Ian adjusted his shirt and also took a step back. “Anytime.”
Was it her imagination, or was there something flirtatious in the way he said that? Some heat in his voice? “I don’t plan on making falling out of trucks a habit,” she said, mostly to remind herself that falling into Ian’s arms was a terrible idea.
“We can always skip that part next time.” Ian was smiling. Smugly.
There was also no way to interpret that as not being flirtatious, although Kelsey decided to pretend he simply liked getting the better of her. Still, she was too tongue-tied with surprise to think of a witty comeback, so she opted to glare and lock the back of the trailer. As soon as she thanked her grandparents and said goodbye, they could hit the road. But getting back into a confined space with Ian held even less—or was it more?—appeal than it had this morning. She swore whatever scent he had on him had rubbed off on her.
After they separated inside the house to use the bathrooms, Kelsey helped herself to a generous amount of hand soap, hoping to clear her nose of the remnants of eau d’Ian. It seemed to work, but the rose and hibiscus she replaced it with was cloying.
Her grandmom was emerging from the bedroom next door as Kelsey left the bathroom. It was probably inappropriate to have favorite grandparents, but her maternal set absolutely held that title, for reasons other than giving her furniture. They were both a little short, and had gotten a little softer and squishier as they aged, but they were as sweet on the inside as they looked on the outside. That kind of sweetness was in short supply in her life.
“I’ve started heating up lunch for you and your friend,” her grandmom said.
“He’s not really my friend.” She kept her voice low, although it seemed unlikely that Ian could hear her from the other side of the enormous house.
Her grandmom smiled knowingly. “I imagine not, but since you didn’t tell us you were bringing a boyfriend, I didn’t want to make assumptions. He’s very handsome.”
Kelsey could feel the blood rush to her cheeks, and she didn’t know why. It wasn’t her making an incorrect guess, yet it unsettled her for some reason.
Most likely it was all the Ian Popsicle thoughts.
“He’s not that either. I’m doing him a favor, so he’s doing me one. That’s all.”
“Are you sure? He’s very cute, and I saw how he was looking at you.”
Ian was looking at her? No, wait, of course he was looking at her. They’d been loading the trailer together. Kelsey pushed up the sleeves of her flannel, overly warm. “He was probably contemplating my demise.”
Her grandmom placed her hands on her hips. “I don’t have cataracts, you know. My eyesight is fine.”
“But how’s your ability to interpret what you see?” Kelsey tapped the older woman’s head. Grandmom Brown was the same height as she was, and unlike with Grandma Porter, Kelsey felt she could get away with that sort of joking.
Her grandmom tsked. “My mental faculties are fine, but I’m starting to wonder about yours. From what I understand, you reject every guy you come in contact with. Are you just not interested in romance or sex? I understand that can be a thing these days, and I want you to know I will support you every bit as much as I support Kevin.”
Kelsey rested her forehead against the wall, half laughing, half cringing, wholly contemplating crawling back into the bathroom and locking herself inside. But if she did, her grandmom would probably have this conversation with her through the door, and at that point, Ian was likely to overhear it.
“I’m pretty sure that’s always been a thing. It’s just not something that was always an option for people to choose. And no, that’s not me, exactly.” She simply hadn’t found a guy worth her time or the risk of getting emotionally involved. Fictional men were all she could tolerate.
“Well, what exactly is wrong with the one who came up here with you? He’s cute, he’s considerate. I’m sure he could do a fine job of keeping you warm at night.”
Kelsey was quite sure he could. Ian was big enough to wrap himself completely around her—and great, now she’d started thinking about what that might feel like. Those long arms. Those hard muscles. That damn scent.
How was this conversation happening to her? On the upside, Kelsey was finally looking forward to getting back into the car with Ian.
“I have dogs. They’re plenty warm in my bed, and they have the added benefit of not fighting me for the TV remote.” She lifted her head, choosing to believe her grandmom was simply concerned about her, and thus the fastest way to end this nightmare was to reassure her that she was fine. “I’m not lacking in company or affection. I’m happy.”
