and sweet, the way the world smelled after a spring rain.
They stood side by side, the only sound the crackling of the fire. Babette lay on the edge of the hearth, next to a bone and a plastic squeaky toy that had seen better days.
When Cyd slid Jeffrey a sideways glance, he saw how her long, black eyelashes cast spiky shadows on her cheeks. Caught a look of longing in her eyes that flamed his needs even higher. Was she feeling what he felt? Or did she view him as another of her competitions. Maybe that was what was behind some of her antagonistic actions. She was accustomed to competing, not communing with guys.
If so, tonight he’d let her win. He’d let her have anything if she’d reward him with a kiss, a touch…
He blinked and turned his gaze to the flames. What in the hell am I thinking? I’m here on business not pleasure. Top priority is to research Arctic Luck, then fly back to L.A. tomorrow. The last thing I need to think about is a roll in the sack with Cyd. One hundred percent of his focus needed to be on Monday morning’s meeting, which would cinch him a promotion and a better career if he played his cards right.
He cleared his throat, as though that would clear his mind, and looked around for something to distract his libido. His gaze landed on an assortment of pictures on the wall. Several photos were of a burly man and a woman, who appeared to be outdoors, some school pictures of children, and a large group photo.
The latter, especially, drew his attention. He stepped forward for a better look.
“Is this you?” he asked incredulously, pointing to a young girl with long black hair curled prettily around her shoulders.
“Yes.”
He would have recognized those big chocolate brown eyes anywhere, but not the dress, the long styled hair. Interesting. Whereas he’d gone from street tough to executive, she’d gone from sweet girl to tough independent. They’d both started out one way, and somewhere along the road of life, taken a sharp one-eighty.
He wondered what her one-eighty was…and why they chose almost completely different paths. But even if they’d ended up in such different lifestyles, they shared a fundamental knowledge about survival that one learned only on the streets or in the wilderness.
Maybe the city slicker and the northern rowdy weren’t so different, after all.
“When was this picture taken?” he asked.
“When I was fourteen.”
Jeffrey stared intently at the picture, then back to Cyd. “It’s not in Alaska.”
“Seattle.”
“You look very happy.”
“I was.”
Cyd stared at the picture, remembering how life had been way back when. How her dad loved managing the movie theater, and how her mom laughed a lot, even though she spent most of her time chasing down two toddlers, Cyd’s younger siblings. Cyd, being older and being her daddy’s girl, had spent her free time tagging along with him to the theater, watching him thread the big reels of film or helping out at the ticket booth and snack bar.
She didn’t like the memories that had just been resurrected. Memories of a sweeter life, one where her family had been whole.
She stared at Jeffrey, long and hard, fighting more memories. How her dad changed when he lost his theater to some big-business movie chain. He’d always been such a fun, gregarious guy, but after he’d had to close down the theater, he’d grown tired, sadder. Then one day he moved his family to Alaska, the last “safe place in the world” her dad had claimed.
And then…
She didn’t want to think about that.
“I don’t want your film series to come to Alaska,” she blurted.
The front door creaked open.
A big body, swathed in an even bigger blue coat, clumped into the room. Babette leaped to her feet and started barking energetically, her tail thumping double-time. The person stopped, took one look at Cyd and opened her arms wide. “Sweetie girl!”
With a laugh, Cyd rushed forward into the hug. After some back-thumping and greetings, Cyd turned to Jeffrey. “This is my aunt Geri. Geri, Jeffrey.”
“Jeffrey,” Geri said with a smile, removing her beaver cap. A long silver braid fell over her shoulder. “Nice to meet ya.” She pulled off a red mitten and shook his hand heartily. She gave Babette a rub behind the ear.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
