Alaska Heart (8 page)

“Nope. He pretty much keeps to himself, training the dogs and such. He’s so focused. If he didn’t work at his father’s place between training, we’d probably never see him in town. Dale sometimes stops in here on the way to the bar to pick up books.” She leaned closer as if telling me a secret. “I always let him keep the books longer than the other patrons. He likes to take his time reading.”

“I see.”

Gwen was doing wonders sketching in the gray areas for me.

“So, he’s the quiet type.”

“The quiet, gorgeous type.” Gwen giggled.

“I’d have to agree.”

“You’ve seen him?”

“Last night I had dinner at Ram’s Den. After Ram thoroughly entertained me, Dale came in and dazzled me as well.”

“I’ll bet he was just as dazzled, dear.” Gwen rested her hand on my shoulder. “I’ll leave you to your work.”

I studied the mug and drew in a deep breath, shaking my head. I took a sip of the tea and let the cinnamon-apple flavor relax me. I returned my attention to the book in my lap. Page after page brought the beauty of Denali to life. As I made my way through the other books, I furiously scribbled notes in my pad, consulted my outline, and composed a few paragraphs for the article. I went back to the shelves several times and lost myself in the facts and photos of magnificent Alaska.

After two hours of steady reading and notetaking, I took a break and plugged my laptop into the library’s Internet access. I had one message from Evelynne and three from Meg.

eseaton:

Hope you arrived safely in Alaska. Send me your opening paragraphs when you have them. By this Friday at the latest. Ciao.

Just like Evelynne. One minute she’s praising you and letting you have a primo assignment with a possible promotion attached, and the next she’s on your back with the deadlines. Such was magazine life.

mpetrisi:

I miss you already, you fart. Can’t believe you’re all the way over in Alaska.

mpetrisi:

Went out with Matt last night. Maybe I’m getting carried away, but I think I like him. Maybe it’s his butt I like. Don’t know.

mpetrisi:

Are you wearing flannel yet?

I chuckled over Meg’s last message. I
was
wearing a flannel shirt. One that Meg wouldn’t be caught dead in. Definitely
not
a fabric she agreed with. I shot her off a quick reply.

acormac:

Am wearing flannel, but think you’ll be more interested in who else I’ve found in flannel. Didn’t go looking for him—not exactly anyway—but ended up finding Iditarod winner. Having dinner with him tonight.

That ought to have Meg busting at the seams. I logged off and dove back into my research.

Before I knew it, the fire had long since died, and my watch read 5:00. I’d gotten more done than I’d expected. Still, I wanted to take the books back to the resort with me. Old habit. I never left a library or bookstore empty-handed. Sorting through the pile, I chose a few and returned the rest to the shelves.

I hauled my bag and the books back toward the circulation desk where Gwen was perched, pencil still in hair. As I approached, I caught sight of that baseball cap again. The one from the corner booth at Ram’s Den. A man was flipping through a magazine, his body facing away from me as it had been last night. The pad and pen lay beside him on a wooden table.

I placed my books on the desk in front of Gwen and was about to go over to the man when a loud bark echoed outside the library’s front door.

“Oh!” Gwen jumped from her seat. “Hold on one second, Alanna. I have to let one of our VIP guests in.” She scurried over to the door and pushed it open. Gypsy pranced into the library with the handles of a canvas sack between her teeth. She dropped the bag at my feet by the circulation desk and sat back on her hind legs. Angling her head at me, the dog raised a paw and rested it on my thigh.

“Did you meet Gypsy the other night too?” Gwen asked.

“Uh-huh.” I hesitantly reached out to scratch behind the dog’s ear and was delighted when the bright blue eyes narrowed to satisfied slits. When I stopped, Gypsy pushed her nose into my hand until I scratched her again.

“She remembers you.” Gwen picked up the bag and dumped the returned books out onto the desk. “Smart dog, aren’t you, Gypsy?” She gave the dog a rub before stepping back behind the desk to check out my books.

“She always return his books for him?” I looked back to the door just in time to see the man in the baseball cap leaving. Missed him again.

“She does whatever Dale tells her to do. Even does things he doesn’t tell her to do, like save his life.” Gwen scanned all my books into her computer at lightning speed and handed me a receipt.

“Save his life?”

