook his head. “Okay. I got your back. You track down your betrothed, convince her to return to the old country, and in the meantime, I’ll do my best to find your missing lady.”
Jim clutched his hands. “Thank you.”
“No guarantees that I won’t have convinced her I’m the better catch,” Damon teased. He ducked Jim’s halfhearted swing. “Go on. Fix your fucked-up personal life, and call me if you need anything. I’ll keep you up to date.”
12
It should have taken him five hours max to go from his condo to McCarran Airport to Whitehorse. Instead, it took twice that long as he scrambled to find transportation. He had to hire a new private plane.
He’d forgotten that part of arranged marriages. When the Board had failed to reach him, they’d probably contacted his assistant who would have ordered the Halcyon plane to pick his fiancée up.
But after a bunch of finagling and crossing palms with cash, Jim finally made it. The snow-lined runway reflected the blinking red and white plane lights as the small jet rolled up to the single-story square building that was the main terminal. He took deep breaths of the icy-cold winter air as he transferred to the ground, marching straight through the building and back out to crawl into the private car waiting for him.
Whitehorse in February. This was why he owned a place in Vegas.
Thirty more minutes to kill as the car headed up the Alaskan Highway from the tiny Whitehorse airport to his home in the mountains. Jim fought to keep from drumming his fingers on the fine leather upholstery.
In his earlier scramble, he’d convinced someone to come up with a name. Katherine Lileas Ruadh. He’d never heard of her, or her clan, giving him even more reason to believe she was a European import. But at least he had that much—the name of the unfortunate woman he was about to send packing.
He stared out the window as the trees grew thicker and the car wove its way up the long approach to his driveway. The sun had already set, but there were twinkling lights visible at moments through the trees.
The last time he’d been in Whitehorse he’d rented a Jeep, hauling his parents along to show them the spot he’d selected for his home.
The aching sensation in his chest wasn’t just from missing them. They were gone, and that was always going to hurt, but they’d given him so much and always been there for him when he needed them.
They’d shown him a perfect example of a couple in love.