Grandmom Brown nodded somewhat fussily, although she didn’t look entirely appeased. “Dogs are fine company, but are you taking care of your other needs? A friend of mine’s niece has gotten into this business selling products that—”
“I’m good!” Kelsey held up a hand. “Really. And we need to get going.”
The older woman sighed. “Not without lunch you’re not. Come on, the calzones should be almost ready, and your friend looked awfully hungry earlier. If you’re not going to feed him what he really wants, then I should at least make sure he has food.”
* * *
* * *
“DO YOU WANT to stop for any errands while we’re in this bastion of civilization?” Kelsey asked, climbing into the SUV.
By some miracle, her grandmom had kept mostly quiet during lunch while her grandpop had grilled Ian about the brewery. Kelsey had no interest in beer, but that topic was infinitely preferable to her grandmom discussing relationships and sex. Ian had clearly enjoyed her grandpop too. So although Kelsey had no idea what the difference was between a stout and an ale, it had been interesting to watch Ian talk about brewing.
That he was knowledgeable about the subject was no surprise, given what he was doing, but it sounded like there was a lot more to it than throwing a bunch of grains in a vat. In fact, Ian made it sound a lot like chemistry, which did nothing to help Kelsey’s understanding or pique her interest, but her grandpop seemed to get it. She ought to let him interview Ian for the newspaper article she was supposed to write. Then she could concentrate on the topics she did understand, like Ian’s dimple, and imagine him lugging around heavy sacks of grain.
“No, I’m good,” Ian said as she pulled out of the driveway. “It’s been nice to get away from Helen. I haven’t taken a full day off from working on the brewery in weeks.”
“You’re a workaholic?” If Ian was always at the brewery, that would make sabotaging it more difficult.
As if she was actually ever going to do that. She wasn’t even fooling herself.
Ian made a sheepish face. “A bit. The rain doesn’t help those tendencies. There’s not much to do in Helen when it rains, so I might as well work.”
Plenty of people, like her brother, didn’t change their outdoor plans when it rained, but since Kelsey disliked rain herself, she shrugged. “I’m a hermit, so I don’t mind being trapped indoors. You should be aware that it doesn’t get much better in the winter. Even if the weather’s nice, a lot of the town shuts down. Winters are long and dark. I recommend getting some indoor hobbies if you don’t already have any.”
“I think you should know by now what I intend my winter hobby to be.”
The traffic light changed, forcing Kelsey to tear her gaze away from Ian’s face before she could discern what he meant by that. He was smiling, not smugly for once, but that was all she’d been able to tell. Something inside her lurched about as she tried to figure out if it was a flirtatious smile. Or if she wanted it to be.
She told herself she didn’t want it to be, but the heat she’d felt when Ian caught her tumbling from the trailer was back, and it told a different story. That was unacceptable. She wrote the stories; she was in control of the narrative. Her body shouldn’t be usurping her brain, and yet
her imagination was off and running.
Kelsey knew she couldn’t let that comment of his go unremarked upon like she had the last possibly flirtatious comment. Yet it took her a couple of seconds to seize control of her mouth so she didn’t say something stupid. “I should?”
It was only two words, and not the most creative reply. But at least it gave away none of the uncalled-for emotions racing through her.
“Well, yeah. I did tell you I got my library card.”
“Ah.” She was grudgingly pleased that Ian was a reader, but she was less so about his current expression. Smug again. What did that mean? Had he been trying to mess with her head? Ugh, men. Kelsey decided the wisest course of action was to play the whole interaction straight. “That’s a good start.”
Ian stretched out in the passenger seat, inscrutable once again. “Honestly, I’m looking forward to a long, dark winter.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know—because it’s different?” He rubbed at his chin contemplatively. “It’s a new experience. An adventure. Those are the same reasons why I wanted to open the brewery in Helen.”
