Desire in the Arctic

DESIRE IN THE ARCTIC

STACY HOFF

SOUL MATE PUBLISHING

New York

DESIRE IN THE ARCTIC

Copyright©2016

STACY HOFF

Cover Design by Leah Kaye-Suttle

This book is a work of fiction.  The names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual events, business establishments, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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Published in the United States of America by

Soul Mate Publishing

P.O. Box 24

Macedon, New York, 14502

ISBN: 978-1-68291-040-5

www.SoulMatePublishing.com

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

To my sons, Ryan and Aaron,

who warm me with their love.

To my parents, Marilyn and Michael,

who help me weather any storm.

To my husband, Eyal,

who would go to the ends of the Earth for me,

even the Arctic Circle.

Acknowledgements

I always love writing this page. It allows me to give back to the all the people who continuously give so much to me.

Deborah Gilbert—Founder and Senior Editor of Soul Mate Publishing, Inc.—thank you for believing “third time’s a charm.”

Dan Spiegel—my brother-in-law and website developer—thank you for tirelessly toiling on my website.

Judy Roth—my personal line editor—thank you for always pushing me harder.

Amina Connelly—my best friend—thank you for doing your best to convince me that everything I write is great.

Chapter 1

Ana Davis stared at her boss open-mouthed, her heart stuck solidly in her throat. She knew her promotion to producer had been too good to be true.

With effort, Ana was finally able to croak out some words to her sixty-something-year-old supervisor. “Mark, is this really what you want? To have our contestant survive twelve days in Alaska’s Yukon? A million dollars doesn’t seem worth it. Couldn’t he die out there?”

“Yep.” Mark was a lot of things Ana was not. Smug, with a tendency toward flippant and callous. Mark’s underlings often didn’t see him coming, a shark ready to ambush from deep below the ocean surface.

Ana, however, knew very well with whom she was dealing. But she had been desperate to get into management, especially a plum producer spot. Likewise, Mark had been desperate enough to hire that he actually gave her, a former executive assistant, the job. Although apparently as a last resort.

The smile Mark beamed masked the shark’s deadly nature. “Since last season’s
Gladiator
show gave our contestant a warm climate to survive in, we thought we’d pick a cold location this time around. You know, shake things up a little.”

Ana could hardly forget last season’s show.
The Evergladiator
was possibly Teleworld’s biggest hit to date. The contestant, Colin Brandt, had won the million-dollar prize but almost died in the process.

Filming these kind of survival shows was terrifyingly dangerous. Unbelievably, the network did what it could to make the odds even worse. Rigging the show to have extra, unlikely hazards to make winning almost impossible. Almost. Colin Brandt had succeeded. Despite the fact he had been viciously bitten in a death battle with a four-hundred-pound wild hog.

A horrible scar remained on his forearm. Colin would have that scar for life. And not just physically either. She shuddered at the memory. Incredibly, Teleworld, and Mark in particular, had arranged for the aggressive beast to be brought to Colin’s camp so it could spring at him. The woman who had been the producer at the time quit in protest.

If Ana hadn’t had her own financial problems, she’d have been happy to do the same. But instead of quitting, she wound up embracing the promotion they eventually offered her. Whether she was trying to prove her competency to Teleworld, or herself, she wasn’t sure.

Mark looked out the window of their Rockefeller Center office tower before turning his attention to Ana again. “We’ve got two proposed name choices for this season’s show.
The Arctic Gladiator
or
The Glaciator
. What do you think? Are they as catchy as
The Evergladiator
?”

Ana frowned. “I think both choices are leaving me cold.”

“Very funny.”

Not kidding, Mark. “
You really want me to pick one of these names?”

“Yup,” Mark quipped. “Which do you think will get the bigger draw?”

Neither.
“I like
The Arctic Gladiator
better.
The Glaciator
is too confusing for a name. We’re doing a survival competition, not a bake-off.”

“A bake-off show would have been called the
Glaze-iator
, not
Glaciator
.”

Ha-ha.
“Either way, I don’t like it
. The Arctic Gladiator
sounds good. Atmospheric. Cold. Stirs up the image of a tough survival situation. I’m sure people will want to tune in.”

Mark nodded. “Good. Now that we have the name resolved, let’s get on with other important matters.”

“I can start with one. Please tell me you’re going to allow our new contestant to have more weaponry than you allowed last time. Having only a six-inch blade is just not going to cut it in the Artic.” When silence filled the room, Ana looked down at the beige carpet, too afraid of Mark’s answer to look at him.
God I don’t want to see anybody get hurt.