“Oh, I’ll let him tell you that one. It’s a good story. Could have had a tragic ending. Real tragic. But Gypsy here prevented that.”

I studied the dog still sitting obediently beside me. Did Dale tell her to do that?

“Here you go, Alanna.” Gwen pushed the books toward me. “Books can be kept for two weeks, but if you’re going back to New York before then, I’ll need them back sooner.” Gwen still had her friendly smile on, but if someone abused her books or didn’t bring them back on time, I’d wager she’d get vicious.

“I’ll have them to you before I leave. Promise.” I held up my right hand.

“Very good. Enjoy Alaska, dear.”

“Will do.” I already was.

I took my books and looked at Gypsy. “You coming or what?”

Gypsy let out a soft bark as she trotted after me. As soon as we made it outside, my heart thumped erratically in my chest at the sight of the black pickup truck and the man leaning against its tailgate. The sight of him warmed me from the inside out. It could have been thirty below outside, and I wouldn’t have felt a thing.

“You stalking me?” I pointed a finger at Dale.

“Maybe.” His grin was impish.

“I’m supposed to have dinner with a handsome, potentially dangerous sled dog racer in an hour. I don’t know what he’ll do if you abduct me.”

“Oh well,” Dale started as Gypsy sidled up next to him, “I’ll have to follow you to where you’re having dinner with this handsome, gentle-as-a-kitten musher and continue my stalking in private.” He took a few steps closer to me, and my pulse reached an all time high.

“You don’t blend in enough to be a stalker.” I shuffled around in my bag for my car keys. “You’re too noticeable.”

“Noticeable? What’s that supposed to mean?” Dale shifted to lean against the driver side door of my car so I couldn’t open it. I stared into the greenest eyes I’d ever seen, framed with long, feathery lashes that brushed his cheeks when he blinked.

Shaking myself out of my momentary hypnosis, I said, “Number one, you’re like famous around these parts for winning the Iditarod. Number two, you’ve got this intelligent dog that people have to stop and marvel at. And number three…” I nudged Dale out of the way so I could open the car door. He fought back playfully, his hands resting on my waist briefly before he admitted defeat and stepped aside.

“What’s number three?”

I tossed my bag and books into the passenger seat and turned to face him. “Number three is that you, sir, are ridiculously attractive.” I folded my arms across my chest and looked him over approvingly. Another move I learned from watching Meg in action. Oh, how I wish she could see me now. I was like a different person around Dale. Smooth, confident, interested. I hadn’t found anyone worth the effort in New York, but it was easy with this guy. I didn’t want to be invisible around him, to him. “You stand out with those green eyes of yours.”

“Do I now?” Dale puckered his lips in consideration. “I suppose it takes a ridiculously attractive person to recognize another ridiculously attractive person.” He tugged on the end of my hair, and for a moment he was so close to me the woodsy smell tickled my nose again. I closed my eyes, drawing it in.

“Listen, it’s been lovely chatting with you here, but I do have to be off to my dinner meeting. I’ve been looking forward to it all day. I don’t want to be late.”

“No, that would be rude. You don’t want to get started on the wrong foot with this guy.”

I shook my head as I closed the car door. I mouthed the words “see you,” and Dale gave me a wave before opening the passenger door of his truck for Gypsy.

I raced back to Moose Point, and hurried to my room, a levity in my step that was so freeing. I freshened up and changed into a brown sweater and a pair of blue jeans. After pulling on a pair of brown boots, I looked myself over in the full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door.

Not bad. I pulled the elastic from my ponytail, letting my hair spill about my face. A couple of rakes through it with my fingers, and it looked halfway decent. Sexy, maybe. At least I hoped it did. I didn’t really know what sexy was. A pair of silver hoops adorned my ears along with a silver cuff bracelet around my wrist. Simple, but enough. Meg wouldn’t have thought so, but we didn’t always agree on wardrobe.

Okay, we
never
agreed on wardrobe, but that was what made being friends with her interesting.

The clock on the end table by the bed read 5:45, so I gave myself one last look in the mirror and bundled up. Again, the cold outside in the dark night hardly touched me. This internal warmth that started in Ram’s Den was growing stronger. Blazing into something more potent. I liked the feel of it. Made me wonder what other feelings I had buried inside me.

And if they could be awakened.