Right. He’d given her that same basic response to the questions she’d emailed him, and it didn’t make any more sense now than it had then. Kelsey had a hard time thinking of Helen as a particularly adventurous place. There were adventurous kinds of activities you could do in the area—hiking, kayaking, cross-country skiing. But the town itself was just a town. “You thought it would be a fun adventure? Going from warm and sunny to cold and dark was a lark for you?”
Ian paused. “Mainly.”
Kelsey would guess partially was more like it. There were clearly other reasons—there had to be—but if Ian didn’t want to discuss them with her, that was fine. She had plenty of topics she wouldn’t want to discuss either.
“I like winter,” Ian said after another moment. “I missed it while I was in Florida.”
“Why did you move there?”
“My bubbe is from there, and most of my family lives down there. My grandparents’ plan had always been to move back after my grandfather retired. I don’t think they expected to take me and my sister with, but . . .” Ian glanced out the window as though annoyed he’d said too much.
Unsure what part of that bothered him or why, Kelsey latched on to the one piece she clearly didn’t understand. “Your bubbe? Oh, shit!”
She slammed on the brake as a moose trotted out into the middle of the highway. Next to her, Ian gasped, but she didn’t glance his way this time. Her fingers tightened around the wheel, heart pounding in her ears, as she watched the other cars come to abrupt halts as well. When it became clear the guy behind her wasn’t about to rear-end her trailer, Kelsey let out a breath.
Predictably, the moose gave not one shit about the mayhem it had caused. It continued its merry way down the road.
“Um.” Ian sounded like he wanted to ask something but didn’t know what it should be.
Slowly, traffic began moving again, and Kelsey took her foot off the brake. “Like I said earlier, welcome to Alaska.”
10
ASIDE FROM THE moose nearly causing a multicar collision, the day had gone well. Too well. Ian could recall with excruciating detail what it had been like to catch Kelsey falling out of the trailer—how soft her flannel shirt had felt in his hands, the way her cheek had brushed his, the lightly fruity scent of her hair. She was so short that her body fit against his perfectly, and he’d been unable to stop fantasizing since about what it would have been like if he’d slid his hands lower and cupped her ass. If she’d wrapped her legs around his waist. If he’d tasted those pouty lips with Kelsey’s body clinging to his.
Not only were these thoughts he didn’t want, they’d distracted him most of the drive home. And so did the way he’d melted down after he caught her.
Well, perhaps melted down was an exaggeration, but aside from his brain short-circuiting, he had no excuse for flirting with Kelsey. It wasn’t the first time unintended words had slipped out of his mouth around her either. Every time they seemed to be getting along, he forgot that he didn’t want to like her.
As such, it wasn’t until Kelsey pulled her SUV into a driveway that Ian realized he had a problem. He hadn’t only offered his services to load the trailer but to unload it as well. But unloading it meant going into her house. And going into her house meant there would be dogs. This was the second time today he’d forgotten all about the dogs.
Oy, he was an idiot, lulled into complacency by a flannel shirt and a perfect backside.
By some miracle, though, Kelsey had already planned for this part. “Do you want to come in for a second? Kevin was supposed to stop by and let the dogs out earlier, but they’ll be desperate to to be let out again. I’m going to have to leave them in the backyard while we unload.”
Ian hoped his relief didn’t show, but he felt a bit like he had right after Kelsey had avoided an accident with the moose. “Actually, I need to make a quick call to Micah while you do that.”
Ian got out of the SUV and made a point of playing with his phone while Kelsey went inside. He had no true need to call Micah, but so as to not be a complete liar, he did it anyway. Micah didn’t pick up, so Ian left a message that he was back in town.
Kelsey reappeared a couple of minutes later as Ian was wondering whether it was finally safe to go looking for her. “Ready?”
“If you are.” He stepped aside from the trailer so she could unlock it.