“Of course we will allow this contestant more weapons than last time. If we restricted the new guy the same way, Teleworld would face public outcry. Nothing is worse than bad PR. So this time we’ll give him a gun in case a bear wants to eat him or something.”

Mark’s cavalier attitude was almost comical. Almost. She let out a hard breath of air. “I’m glad he’ll be allowed to have a gun.”

“You worry too much. Though I should probably mention we’re only allowing two bullets.”

“What?”
She felt the blood drain from her face.

“Don’t look so pale, Ana.” Mark grinned, stretching out his overly tanned, wrinkled skin. “The guy we’ve got in mind is so tough, he won’t need more than two bullets. Heck, he could probably wrestle a grizzly into submission.”

Somehow Mark’s words were less than reassuring. “I’ll let the bullet issue pass for the moment. What else are you planning on giving him to survive?”

“Maybe some dry goods in case food is scarce. Shouldn’t be a problem though because we’ll be taping in early summer. Early June to be exact.”

“Er, Mark, that’s now.”

“Yes, I know. Convenient, isn’t it? There should be more than enough food available to scrounge. Berries and some other plant life will be growing for sure.”

Ana nodded, not being able to form words.
I
can’t believe taping is going to start this soon.
As if I didn’t have enough pressure already.
Having insufficient time to gear up was not going to help her produce a winning show.

At least the situation would improve from the last time. A steady food source would be invaluable in a place like the Arctic. Her shoulders inched down from ear-height.
See? Mark learned his lesson. He’s not so bad. Anymore.

“He can have a fire starter,” Mark mused. “Some limited camping supplies. Extra clothes and cold weather gear, just in case.”

Air circulated again in Ana’s lungs.

“It won’t be too bad,” Mark continued. “Filming will take place in a pristine national park.”

“Denali, right?”

“Nope. Gates of the Arctic National Park.”

Ana felt her forehead scrunch up. “Never heard of it.”

“Not many people visit. Let’s just say it’s real remote. There are no roads in the park. In fact, there are no roads to even get to the park. Closest highway is a couple of miles outside of it, and a raging river would have to be crossed to get onto the parklands. Those who don’t want to risk drowning hire an air taxi and fly in.”

Her eyes grew wide. “And once they make it in?”

“They’ll have to pray they know what they’re doing. The place is desolate and deserted. There are no park rangers. Although there are lots of grizzlies. Plenty of black bears, too. Both types of animals are very aggressive, from what I hear.” Mark was smiling so brightly his teeth shined. “On top of all that, the weather can be very extreme.”

“Sounds great,” she replied through a tight throat.

Mark chuckled and smoothed down the lapel of his Brooks Brothers’ suit jacket. “We ought to be able to get lots of footage since there’ll be almost twenty-four hours of light. We’ll be wrapping up the taping right before June 21
st
, which is summer solstice. Of course, without the nighttime sky, we won’t get any footage of the Aurora Borealis, but having all the extra daylight to film is worth the trade off.”

“Makes sense,” Ana acknowledged.
At least something about this show does.

“Lastly,” Mark added, “we’re going to give our contestant another person to help him survive the ordeal more pleasantly.”

She felt herself smile. Actually smile. Two people to share the survival burden would be so much better than one. Ana let the concept sink in a moment. “You really mean it? We’ll have two people competing as a team this time? Sounds like a great idea. It’ll give them a much better shot at surviving.”

Mark narrowed his eyes.

“Oh, and of course the show will be better off for it as well,” she hastily added. “Are the two contestants going to split the prize money?”

“Nope. They’ll each get a million dollars.”

“Ooh, that will make it really worthwhile for both of them. Good.”

“Let me be clear. We’re only raising the stakes to keep the audience’s interest.”

Intimidated by his tone of voice, she gulped hard. “Of course,” she said, and then tried to change the topic. “We’ll have to pluralize the show’s name since there’s going to be two contenders. We can call it
The Arctic Gladiators
.”

“Good point. We’re hoping by adding human interaction the show will be more interesting. We got lucky last time Colin was so entertaining all by himself. That kind of charisma is hard to find.”

“You’re not kidding. People loved Colin’s sweet southern nature and especially his great sense of humor. His personality was just the right recipe for success.”

Mark leaned back in his chair to stretch, his Brooks Brothers’ suit straining in the process. Ana noted he had put on some weight in recent weeks. Maybe the stress
was
getting to him.

