Dad's E-Mail Order Bride

by Candy Halliday - Alaska Bound 01 - Dad's E-Mail Order Bride

  He was attracted to her, yes.

  In love with her, no.

  He wasn’t capable of falling in love.

  And that wasn’t bullshit.

  COURTNEY LOOKED AT herself one last time in Peg’s full-length bathroom mirror, then looked down at Broadway, who was sitting beside her as usual. “Okay,” she said to her new best friend. “Is what I’m wearing too much?”

  Broadway’s whine was rather mournful.“Oh, what do you know,” Courtney grumbled. “You have one blue eye and one brown eye. I’m pretty sure that disqualifies you as any kind of fashion expert.”

  Okay, so maybe the short white jacket and the low-cut red camisole were a bit much for Port Protection. But they dressed up her jeans perfectly. And so did the red sling-back pumps she was wearing that also weren’t the norm in her new locale.

  Courtney didn’t care.

  She liked the look and she was wearing it.

  Besides, she’d ordered a ton of other stuff online that was suitable for her summer in Alaska, and she’d paid exorbitant postage fees to have those things express mailed. She now had a pair of sensible hiking boots. She’d purchased khaki pants and long-sleeved shirts to keep the bugs away. She’d gone all out in the rain gear department. She’d even purchased several pairs of flannel pajamas—a first—since even in June the nights were chilly in Port Protection.

  Of course, she’d also ordered a few things that weren’t within the sensible realm for her new lifestyle. Like the ton of sexy new underwear she absolutely refused to do without regardless of where she was living. And there were a few sexier-style tops and jackets like the outfit she was wearing now.

  Did her new outfit show her every curve?

  You betcha! Courtney thought with a smile.

  And when Graham finally showed up for his supplies, she hoped he noticed she had a body made for more than gathering up his grocery order.

  Broadway’s ears perked.

  Seconds later, the bell on the front door sounded below. When the husky left the bathroom, Courtney glanced in the mirror one last time.

  “Hey, big fellow,” she heard Graham say as she walked toward the spiral staircase that led from the loft down to the store.

  Chin up. Boobs out. Stomach in.

  Courtney started down the stairs. When she reached the lower level, however, Graham’s reaction wasn’t what she’d hoped for. He barely even looked in her direction. Instead, he headed for the five large sacks she had waiting for him on the counter next to the cash register.

  “All ready and waiting,” Courtney told him cheerfully.

  “Thanks,” he mumbled when she walked up beside him. “You do know the importance of using the incinerator daily, don’t you?”

  The incinerator?

  Was he kidding?

  She was standing here, looking pretty hot if she had to say so herself, and all Graham wanted to know was if she used the incinerator daily. Unbelievable.

  “Yes, Graham,” Courtney said. “I know the importance of using the incinerator daily.”

  “Good,” he said. “Even one scrap of garbage left overnight can attract the kind of customers you don’t want hanging around here.”

  Courtney folded her arms across her chest—the chest Graham wasn’t looking at. “Got it,” she said.

  He frowned. “If you think I’m joking, I’m not. You aren’t in Manhattan, Courtney. Finding a bear at your back door is no laughing matter.”

  “Tell me, Graham,” Courtney said. “What’s it going to be tomorrow? The big bad wolf? A giant comet plummeting through outer space headed straight for The Wooden Nickel? A tidal wave that’s going to pick me up and wash me back to New York?”

  “Cute.”

  Courtney didn’t care. “I’m here for the summer. And nothing you come up with from bears at my back door to the bubonic plague is going to scare me into leaving.”

  Anger flickered in his dark brown eyes. “I wasn’t trying to scare you. I was only stating the facts. And you being cavalier about the incinerator tells me I should have warned you about how important it is to dispose of your garbage every day.”

  Courtney sighed and said, “Look, I’m sorry if I sounded cavalier about the incinerator. I’ll use it daily. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he said. “That’s the answer I wanted.”

