Vivian Arend - Granite Lake Wolves 2 (3 page)

charters and all-round
you want to get lost in the wilderness, we’ll get you there

services”. Pictures accompanying the articles showed the helicopter she’d seen

outside and a small plane outfitted with skis or water floats.

A brightly coloured strip of paper caught her eye and she bent to examine it.

A metallic clang hit the floor behind her, and she spun around to see a tall, wiry

hunk staring with lust in his eyes. Confusion clouded the dark orbs for a moment

before recognition hit.

“Missy?”

Her heart leapt. His tone of voice made her very glad she’d decided to deal with

her problem by seeking him out.

She beamed at him. “Hello, Tad.” She tilted her head toward the articles. “You

told me business was going well but you didn’t say how well. Glowing reports

from what I see here.”

She held out her hand, and when he clasped it, she tucked herself under his arm

and hugged him tightly, his body cradling hers carefully. She took a cautious sniff

as she held him. His scent was familiar yet somehow his wolf was muted, which

was curious. She didn’t smell any females on him and that was a good thing.

A very good thing, considering what she had in mind.

“It really is wonderful to see you again.” She clung to him for another second,

relaxing in his strong arms. It felt so right to be held by another wolf, especially

one not threatening to kill her. She hadn’t dared raise the issue during their email

correspondence, but she needed to know. Was he aware of his wolf heritage?

Opening her mind, she reached out tentatively to brush his emotions. Images

jumped back—her face during a high school event, sliding down a snow-covered

hill together, the view of her butt as she bent over moments earlier by the door—and she smiled. Nothing but memories filled his mind. Tad gave a final squeeze

before extending her to an arm’s distance.

“Damn, you look incredible. I mean, I got the picture you sent but you’re so…”

Tad stared, his gaze trailing over her face in amazement.

Missy sighed. The petite thing didn’t help. “I know. I look like a teenager. I’m

twenty-six and I still get IDed every time I order a drink.”

Tad led her to the customer waiting area and gestured toward the couch. He

hesitated for a second before slipping into the chair across from her. Missy

dropped her head to keep her smile hidden. She couldn’t help noticing his

arousal. Both his body and his scent gave him away.

“It’s great to see you, but I wasn’t expecting you until next week.” He slid a hand

through his hair leaving the dark spikes a mess. Missy wanted to drag her own

fingers through the strands and wondered what he would do if she reached out

and gave in to temptation. He glanced at his watch and fidgeted. “I don’t want to

be rude. I mean, I’ve been looking forward to your visit, but I’ve got a customer

this afternoon and I’m not finished prepping. Do you mind if I slip out back for a

bit? It should only take ten minutes.”

Missy frowned. Hadn’t he figured it out? She was sure she’d told him the reason

she’d come north. Or while trying to be secretive about other things, had she

forgotten? “Tad, I have an appointment.”

He let out a big sigh, sounding relieved as he pulled her to her feet and gently

tugged her back toward the door. “That’s great! Why don’t you go get your stuff

done first and then come back and meet me in half an hour? We can visit until my

customers get here.”

“But—” She was out the door, back into the bright and cool February day.

“Looking forward to it. Sorry, I’ve got to hustle. See you later.”

Tad closed the door behind her and Missy stared in shock. She burst out laughing

as she made her way back to her truck.
That had gone splendidly. Not!
She

giggled, delighted at the lightness of her mood. There had been little to laugh

about over the past months and this mixed-up situation was her fault. She’d

dressed to impress. It obviously worked based on his physical reaction, but he was

a little too distracted.

She reached into the cab of the truck and grabbed her work clothes. It looked like

her excuse for coming to the Yukon would be needed after all.

Tad raced back into the shop area, scrambling to finish rigging the webbing for

the afternoon flight. It was hard to fit the snaps together with visions of Missy

flitting through his brain.

Missy. He’d been totally in love with her from the first minute he’d seen her, all

blonde, blue-eyed and mischievous. He’d wanted to scoop her up and eat her in

one bite, but in high school he’d been even shier with girls than he was now.

What he’d told Shaun was true. He didn’t feel right fooling around with Missy

since there wasn’t going to be a future for them. But,
holy crap
, did she turn his

crank. Something about her made him burn inside, and she wasn’t even trying.

He had almost finished his tasks when the door chime ran again.

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” he shouted toward the front office. “Grab a coffee

if you’d like.” He hurried to tighten the last few straps.

“I don’t drink coffee.”

Tad swung around. The pale pink down-filled coat, the skintight leggings and the

beautiful long blonde hair that hung in fat ringlets were all gone. In their place

Missy wore a shapeless woolen toque complete with large earflaps and a generic

one-piece blue jumpsuit with a stylized badge on her chest stating “LRG” in bold

yellow letters.

“Missy?”

She held up a hand to silence him, then rotated. On the back of her suit the

bright yellow words “Lauren Research Group” jumped out at Tad.

Oh shit.

She finished her spin and stared at him, face blank and unreadable.

Tad swallowed hard. He’d really put his foot in it this time.

She crossed her arms and leaned back as she glared up at him. “Hi, I’m Ms.

Leason. I’m the representative from LRG you agreed to fly to the set-up site this

afternoon, and I’d like your permission to prepack the boxes.”

“I’m sorry. I was so distracted by seeing you earlier it never occurred to me you

could be from LRG. Not that there’s any reason why you couldn’t be from LRG.”

He wasn’t sure where to look because even in that damn coverall she made his

body twitch. And wasn’t that just what he needed, to have his mouth full of feet

and his balls in a knot.

She held up her hand again, tilting her head to the side as she raised one

eyebrow. “This means you volunteer to help me pack
and
you’re buying me

dinner. Right?” She smirked at him as she pulled off the toque and the riot of hair

fell around her. “Holy cow, you should see your face. I thought you might pass out

there for a minute.”

