Too Close For Comfort

Cher? Madonna? She glared at him. “Cyd Thompson.”

He bowed a little, and damn if he didn’t look like the ultimate gentleman paying his respects. The snow fell on his dark hair, sprinkling him with a little Alaskan magic. “Nice to meet you, Cyd Thompson.”

Harry strolled past, letting roll a loud guffaw as he tucked away his mobile radiophone. “You two gonna keep playin’ Romeo and Juliet in the snow, or come inside where it’s warm?”

Juliet? Whatever had happened in the basket, Cyd wanted to leave it there. Jeffrey Bradshaw was bad news. Plus, now that Harry had seen that little bowing number, she’d never hear the end of it.

But worse was Jeffrey’s reason for being here. He wanted to bring a frigging television series to her beloved Alaska, and Cyd reminded herself that she had to do whatever it took to stop him and his big-business, people-destroying machine. It destroyed her dad, and no way in hell would she let it destroy her family, her world.

“No more bowing,” she muttered in Jeffrey’s direction, avoiding his eyes.

Jeffrey grinned as Cyd spun on her heel and began marching toward the lodge. So he’d gotten to her, again. Chalk that up as a point against me.

Jeffrey followed her, their chilly silence broken by the crunch of the snow and the barking dogs. He let his gaze slide down her parka to that cute little jean-clad behind that bounced provocatively as she marched along. He liked her size—small and compact—and he had to admit, he liked her attitude, too. Reminded him of the tough girls he’d known growing up. The kind you could let down your guard with, smoke a cig, see the world for what it really was.

He hadn’t known a woman like that in years.

No, since then, the women he’d known were at the opposite end of the spectrum. And they all had temperaments that ranged from a little rainfall to a little sunshine.

Cyd, on the other hand, was an entire weather system unto herself. A raging snowstorm one moment—and if he pegged her right in that hot little moment back in the sled—a sizzling heat wave the next.

She took the steps two at a time onto the porch, then swung open a heavy wooden door over which hung a sign that read Mush Lodge.

Jeffrey barely caught the door before she let it slam shut behind her.

As he stepped inside the golden-hazed interior of what appeared to be a cabin-turned-tavern, he guessed that Weather Cyd was at the moment a tornado. Hell-bent to blast her way to what she wanted, and best of luck to Jeffrey if he got in her path.

He had no idea what irked her so much about him, but he had one hundred percent confidence in his charm factor. He’d get her to warm up.

Pulling the door shut behind him, he inhaled the scents. Coffee. Grilled meat and onions. The sounds of laughter and talking competed with background music—an old Neil Young tune about a cinnamon girl. Several big dogs slept in front of a large crackling fire to his right. A line of burly guys, with more hair than Jeffrey had seen since the rerelease of the movie Woodstock, lined the bar, swigging beer.

In the corner of the bar was a teenage boy, reading a book. A memory flashed through Jeffrey’s mind. He’d been sixteen, living with a foster family in Philadelphia. A local bartender had befriended him, letting him visit whenever Jeffrey needed an escape. He’d been underage, but nobody questioned his being there because he kept to himself, minded his own business. He’d spent hours in that bar, reading authors like Bradbury and Kerouac who helped him escape his world.

Something clunked at his feet.

Cyd stood before him, a gleam in her dark chocolate eyes. “Put those on.”

He looked down. A pair of scuffed, whiskey-colored boots lay on the floor. He looked back up into those chocolate eyes. She didn’t fool him for a millisecond with that brusque attitude. This lady might be tough on the outside, but he’d seen beyond her exterior back at the sled. Inside, Cyd was soft and vulnerable.

Or maybe he understood that about her because once upon a time he’d known what it felt like to wear a chip on your shoulder and an ache in your heart.

“Thanks.” He picked up the boots by their thick laces.

“Put them on while I radio Jordan back at Alpine. Need to file my report and tell him we didn’t make Arctic Luck, and we’re weathered in here.” She started walking away across the rough-hewn floor, ignoring one of the guy’s calling out “Hey, Juliet!” while another added, “Somebody protect the mirror and chairs!” Both comments were followed by raucous laughter.

“Wait.”

Cyd turned.

“What do you mean, we’re ‘weathered in’?”

A corner of her pert mouth turned upward. “I mean we ain’t goin’ nowhere soon.” She turned and continued walking.

With a shake of his head, Jeffrey followed. He had twenty-four hours to do research in Arctic Luck, not Kati-whatever.

He followed her into a small room that housed some bookshelves, a hot plate and a radio on a thick wooden table. The scent of coffee lingered in the air. Cyd was sitting on a metal folding chair at the table and fiddling dials on the radio.

“Operator, this is Mush Lodge calling YJ17546, True North Airlines on the Alpine Channel,” she said into the mike.

This woman impressed him at the damnedest moments. Just when she’d irritated him to the point of his wanting to throttle her, she took life by the reins in an admirable display of focus and determination. When other women stomped away, he usually found them pouting in some corner. Not Cyd. If she ended up in a corner, she’d be figuring out how to fight her way back out.

“This is Alpine YJ17546,” answered a man’s voice through the radio static.

“Hey, Jordan, Cyd here.”

“Everything okay?”

“It’s fine. Had to land in Katimuk due to the storm.”

“Roger, that. I’ll change your flight plan. You get lost?”

“Uh, not really.”

“How’d you end up in Katimuk?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess I did lose a few landmarks.”

Jeffrey felt his antennae waving. He’d heard the truth in her voice. She could have landed in Arctic Luck, but flew here instead.

“Who’re you talking to?” Jeffrey demanded.

She glanced over her shoulder, shooting him a “don’t butt in” look.

Which had the opposite effect on Jeffrey. Nobody told him what not to do. He crossed the room in two strides and picked up the microphone. “Who is this?”

“Jordan Adamson, True North Airlines,” a man responded. “Who’s this?”

“Jeffrey Bradshaw. This is a disaster. I’m the passenger who paid to be flown to Arctic Luck, but I was flown to Kati-Kati—”

“Katimuk,” said Cyd sweetly.

Jeffrey shot her a look.

There was a pause. “Sorry about that,” said Jordan. “Can’t fight the weather. But we’ll get you to Arctic Luck as soon as possible.”

“I need to get there immediately.”

“Afraid we can’t do that,” said Jordan.