  Courtney could tell he wanted to say something else.

  But Broadway barked. The bell on the front door came to life again.

  And the Barlow twins strolled inside the store.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  MARK BARLOW LET OUT a wolf whistle the second he saw Courtney. That caused Broadway to throw his head back in a bloodcurdling howl. But Graham’s blood was curdling for a different reason.

  He didn’t like the leering grins on the twins’ faces. He knew what they were thinking because he’d thought the same thing when she came downstairs.Courtney had a body made for every man’s fantasies.

  “Ready, Courtney?” Clark asked, beaming.

  Graham looked over at Courtney. “Ready for what?”

  She glanced fondly at the twins. “Mark and Clark have invited me to go to Point Baker with them tonight while they play a little music.”

  “Dressed like that?” Graham boomed.

  Courtney glanced innocently at her clothing, then back at the twins. “What about it, boys? Am I dressed okay for The Hitching Post?”

  “Oh, yeah,” they said in unison.

  Their answer received a warning look from Graham.

  Clark quickly looked away.

  But Mark gulped and said, “Don’t worry, Graham. We’ll take good care of her.”

  “See?” Courtney said with a satisfied smile. “I have my own personal bodyguards. I’ll be perfectly safe.”

  She grabbed her fur-trimmed parka from the counter and sauntered to the door. It didn’t surprise Graham when her so-called bodyguards scurried through the door ahead of her before Graham could get his hands on them.

  Courtney stopped suddenly and turned back to face him.

  “Oh, and Graham,” she said sweetly, “since Rachel’s already gone home, would you do me a big favor and lock up?” She smiled and patted her coat pocket. “And yes, I have my door key.”

  The door slammed shut behind her.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  Broadway whimpered at that comment.

  “I’ve been worrying about the wrong kind of wildlife,” Graham told the dog. “She’ll see true wildlife when she gets to The Hitching Post. And dressed like that? She’ll probably be mauled the second she walks through the door.”

  Broadway looked up at Graham, then back at the door. In fact, they both kept watching the door rather wistfully, as if they expected Courtney to rush back in at any minute to say she’d changed her mind.

  She didn’t.

  “Fine,” Graham said when he heard the familiar sound of a boat motor start up and roar away. “Let her go. It’s nothing to me. If I’m lucky, she’ll meet a guy she likes and get the hell out of my life.”

  Broadway whined in sympathy. But the dog’s plaintive stare called Graham a liar.

  “Don’t look at me like that, you traitor,” Graham warned. “You’ve already cost me a hundred bucks.”

  Broadway’s ears instantly flattened against his head.

  But the dog followed Graham’s every step as he made the three trips it took to load his groceries into the skiff. When Graham made the last trip, Broadway entered the store, ready to take up his dutiful watch.

  “See what you get for letting Rachel talk you into staying?” Graham scolded. “You’ll be lucky if the woman you’re supposed to be protecting makes it home by morning.”

  Broadway flopped down, his head resting on his paws.

  “But if Rachel’s right and you really do understand what I’m saying,” Graham told the dog, “you have my permission to run those idiot twins out of here if they try any funny stuff later. Okay?”

  Broadway sat back up and barked twice in ag
reement.

  “Now, that’s my idea of man’s best friend,” Graham told the dog as he flipped the door lock into place.

  He walked to the dock, shaking his head in wonder at what Courtney was thinking, agreeing to go to some dive bar with the Barlow twins. Didn’t she realize when a woman walked into a bar dressed the way she was, every guy there would automatically assume she was asking for it?

  Graham suddenly stopped walking.

  Maybe Courtney was asking for it. This time from a guy who would be willing to finish the job.

  Graham cursed and stomped to the skiff.

  As he sped away from The Wooden Nickel, there was one thing he did know for certain. It was going to be a long, hot summer for him despite Port Protection’s usually mild weather.