Tad swept his hand through his hair and pulled his jaw off the floor. “You, oh

man. Yeah, you’re right. I almost lost it. Missy, I’m sorry I cut you off.”

Missy waved a hand in the air. “It’s okay. It wasn’t fair of me to let you assume I’d

simply dropped by to see you. I thought I’d mentioned working for LRG in our

emails but I guess not. No harm done, but I’m serious about needing help with

the gear.”

Tad shook his finger at her, taking in her bright expression. “You always were a

bad one for teasing.” He turned away to swing open the doors of the four-seater

plane and rolled the portable steps into place. “What are you transporting that’s

so delicate?”

“They’re not delicate but my job will be easier if they get packed in order. The

relays for the weather sensors need to be set in sequence. I’d prefer not to have

to spend hours sorting while we’re on the mountainside. Everything is in the

transport trailer outside.”

Tad pulled open the overhead hangar doors and let out a long whistle. Missy

drove a brand-new long-box Toyota extra-crew cab with matching canopy. “Sweet

wheels.”

He peeked in the window of the passenger door to admire the interior. Behind

him Missy released a big sigh. “Boys and their toys. Yes, it’s a nice truck. It starts

when I turn the key, and both the radio and CD player work so I’m happy. Oh, and

it’s bright red. Makes it easy to spot in the parking lot.”

They grinned at each other. Damn, he loved a girl with a sense of humour. Tad

raised his eyebrows, flashing her the best puppy-dog eyes he could. “You want

me to move it?” Backing the attached twenty-five-foot trailer into the open space

in the hangar would be a hellish task.

“No, I’ll drive. Should I park next to the plane?”

Tad opened his mouth to protest but managed to stop himself in time. He prided

himself on being a quick learner. He wouldn’t assume anything about the golden

goddess in front of him from this point on because apparently Missy was a

woman of many talents.

“By the plane is fine. I’ll get the steps out of your way.”

He strolled back to the plane, watching Missy over his shoulder as she crawled up

into the cab. She did a funny little hop to get in the seat and he wondered how

she reached the gas pedal and still saw out the window.

She pulled the truck and trailer out of his line of vision into the main parking lot

and then in one smooth move reversed in. Tad shook his head. He would have

needed at least three attempts to get that monster of a rig to back into the tight

space.

He’d spent years adoring Missy-the-girl in high school. Missy-the-woman got

more and more interesting by the minute.

Missy jumped down and rubbed her hands together briskly, her delighted smile

showing she’d noticed his admiration. “How do you want to do this? The boxes

are all lined up and just need to be kept in order.”

Tad opened the side doors of the trailer. “You crawl in the plane and place them

where you want them. I’ll be your Sherpa.” A faint scent tickled his nose and his

heartbeat sped up. She must be wearing a killer perfume for
him
to be able to

smell it. He tried to ignore his body’s response because he needed to keep this

professional. Businesslike. Her long hair brushed his skin as he helped her into the

storage section of the plane, and his cock leapt to attention.

So much for keeping things calm.

He hurried to fetch the first load of boxes, trying to pretend there wasn’t a

baseball bat stuck in his pants.

They chatted easily as they worked, picking up their online conversation from the

previous week. It was incredible to be with Missy after all these years and hear

her laugh, watch her face light up as she spoke. She’d changed so little. She still

looked like the sweet girl of sixteen that he’d fallen for, but there was a shadow

that passed over her eyes now and then. Was it the loss of her husband that put

the darkness into her sparkling personality?

Physically she knocked his knees out from under him. Mentally and emotionally,

she tied him in knots. Memories had poured through his brain since the first

second he’d recognized her. Memories and longings he’d put aside in his quest to

become a wolf. He had to be careful not to let his physical attraction make him do

anything he’d regret. This was one woman he refused to hurt above all others.

“Do you like Whistler?” he asked, trying to head the conversation back into

neutral territory. His erection eased as they worked, the returning blood flow to

his brain making it easier to concentrate. “I have some friends who go skiing there

every year, but I haven’t heard much about the community.”

She hesitated for a surprisingly long time before answering. “The mountains are

glorious and I enjoy being in a small town again after living in Vancouver. It’s not

the Yukon though. There’s something special about the north I’ve missed.”

Tad reached to give her hand a reassuring squeeze. The touch of skin on skin was

like grabbing a live wire. Energy flowed between them sending small shocks up his

arm. He jerked his fingers away. “Shoot. The static electricity is crazy in here.”

Missy had the strangest expression on her face. She held a hand to Tad. “Try

again.”

Tad hesitated and then clasped fingers. This time the energy didn’t snap but it

was there, a low buzz of tingles spreading over him.

It felt good.

Too good. Tad pulled away before parts of his anatomy he didn’t want to

reawaken heard the alarm ringing through him. “What’s that all about?” he asked

in confusion.

Missy shook her head. “I’m not sure. Maybe like you said—static electricity.

Some people are better conductors than others.”

“Weird.” Tad turned away to get the next set of boxes. His whole body was hot,

and he had the strange desire to pick Missy up and carry her back to his

apartment and ravish her until they were both so sated neither of them could

move. Well, okay, it wasn’t a completely unexpected emotion since she was

pretty easy on the eyes, and he’d always had a huge crush on her. Yet he’d never

had an attack of the hormone kind this hard before. It was unsettling, especially

when he wanted to impress Missy, not come across like some northern

Neanderthal.

Gotta stay calm. Cool.

“How’s your sister?” Missy asked.

Tad leapt at the change in topic. “She’s gone bush this week for a getaway. I was