“No, ma’am. I gotta get you home.”
My hand reaches for my door handle. Maybe I can open it, roll out and survive, and run the ten miles we’ve driven back into town. Get to safety.
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to get up the nerve to roll out. When I open my eyes, I see a photograph taped to Dirk’s dashboard. Two little girls and a boy, in snow suits, with a snowman between them.
“Who are they?” I ask.
“Those are my grandkids.” Dirk looks over at me, beaming. “They are just about the sweetest little things you ever did see. Though they are a handful.”
“Oh.” I bite my lip. Dirk isn’t going to kill me. He’s a grandpa.
“You’ll meet them. They always come out in the summer for a few weeks.”
Withering inside at this implausible place I’ve landed, all on my own, I manage to speak. “You don’t say?”
The truck winds down a road, and soon enough a massive two-story lodge emerges from the forest, its picturesque porch framed by a bright red metal roof.
“Now, listen: when we get to the lodge, no reason to be nervous.” Dirk parks the truck in front of the lodge, looking over at me before getting out. “The Grayson boys always seem more intimidating than they really are. Mason’s a playboy, but Boone? Now he’s a man. There’s no man better in Alaska, if you’re asking me.”
I shake my head, confused.
Dirk continues, “Boone comes off as stand-offish to lots of folks. He’s ... well, a little hard to read. But you don’t need to worry none. I’m sure he’ll be a perfect gentleman to you. A woman’s touch changes everything.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Sorry, darling. Don’t mean to be overstepping. Just thought you’d like a little warning about your husband.”
Dirk gets out of the truck and walks to my side, opening it for me and helping me out.
“My what?” I ask.
“Oh, hot damn, did I get the wrong girl for Boone?” Dirk removes his trucker cap, revealing wild white hair. He runs his hand through it. “You’re in the blue scarf, and the only woman flying in today. Thought for sure I got the right girl.”
“I thought....” I tilt my head to the side. “You’re not my husband?”
Dirk gives a deep belly laugh, wheezing as he slaps my back. “Darling, I’d love nothing better, but no. I’m just the groundskeeper here at the Graysons’ Lodge.”
Still needing clarification, I ask, “So I’m not your mail order bride?”
“Not by a long shot, honey.” He smiles broadly. “That man right there is the one you’re looking for.”
I follow his gaze to the wide front porch, where two identical men stand as if waiting for my arrival. They are hot as all get-out: six foot five, dark hair, broad shoulders, piercing green eyes, and scruffy beards. But the one leaning on the porch railing smirks, watching the other guy, who looks right at me. One look and I know who my husband-to-be is. The man who has his eyes locked on me is everything I expected, with his rolled-up flannel sleeves and his serious expression.
He has a bulge in his pants that makes my panties wet upon arrival—and, oh fuck me now, he has a sleeve of evergreen tree tattoos on his arm. He’s the ultimate mountain man.
Only better.
Because he’s my mountain man.
Oh, hell yeah, yes please. Take. Me. Now.
“I’m Boone,” the man says, as he makes his way down the steps. “And I’m the one who ordered you.”
Chapter Three
Boone
Her legs are long and lean, and all it takes is a moment to imagine all the ways I can wrap her around me.
“Twins?” she asks, incredulous, looking between Mason and me. “Really?”
“Is that a problem?” I ask, ruffled that she even glances at Mason. My entire life has been a competition between that dickweed and me. I didn’t order a bride to share her.
“Not a problem at all, just kinda like something you’d read in a romance novel. Not real life. Like, I’m a mail order bride, which to be fair is insane enough, but then I show up here and find myself two rugged mountain men. Pretty hot, honestly,” she says, laughing.
Mason is laughing behind me, and my jaw tenses. He always gets obnoxious when he’s insecure, but I don’t know what he’s so anxious about. I’m the one getting a fucking wife today.
And I don’t want my brother to be a part of some novelty. I want this woman for myself. I need to make that absolutely clear from the get-go.
“There’s only one man here for you,” I tell her with a slight edge to my voice. I want to make it absolutely clear that I am hers.