“The guy we have in mind,” Mark said, “is a lot more quiet than Colin. He’ll need someone to draw his personality out. Make him seem more animated.”

Ana blinked. “Then why did Casting pick him? Ever since
The Evergladiator
aired, I’m sure we’ve been flooded with candidates who want to do this season’s show.”

Mark didn’t answer. He just took out a glossy photo from his leather folder and handed it to her. “Not that I’m into judging other guys’ looks, but I trust this picture will answer your question.”

Ana felt her hands go moist.
Boy, does it.
She quickly gave her palms a quick rub against her calf-length skirt. But the image on the black-and-white glossy paper made her mouth salivate so much she soon forgot about her damp hands.

The headshot showed a man who would put a movie star to shame. Dark eyes. Strong jaw. Slicked back, straight black hair. Broad shoulders indicated a man who was athletic if not outright powerful. But his expression was even more powerful. The man’s gaze was as intense as fire. But instead of wanting to run away, she felt herself only being drawn further in. What secrets would a man like that be carrying around? Whatever it was, she’d love to find out.

Mark laughed. “I gather his photo answered your question.”

“Errr—” Deciding to cave in, Ana threw her hands up. “Why yes, Mark. Yes it did.”

Mark laughed. “I’m sure my wife thinks I’m equally sexy.”

Ana did her best not to shudder. As far as she was concerned, anyone finding Mark attractive was hard to imagine. It wasn’t Mark’s looks that were off-putting. There were most likely lots of older women who wouldn’t mind an older, short, paunchy-gutted guy with a fake tan. No, it was Mark’s personality that was cause for concern. The way he had willingly risked the life of the former Gladiator was heartless.

Ana winced, realizing a better issue to focus on was why
she
would even consider producing this show. Was she heartless, too? Not only had she befriended the former Gladiator, she had become best friends with his wife, Stephanie. The very same Stephanie who had been the show’s former producer, until she quit.

Ana knew she had gotten the producer job as a fluke. Every one of Stephanie’s replacements had been fired or quit. Otherwise, Ana would have never gotten Stephanie’s old office. Was Teleworld sorry they gave it to her? Despite her promotion, deep down she still believed she should be an executive secretary.

The desire to rise to the challenge was tempting. She could prove, in their eyes as well as her own, she was just as good as Stephanie, the woman Ana looked up to with almost hero worship. Ana bit down hard on her lip, barely registering the sharp twinge of pain.
Geez, Ana, competitive, much?

In her best, most objective moments, Ana acknowledged she was on track for growing into Stephanie’s roll. Maybe Mark was growing as a person, too. Getting better. Becoming human, even. After all, he was willing to have two people team up this time to help each other out.

First things, first.
If the man in the glossy photo was to be the real star of the show, she needed to learn everything about him she possibly could.

“What’s his name?”

“William Redding. He’s got a similar background to Colin Brandt.”

“Is he a former Special Ops Marine?”

“That’s right. Last time people gravitated to the show because we touted our contestant as a military hero. We figured it made sense to stick with this type of background, especially since we’re already making so many other changes to the show. But you can ask William directly about his past. Ready to meet him?”

Ana briefly wondered what other changes to the show Mark was referring to but pushed aside the curiosity to deal with the more pressing issue of meeting William. She gulped hard. “You want me to meet him today?”

Mark frowned. “Unfortunately, yes. Do you have a different . . . something . . . anything . . . you could wear? Like a real suit?”

Ana looked down. Her bohemian-style of dress obviously wasn’t going to pass muster anymore. Back in her old job position, the eclectic, long, flowing style of clothes she bought from Greenwich Village consignment shops had, mostly, been accepted. Saving money in expensive New York City was great. But for Ana, her taste was more about individuality than frugality. A sense of willfully not fitting in to the corporate world.

Whether she wanted to or not, now that she was promoted, her outfits needed to get a pink slip. “This is all I’ve got. I’ll shop for business suits over the weekend.”
Time to change the topic. Again.
“I might as well go meet William Redding now.”

“You’ll get your chance in about an hour. He’s ready to meet everyone. And he’s especially anxious to meet his partner.” Mark cleared his throat and donned an announcer’s voice. “He’ll be braving the Alaskan Arctic for twelve dangerous days with only one teammate to help.”

“Sounds good,” Ana acknowledged. “Has his teammate been picked already?”

“Yup.” Mark shot Ana the broadest grin she’d ever seen. “
You
.”