Alaskan Sanctuary

The email she’d received the night before from Lou Marshall at the Yukon Reporter had been nothing if not concise. He’d received her letter and would be printing it in the early edition. No apology. No retraction. But her letter would appear in the paper. She’d been appeased. For the most part.

And then the impossible had happened. Only a few hours after the early edition of the paper had been released, Lou Marshall had called and asked if she’d be interested in Ethan volunteering at the sanctuary for two weeks and chronicling the experience in the newspaper. Of course she’d said yes. Another article from a different perspective was exactly what she’d demanded. What Marshall was offering her was above and beyond that. Fourteen articles. Plus two weeks of free labor.

It was an offer she couldn’t refuse, even if it did mean spending approximately eighty hours in the presence of the self-righteous Ethan Hale. As much as she hated to admit it, she could use the help. Especially help from someone as physically strong and capable as Ethan appeared. There were plenty of chores around the sanctuary that required an able body. Just yesterday poor wiry Caleb had nearly collapsed under the weight of a cord of firewood.

Not that she’d noticed Ethan’s broad chest. Or strapping shoulders. Or thick, muscular forearms.

Okay, so maybe she’d noticed those things, as well as his other knee-weakening qualities. Such as the way his piercing gray eyes looked almost blue beneath the shelter of the hemlock trees. And the way he somehow seemed at home here among the woods and the rocks and the snow flurries. Like the wolves—untamable, yet not wholly wild.

It was a ridiculous notion. He didn’t deserve to be compared to her beloved wolves, even in the secrecy of her thoughts. Because those arms, those shoulders and those extraordinary lupine eyes were all attached to his impossibly stubborn head.

She looked up at him now, towering over her with his chiseled features arranged in an expression of distinct displeasure. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, obviously longing to be someplace else. Anyplace else but here.

What was I thinking, agreeing to this? It’s a terrible idea.

After getting the phone call from his editor, she’d actually wondered if maybe the arrangement had been Ethan’s idea. That maybe, just maybe, he regretted dragging her name through the mud in one of Alaska’s biggest media outlets. Perhaps he’d felt remorseful after he’d read her response in her letter to the editor.

Judging by the look on his face, clearly not.

She swallowed. This could be a mistake. And she couldn’t afford another mistake. But really, what else could he write that could make things worse?

Mistake or not, if he thought she was going to bend over backward in welcome again, he had another think coming. She wasn’t the only one making mistakes lately. Ethan had underestimated her before. He hadn’t taken her at all seriously. That was a mistake she aimed to fix.

She crossed her arms again and pinned him with a stare. “I repeat—you’re late.”

She had a tour arriving in less than ten minutes. How was she supposed to get him properly trained to do anything of any value while she was lecturing her guests and showing them around? Over half her scheduled visitors had either canceled or no-showed so far today, thanks to him. Those who still wanted to see the wolves were getting the royal treatment.

“Your editor told me to expect you nearly an hour ago.”

“My apologies.” His mouth curved in an obviously disingenuous grin. “I had a pressing errand to run on the way here.”

“And what might that have been?” Had he stopped to picket the local animal shelter or something? Had he been busy kicking puppies?

He crossed his massive arms. Honestly, how did a man with a desk job end up with such nice biceps? “If you must know, I had to stop and buy new shoes.”

She glanced down at his feet, clad in a pristine pair of North Face all-weather hiking boots, and her cheeks grew warm. “Oh. I see.”

“So am I forgiven?” He lifted a single, bemused brow.

“For the tardiness, yes. For everything else, no. Not even close.”

“I can live with that. Somehow.”

Could he be any more smug? “I honestly don’t know how you manage to sleep at night.”

“I manage.” He shrugged, then his gaze fell on her notebook. “What’s that you have there?”

“My field notes.” She held the book tighter to her chest. “A written record of the daily behavior patterns of my subject. In this case, the wolves.”

“I know what a field notebook is. Does that surprise you?” He planted his hands on his hips, and Piper vowed not to look at his arms again.

Half a second later, her gaze zeroed in on his forearms. She cleared her throat. “Actually, it does surprise me. Quite a bit.”

“May I have a look?” he asked, gesturing to her notebook.

“Certainly.” She offered it to him. Maybe if he realized how seriously she took her work with the wolves, he’d relent and give her at least an ounce of respect.

He flipped through the pages and glanced up only when he’d reached the end. “Impressive.”

“Thank you.” Heat rose to her cheeks. One kind word from Ethan Hale, wolf hater extraordinaire, and she was blushing like a schoolgirl. She’d never hated herself more in her entire life.

“Is this part of your paperwork for the NNC grant?”

“Yes, it is.” How in the world could he possibly know that? Why would he be familiar with NNC grant requirements?

“I see,” he said, cryptic as always. Good grief, he could be annoying.

She held out her hand. “Now give it back, please. I have a tour to conduct, and you have work to do.”

Field notes back in hand, she turned, stomped through the snow toward the wheelbarrow that was propped beside the log cabin, and wheeled it back toward him to park it at his immaculate feet.

He eyed it with trepidation. “What’s this?”

“It’s your first assignment.” She smiled. She was enjoying herself. Too much, probably. But she couldn’t help it. “I’d like you to clean up Tundra’s enclosure. The pitchfork is leaning against the fence. And don’t worry. I’ve relocated her to a different pen for the time being so you can move about without fear of being eaten alive.”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “You want me to clean a wolf pen.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I want you to clean all the wolf pens.”

Ethan narrowed his gaze and released a controlled breath. “All of them?”

“They’re not going to clean themselves, are they?” She was fully aware he would write about this. And she didn’t care. Anyone who’d read his less-than-flattering portrayal of her life’s work would understand. “Start with Tundra’s enclosure. Just remove the dirty straw and replace it with fresh. New bales are piled behind the cabin. Your main job is to remove all of the soiled material.”

“Soiled material,” he repeated. He didn’t sound the least bit amused anymore. In fact, he sounded angry.

Good.

“I’m referring to animal waste.” She smiled sweetly.

He glared at her. Hard. “Believe me. I know exactly what you’re referring to, Piper.”

“Excellent. I’m so glad we understand one another.” Since we’re going to be spending so much time together...

The flicker in his gaze told her that he was thinking about the same thing she was—hours, days, weeks in one another’s company. She already felt distinctly ill at ease after little more than three minutes.

“Piper...” His voice grew soft, almost tender.

If she listened closely, she could almost hear an unspoken apology. Almost.