  Courtney’s red-hot low-cut top.

  Courtney’s red-hot spike high heels.

  And his red-hot reaction at the thought of someone else finishing what he hadn’t been willing to do.

  AS MUCH AS SHE LIKED the Barlow twins, Courtney had already decided this would be her only trip to hear them play their music. In the future, she would stay in Port Protection where she belonged.

  She’d made a big mistake in coming. And now she was facing the consequences.She’d kept her parka zipped all the way up to her eyebrows, but it hadn’t changed a thing. There wasn’t a man in the bar who hadn’t already undressed her with his eyes at least once.

  Courtney was thankful no one seemed to know what to do about her, except stare. Not one man had approached her yet. And as far as Courtney was concerned, that was fine by her.

  But if the twins didn’t finish their last set soon, she might be forced to start walking back to The Wooden Nickel. Even meeting up with a bear had to be better than this.

  “Lover boy,” the bartender called out when the door opened.

  Out of curiosity, Courtney turned her head.

  She found herself staring at the pilot who had brought her to Trail’s End Lodge. Seconds later, Gil was sliding onto the stool beside her at the bar.

  “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”

  Courtney nodded toward her chaperones still playing music on the small stage in back of the bar. “The twins invited me. But I’ve been asking myself that same question from the moment we arrived.”

  Gil laughed and signaled to the bartender. “Bring me a cold one, Joe.” He looked back at the bottle Courtney had sitting in front of her—the one she had barely touched all evening. “What about you? Ready for another?”

  Courtney shook her head. “I don’t think tipsy is a good thing to be in this crowd.”

  “Smart girl,” Gil teased, grinning at her again.

  He took a long sip from his beer before he cocked his head in her direction. “So? Would you like me to amuse you with my psychic abilities?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “You being here tells me two things.” He held up the first finger. “One, Graham still has his head up his ass.” He held up finger number two. “And two, you thought a night out with the Barlow twins might dislodge it for him. Right?”

  “Close enough,” Courtney admitted.

  Gil shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why do women always go for the strong, brooding, silent types like Graham?”

  “As opposed to?” Courtney asked.

  Gil held his arms out wide. “Guys like me who love everything about women.”

  “Did you ever stop to think earning a nickname like lover boy might be the reason women run the other way?”

  “Trust me, darlin’,” Gil said with a wink, “I’ve never had a problem with women running the other way.” He grinned. “In fact, I think you’re falling in love with me already.”

  He was too cocky for her liking. But Courtney could see why women didn’t run the other way. Gil was tall, good-looking and blond. He had impossibly green eyes and perfect white teeth. Gil was the type of guy any woman would want in her bed—until she caught him in someone else’s.

  “So, tell me,” Courtney said. “If you’re so popular, what are you doing here all alone on a Friday night?”

  “Point Baker’s home for me. And I learned a valuable lesson a long time ago. Always keep your love life separate from your home base. When I’m home, I fly solo.”

  “How long have you been a pilot?”

  “Now you’re just fishing for my age.”

  “Then shall I amuse you with my physic abilities?”

  “Absolutely,” he said.

  Courtney looked him up and down. “Fifty-what? Five?”

  “Now that just plain hurt.”

  They both laughed.

  But thanks to Gil, Courtney began to relax and enjoy herself. She forgot about the open stares and the curious glances still coming her way. Or the fact that she felt completely out of place being the only single woman in the bar. And as Gil shamelessly flirted with her, Courtney even forgot about Graham.

  At least for a minute or two.

  THE WOODEN NICKEL didn’t open for business until nine in the morning—the reason Graham took immense satisfaction in pounding on the door at 6:00 a.m. Courtney had kept him from sleeping at all last night. It was only fair that he kept her from sleeping in this morning.

