Chinook, Wine and Sink Her. Morgan Q O'Reilly

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СКАЧАТЬ a clinging evening gown, or better yet, a clinging negligee.

      When she struggled with a bit of wood stubbornly stuck to the upper frame, he reached over her head and pulled it down.

      “Thanks,” she mumbled and stepped to the side, barely missing the pane of glass. “I seem to use that word with you a lot.”

      Yeah, and he liked it. “Come sit with me while I eat and then I’ll help you. Two will make it go faster.” Waving his hand toward the fire, he felt like a teenager asking a girl out for the first time. Odd.

      “I like doing this. Besides, now the window is open I don’t want to leave it that way any longer than necessary,” she gave him the brush off. “Too hard to flush the blood suckers out, even using the smoke coils.”

      Fair enough, he could see that. It took away some of the sting from her rejection.

      “Honest, I can do this myself. I already did the window on the other side. Go take a look and see, if you don’t think I’m competent.” She used a wide-bladed chisel to clean the surfaces of the window frame set into the log structure.

      “I have no doubt you’re competent, I’m just looking for an excuse to talk to you.” Maybe a sheepish admission would win her over. He gave her his best attempt at a boyish smile.

      “You’d better stick close to your dinner or Manley might forget he’s a well-trained dog.” She smirked over her shoulder. “Go on. Eat your hard-won fish. Maybe you can hold the frame when I’m ready to put the hinges on and reinstall it.”

      He stared at her for a moment, waiting for her to turn and look up at him. Standing this close, he got a better sense of her height. He wouldn’t have to bend far to kiss her. No neck strain. Moving without a conscious thought from him, his hand reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Promise?”

      Why did she flinch and why did she refuse to turn toward him? He wanted her to turn and smile at him in the worst way. Instead her shoulders stiffened.

      “Yes.”

      He barely heard her husky response and trailed the back of his fingers down the side of her neck. The sensation made her swallow deeply. There was that pretty flush again.

      “Linnet…”

      Abruptly she cleared her throat and dropped to a crouch. “Smells like your dinner might be burning.”

      Shit. He didn’t care about his dinner. What he wanted was a kiss… and a whole lot more. Didn’t look like he’d get it right now.

      Linnet breathed a sigh of relief when he finally turned away. Another minute and she would have leaped into his arms or slammed an elbow into his midsection. Conflicted, trying to determine if he were friend or foe, chances were she’d probably try to do both at the same time. Complications out here weren’t needed.

      There was work to be done and she was the new kid. A Cheechako. An Alaskan greenhorn. Proving herself was number one on her list. Using her forearm, she wiped away the sweat gathering on her brow. The day’s heat didn’t seem to be dissipating and the long sleeves she wore to protect against bugs didn’t help.

      Fitting the glass into the frame she’d built last night, she carefully tacked it into place with strips of wood molding. Not properly glazed, it would allow for the expansion and contraction of the wood as the seasons cycled. The cabin only had three windows; one on the east and one on the west, both set high in the walls, the last next to the north-facing door.

      The ones in the walls were two feet wide by one foot high. Just barely large enough to let in light. The window by the door was larger, four panes of glass, each two feet square, providing a good view to the river. Simple shutters were made from plywood covers that dropped down over the outside of the windows when the cabin was unoccupied.

      Using the same principal as the shutters, she’d designed a frame that could be pushed open from the inside to let air in. A stick pushed the window out and held it open. Fiberglass screening tacked in place with a staple gun would keep the winged ravening hoards out. One window on each side in addition to the screen door would provide ample cross breeze to keep the cabin cool when the summer temps outside reached an unbelievable one-hundred degrees. A hundred degrees in Alaska. Who’d a thunk?

      The thermometer had been stuck in the high eighties since mid-morning and the bugs’ usually frantic drone seemed slow and lazy because of the warmth. The ventilation would also be great with the RV style three burner propane stove and oven someone had been clever enough to salvage and install.

      The work required enough of her attention to keep her from thinking about Creed sitting on a log by the fire. Carefully keeping half an eye on him didn’t help much. If her mind wandered even a tiny bit she felt his gaze on her. Manley—the traitor—lay by his feet, gazing up at him with utter doggy adoration. Probably hoping for handouts.

      Using her cordless power screwdriver, she’d just set the last screw in the hinges on the frame when she felt man and dog approach. Easing the cramps out of her legs, she stood.

      “Good timing,” she said without looking around.

      “Are you sure about that?”

      How did he get so close, so fast? She felt the warmth of his breath against her neck stirring a few loose hairs at the nape. A shiver of undetermined meaning coursed through her and he chuckled.

      “Do you want the inside or outside?” she asked. One step to the side put a little distance between them.

      “How did you do it before?”

      “Very carefully. Here, you hold the frame while I put in the screws. After that it’s a simple matter to put up the screening.”

      “You can do it from here.” Even though he made sense, the suggestion almost didn’t stop her from running away into the cabin.

      Not really wanting to run, she gave in and felt his chest brush against her back while she reached over her head to position the window and secure the hinges. Fortunately it only took six screws. The way her hands shook made the job take twice as long as it should have. Dropping one of the screws didn’t help either.

      “Wait,” he said as she prepared to squat and look for the screw. “You hold the window, I think I see where it landed.”

      The way he had her trapped against the wall, she could just see her butt pushing into his groin if she bent over to find the screw. It was that, or find her face at his groin level if she crouched. “Sure.”

      Okay, so his face was level with her butt, his hand resting on her waist to steady himself as he crouched. She looked down to watch his long fingers reach into the decaying leaves piled up against the base of the wall. His fingers plucked the screw from the ground and there was a heartbeat of hesitation before he stood again.

      Had he been staring at her butt? Had he been thinking about biting it or something? Oh God, she was so not prepared to deal with this. A moment before she considered hip checking him to his ass, he stood and held the screw under her nose. His arm under hers, his arm against the side of her breast.

      “You’re pushing your luck, buddy,” she growled. Too bad the waver in her voice ruined the effect.

      “Sorry, didn’t mean to intrude so СКАЧАТЬ