It became clear immediately that they hadn’t escaped the moose incident as unscathed as he’d thought. The furniture had shifted, and the upturned table that had sent Kelsey crashing into his arms earlier had been punished for its transgression. One of the bookshelves had fallen to the side and snapped a leg.
“Oh no.” Kelsey climbed onto the trailer, her face fallen in dismay.
“I might be able to fix it.” The words tumbled out before Ian could think them through.
Here he was, being rash again. He didn’t owe Kelsey anything else, and it wasn’t as if they were friends. But his animosity toward her had evaporated today. It could have been that she no longer wore the SHS pin, or it could have been how cute she looked in her oversize flannel. Honestly, it was best to blame it on something superficial like that. But the truth was, talking to her had been interesting and had left him with the sense that there was a lot more to her than met the eye. He wanted to talk to her again, to learn what else she hid behind her acerbic tongue.
“You think?” Kelsey sounded doubtful. The leg hadn’t been snapped completely in half, but it was too badly cracked for the table to be of use as it was.
Ian made a closer inspection, acutely aware that she was crouched inches away. Close enough that he could feel the heat radiating off her. “Probably. My grandfather’s a woodworker. It’s his hobby, but he taught me a bit. A dowel to stabilize the leg and some good wood glue should do the trick.”
“That would be amazing, but really, you’ve more than repaid me for anything I’m writing for your website.”
He suspected that was true. He also suspected Kelsey did not easily accept help from other people. She might be tiny and angelic looking, but she clearly had adamantine bones and muscles to match. He’d been impressed watching her lift furniture today. Despite her size, she could hold her own, and she struck Ian as the sort of person who would be determined to do everything for herself.
For some reason, though, that attitude made him want to help all the more, and Ian told himself it was to prove to her that he was just as capable as she was, since she clearly thought otherwise. If he had other motivations, it was better to ignore them.
“Like I said, I don’t think it’ll be hard. I have the tools.”
Kelsey looked like she was going to protest a second time, but the moment passed. “That would be great. Thank you.”
It sounded like say
ing the words had cost her something, so Ian just responded with “No problem” and suggested they get to work.
Unloading took far less time than loading had, since they didn’t need to cram furniture into unyielding spaces and tie it down. They did have to carry a few items up the stairs, however, and that proved challenging. Kelsey’s stairs were tall and narrow, and she grumbled about how she’d just painted the upstairs walls so they needed to be careful.
They maneuvered the second of two bookcases into the room to the right of her staircase, and Kelsey let go and stretched her muscles. Ian averted his gaze, because lugging furniture around had done nothing to subdue his body’s reaction to hers. Quite the opposite. With his testosterone flowing from the exercise, watching Kelsey was sure to be a bad idea.
The room wasn’t large, and there was barely enough space left along the walls for the bookcase. There was a desk against one of the other walls that looked like it had come from IKEA and had nothing but a laptop on it. A couple of boxes that appeared to contain books sat next to it. Presumably they were waiting for their shelves.
While he studiously ignored Kelsey rolling her neck, Ian tested the shelves’ stability. “The floor’s uneven. You might need to wedge something under the front of this.”
Kelsey stuck her hands on her hips as he demonstrated the bookshelves’ wobbling. “Paint stirrers should work. I have a few left downstairs. Give me a sec?”
“Sure.” He wasn’t in a rush to leave, and if he was going to help her move stuff, he might as well do it right.
Kelsey disappeared down the stairs, and Ian glanced out the window. It overlooked the backyard, and her three dogs were running around without leashes. Which, of course they were, since they were fenced in. But it was enough to trip his pulse, and Ian quickly looked away.
Wandering over to her boxes of books seemed like a safer bet, and Ian absently pulled back the flap on the top one for a better view, curious what sort of books Kelsey read and any insight that gave him into her head. Oddly, they were all identical. For some reason, she had a box filled with multiple copies of the same book.
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