  Broadway bounded through the door first and accepted Graham’s greeting of a head rub before he darted off to do his morning business. That left Courtney standing in the doorway, one eye open, her hair a mess and wearing flannel pajamas and a pair of fuzzy bedroom slippers instead of the red high heels she’d been wearing the night before.It didn’t matter.

  She was still the sexiest woman Graham had ever seen.

  “Glad to see you’re still alive.”

  She yawned. “And you couldn’t have called to find that out?”

  “You forgot my coffee,” Graham said.

  He walked past her and into the store. But instead of heading to the shelf for coffee, he walked across the store to the short-order grill. Whether Courtney wanted his advice or not, Graham was going to give it to her. The rules were different here. And running around to bars with the Barlow twins would send people the wrong message. She needed to know the score before her actions got her into big trouble.

  Courtney climbed onto a stool at the counter, while Graham made coffee. “That was a stupid stunt you pulled going to The Hitching Post last night,” he said, his back to her.

  “I agree,” she said. “Going was a mistake.”

  Graham turned around. It wasn’t the response he’d been expecting from her. Had something bad happened?

  “The twins didn’t try anything with you, did they?”

  She put her finger to her lips. “Shush. They’re still sleeping. Threesomes are exhausting.”

  Graham immediately glanced toward the loft.

  “I’m kidding,” she said. “Of course the twins didn’t try anything. If I even winked at the twins, they’d be climbing over each other trying to get out the door.”

  Had feeling foolish been a contest, Graham would have won first prize. “You shouldn’t be so trusting. Not every man around here is as innocent as the Barlow twins.”

  She sighed. “What’s your problem, Graham? We both know I didn’t forget your coffee. Why are you here?”

  “I feel responsible for you staying, okay?”

  “Well, that’s ridiculous. No one’s responsible for me staying but me.”

  “And that line about me changing my mind?” Graham reminded her. “You don’t see why that would make me feel responsible?”

  She yawned again. Then she ran both hands over her beautiful face before she raked her fingers through her long, blond, wonderfully disheveled hair.

  “You know what?” she said. “I’m really not awake enough to talk to you about this right now.”

  Graham turned to the coffeemaker, grabbed a cup from the counter and filled it with the steaming liquid. He placed the cup in front of her. “This should help wake you up.”

  She sighed. But she clos
ed both hands around the mug and slowly brought it to her lips. After several sips, she looked up at him. “Okay, I have a question for you. Say I had gone back to New York. But before I got on the plane I told you that you knew where to find me in case you changed your mind. Would you feel responsible for me then?”

  “Of course not,” Graham said. “Your home is in New York.”

  “No,” she said. “All I have in New York is an apartment. And I have a career that’s been draining the lifeblood out of me for years. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve taken a vacation? The year I graduated from college when I spent three weeks touring Europe. Then I walked through the doors of Woods Advertising Agency and handed over my soul on a silver platter.”

  When Graham didn’t say anything, she said, “I stayed for me, Graham. I need the time to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. So sorry if me staying is a problem for you. I’m not sure why it would be. You’ve made it clear you aren’t interested.”

  Graham fixed a cup of coffee for himself. But he took his cup and walked around the counter and sat on the stool beside her. “I’d hoped I made it clear why I’m not interested. In anyone.”

  “That’s something you have to work out for yourself,” she said. “But I’m not sorry if my being here helps you come to the conclusion that you need to put the past behind you where it belongs. You’re a better man than the one you were five years ago, Graham. Stop beating yourself up over the things you can’t change and give yourself some credit for the changes you have made in your life.”

  She can see through your bullshit.

  Graham quickly changed the subject.

  “I’m sorry I woke you so early,” he said. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. And I wanted to tell you to be careful while you’re here, Courtney. You’re a beautiful woman and you’re going to attract a lot of attention.”

  She laughed. “You have to be blind to refer to me as beautiful. You’ve caught me looking like a mechanic, and now like some hausfrau in my flannel pajamas. Beautiful isn’t exactly a word I would use to describe me.”