When I pulled open the door at Ram’s Den, admiring the carved ram once again, Gypsy was the first to greet me. She was sprawled across a fluffy rug, but raised her head and wagged her tail when she saw me. I scratched under her chin, and she flipped over onto her back, exposing her belly. I proceeded to give her a thorough rubbing. A low hum emanated from her throat, and I couldn’t help feeling contented myself.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Ram stopped to regard us.

“Some female bonding.” I gave Gypsy a final pat before standing.

“You’ll do right to bond with her. She’s the best friend my son ever had.” Ram nodded toward the dog, and she let out a small woof.

“Where’s Dale?” I slid out of my coat and folded it over my arm, hoping I didn’t sound too eager, but knowing that I totally did.

“Give me a kiss on the cheek, and I’ll tell ya.” Ram shot me a sly smile.

“Oh, is this how it’s going to be?” I had to get on tiptoes to reach Ram’s cheek. He smelled like barbecue sauce, and my stomach growled.

“Damn right this is how it’s going to be. It’s the only way an old goof like me can get pretty women to kiss him.”

“Doubt that,” I said, eliciting a hearty laugh from Ram.

“Oh, I do like you, Alanna.” He laid his wide hand on my shoulder. “Dale’s in the corner booth over there.” Ram pointed to where I’d seen the baseball cap man last night.

“Thanks.” I gave my hair another fluff—not a move characteristic of me, but hey, this whole having dinner with someone I knew from the Internet wasn’t exactly characteristic of me either. Here I was, just the same.

Dale had chosen the seat facing the front door, and by the time I’d reached him, it became clear he’d been watching me.

“This seat taken?” I tossed my coat on the bench across from him.

“I suppose if you’re done kissing my father, you can sit there.” Dale arrowed a glare toward Ram, who merely stuck his tongue out when I looked his way.

“Competitive, are we?”

“Definitely. He’s got high expectations. And good taste.” Dale’s eyes wandered down the length of me. “You look fantastic.”

“Likewise.” He had chosen a green thermal shirt that darkened his eyes to a seductive jade. It also showed off the taut muscles of his chest and arms hidden beneath the shirt.

“I believe I remember an email that stated you had a weakness for a good sangria. Is that right?”

“Yeah.” How had he remembered that tidbit?

“Excellent. Uncle Jerry is mixing some as we speak.”

“It pays to know the bartender.”

“Dad has something special planned for dinner as well, so be prepared for first class treatment all the way.”

“I wouldn’t settle for anything less.” I was oddly relaxed sitting with Dale. No jitters at all. No feeling as if I should be working instead. “So what’d you do today?”

“Slept as I indicated I would.” The coy expression on his face hypnotized me. “Then Gypsy and I tended to all the other dogs.”

“How many do you have?”

“Eighteen.”

“Holy shit. You have to take care of eighteen dogs every day?”

“Yep. I like it though. They’re good dogs. They’re champions.”

“Under your direction, of course.”

“Of course.” Dale puffed out his chest in pride. Again, my gaze swooped to the contours of his chest. Couldn’t help but wonder what those muscles would feel like under my fingertips.

“What else?” Had to stop fantasizing.

“Repaired things around my house that I’d let go during race time. Small stuff. Busted gutter. Loose step on the porch. That sort of thing. Then Gypsy and I had books to return, which you already know. And now I’m here, where I’ve wanted to be since meeting you last night.” He paused to trace a finger across the back of my hand resting on the table. “What did you do today?”

“Spent the whole day in the library. Got lost in many books. Took a few back to the hotel with me. Couldn’t resist.” I shrugged. “Made a sizable dent in the background info for my article.”

“Ah, yes, your article. The ‘real’ reason you came to Alaska.” Dale winked at me.

“It is the real reason.” I was prepared to launch into my I-don’t-make-illogical-decisions-to-visit-strangers-across-the-country speech, but Jerry came over with a pitcher and two glasses.

“Dale said the lady fancies sangria?” Jerry set down the pitcher and poured the deep burgundy brew into the glasses.

I took a sip. “Oh, Jerry. You’ve got the secret here.”

“Glad you approve. Enjoy.” He abruptly slid off to a nearby table.

“So, do you have a way with drinks or chicken?” I asked, taking another sip. “It seems to run in the family.”