Stars Over Alaska (Wild River #4) - Jennifer Snow Page 0,114

the ground up and had successfully survived a big adventure chain store opening on Main Street because of her smart business sense and grit. He had respect for what she’d accomplished and the reputation she’d built in Alaska as one of the best adventure tour companies in the North. If he wanted to prove to Cassie that he was a team player and could handle any tour she gave him, he needed to accept this challenge.

He’d been working at SnowTrek Tours for two years, he had all the proper certification and even wilderness survival skills based on his volunteer position with the Wild River Search and Rescue, so he was more than qualified to handle group tours on his own.

He could keep this group alive out in the Alaskan wild. Helping them fall in love...that would be the hard part.

“Yes,” he said, nodding with more enthusiasm than he felt. “This is...great. I won’t let you down.” He stood and left the office determined to survive the toughest challenge his boss could have thrown at him.

* * *

MADDIE FRAZIER OPENED her duffel bag on her bed and scanned her packing list for a weekend of ice fishing and finding her perfect match out on the lake.

“You’re insane,” her sister said as she entered the bedroom. Jade picked up a thin, silky-looking nightie from Maddie’s drawer and tossed it into the bag.

Maddie shot her a look and stuffed it back into the drawer, opting for her fleece pajamas instead. Sexy could wait until summer. February in Alaska meant practical clothing unless she was out to catch more than just fish and feelings that Valentine’s Day weekend.

“Seriously, you’re actually hoping to find love out on a frozen lake in a tiny stinky fishing cabin?” Jade wrinkled her nose as though she could already smell the bait.

“Why not? I love fishing, so if the guy isn’t ‘the one,’ I’ll have a few rainbow trout as a consolation prize.” She shrugged, hoping to make light of how optimistic she was about this matchmaking process. But SnowTrek Tours had an amazing success rate with this annual event. Three couples who’d met on previous years’ excursions had already gotten married. One couple had a baby on the way.

At twenty-nine, Maddie wasn’t quite ready for that, but she was overdue for a relationship that lasted more than a few weeks. Her last long-term relationship had been in high school and it had ended horribly with her boyfriend dumping her for her best friend. Former best friend. That had been the toughest part—losing the guy she loved and her closest friend at the same time. But her heart was finally over that and she was ready to trust again.

Optimistic with zero hang-ups—that was the goal.

“How are we related?” Jade asked, shaking her head.

Maddie had asked herself that same question a lot over the years. They were only two years apart, but more different than any sisters could be.

Jade was studying to be a fashion designer through an online degree program. She had impeccable taste and never left the house without her hair and makeup done. Which was one of the reasons she hated camping and hiking and anything outside, really. Too messy, too dirty... Rain and wind were not a friend to Jade’s two-hour beauty routine.

Maddie was definitely more like their father. Maybe it was because he had two girls and not the son he’d wanted that he’d taken her fishing and camping and hiking... Either way, she loved the outdoors. As an educator at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, she spent most of her time in the wild, protecting nature from humans and vice versa. Hiking, mountain climbing, biking, off-roading were all ways she loved to spend her days off and growing up in a ski resort town gave her ample opportunity.

Unfortunately acting like “one of the guys” meant that the guys she’d grown up with had trouble seeing her in any other way.

“Are you going to be okay here alone all weekend?” Maddie asked. They’d been roommates since their parents died and she hated the idea of leaving her sister alone on Valentine’s Day after her recent breakup. She’d been dating Mike Toledo for almost two months but had complained about the guy almost as long. Maddie hadn’t said anything but she hadn’t really seen the connection between the big quiet guy and her outgoing, extroverted sister the few times she’d seen them together. It had surprised her that her sister was dating an adventure tour guide