Wild Men of Alaska Collection - By Helmer, Tiffinie Page 0,45

for him to enter her from behind. “Just say the word, Eva, and I’ll stop.” He nipped the back of her neck.

Damn, he didn’t play fair.

Oh hell, she didn’t care. She could put the room back to rights, and no one would be the wiser except her. “Take me.”

And he did.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Eva stretched and woke to the sun shining bright in her window like it was midday. She glanced at the clock in panic and then breathed easier when it revealed seven in the morning. Would she ever get used to this midnight sun? At least she’d slept last night. A marathon of sex would exhaust most, but a Lynx marathon put her into a coma. She’d vaguely remembered him kissing her goodbye some time around five, saying he’d been called out on a report. She’d have to have him clarify that later. He’d told her what he did for a living, but she still didn’t fully understand it.

She groaned as she headed for the shower. No, make that tub. This morning she’d take the time needed for a hot soak in the bathtub. Otherwise she wouldn’t get through her day of appointments. Maybe she should up her exercise routine. Who was she kidding? Lynx had upped it. It would just take a while to strengthen muscles she’d never used before, muscles she planned to use a lot in the future.

The day was a weird one. Either everyone was being affected by the twenty-four hours of daylight, the summer solstice coming up, or she wasn’t privy to a town “language” that everyone else was. She tried calling Lynx, hoping he was free to have lunch with her, but had to leave a voicemail when he didn’t answer.

When there was no word from him at the end of her day, Eva decided to head to the lodge for dinner.

She nodded to a few people on her walk as the lodge was only a mile from her place. Nice thing about small towns, most things were within walking distance. She’d probably only need her car to travel to Fairbanks, or to explore farther than the village. It would sure save her a lot in gas money. Besides, it was calming and beautiful to walk outside in the fresh air and sunshine. In Cincinnati she was always in the car from work to home to store. It was an effort to spend anytime outside because she was always rushing somewhere. This was a nice change of pace she hadn’t known she needed.

She stepped up on the plank sidewalk of the lodge and entered the restaurant section. The lodge was the town hub. Part hotel, part restaurant, and part country store. If they didn’t have what she needed, Fairbanks or the Internet was her only hope.

“Hey, Eva,” Lynx’s uncle Pike hollered from the kitchen. “How’s life treating ya?”

“Great. Just great.”

“So I heard.” He saluted her with his spatula and a smile, returning his focus to the grill.

What did he mean by that?

She took a seat at the same table she’d waited for Lynx the night he’d stood her up so she could see out the windows, which were wide open to let the cooler air in. She’d be hard pressed to find any building in Alaska with air conditioning.

“Good to see you again, Eva,” Bree greeted, setting a water glass in front of her. “Looks as if you and Lynx made up. Is he meeting you?”

“No. It’s just me.” Did everyone know they were a couple already? Who had Lynx been talking to? She hadn’t told anyone. Not that she had many friends to tell. She hadn’t made more than acquaintances as of yet.

There weren’t many people in the restaurant as it was early for the dinner crowd. A few tourists at one table and two old sourdoughs sitting near the window, one with bat-winged brows and another with a snowy beard that would give Santa a run for his money. She half listened to the conversations going on around her as she studied the menu. She was starved after the night she’d had.

“Now, that there ain’t no Fred Meyer bra,” Bat-wing Brow said around a mouthful of food. “That’s one of those fancy Victoria Secret numbers.”

How would they know what kind of bra a woman was wearing under her clothes? Eva centered more of her hearing on their conversation. Beat the one with the woman tourist discussing the merits of different bug spray brands to her husband who looked like he was ready