Taming Alaska (So Not Prince Charming Book 1) (2 page)

“Mrs. Diaz,” he says, taking her hand and kissing it.

She actually blushes. “Shane, call me Grace.” Her hand grasps Fay’s arm. “This is my oldest Fay and my middle daughter Cynthia, and this is our guest of honor, Shane O’Flannery.”

“Pleasure,” he says, shaking Fay’s hand then mine.

“You’re the entrepreneur of the year?” That came out like a shockwave. My embarrassment flames my face.

He must be smart to own and run a company at his age.

“Why is that so shocking?” His deep voice resonates in my body like riding a Harley, and he hasn’t let go of my hand. From his cocky grin, he must find me amusing.

Even though humiliation steams my cheeks, I recover and smile back. “You’re just so young.”

Even in my platform heels, I look up at him and notice a more recent scar, angry and red under his jaw. His touch sends a shower of sparks and flares in my chest. After today, I wouldn’t have thought this would happen so soon, so what does he have over Trevor, other than he’s older and apparently intelligent, despite his lack of fashion sense? And I don’t know that any man has given me dragonflies bombarding my stomach, but then again, they were all boys.

Shane’s grin reaches all the way to his green eyes the color of Caribbean waters. They favorably appraise me while he holds on longer to my hand than he did Fay’s. From the attitude igniting in those eyes and that self-assured grin, he knows women like him. And from the way he’s flirting, he must not think I’m still in high school.

It’s the dress.

Instead of rolling my eyes, I broaden my smile. After Trevor, I deserve better. I definitely deserve smarter.

Fay bats her lashes and takes Shane’s arm, breaking our connection. I narrow my eyes at her, and she shrugs me off. She leads him to the tables setup on the stage where she must think she’ll flank his other side at dinner. He stops at the bottom to allow Mom and me to scale the steps before him. Fay pouts because now she’ll be at the end next to Mom.

As I climb up, the grate catches my heel and twists my ankle. I feel the helplessness of falling where I’ll probably break a leg, arm, or neck, not to mention my mortification. My arms flail, and a small cry escapes my lips, and my heart beats scared rabbit fast. A couple women gasp near the front, so my hellacious landing must be imminent.

Strong, steady arms scoop me up from behind, while one large rough hand grabs a good amount of my big booty. His hand warms it, and I swear my sex soaks my boy shorts. He doesn’t even have to work at exciting me, like Trevor did. A hot fever moves its way into my breasts, and did he stuff a sawed-off shotgun down his pants? He’s definitely not the spaghetti-stick Trevor is.

Shane carries me to my seat. My hands cling to his jacket while his body heat pours into me. “Are you all right, Cyn?” How does he know the nickname I hate? The taunts ricochet in my mind—wicked as sin, simply sinful.

“As soon as you quit groping my butt,” I say playfully.

“My apologies. My hand must’ve slipped.” A rakish grin curls his weather-beaten full lips as he carefully slides his hand out from underneath me so no one sees and stands me by a chair next to him. His hard body chiseled from granite that held mine burns as hot as the temperature rising in my blood. He pulls out the chair for me, and Fay presses her lips together in a very unladylike snarl. For once, a man notices me over her, and I relish in the moment.

Shane lets out a long breath, and I notice some of the much younger women, well younger than their money-toting husbands, wrap their gaze around Shane like he’s the last piece of chocolate and they’re ready for the death dive to get it before any of the competition can. Mom gives Shane an approving smile for saving me, and he nods to her.

A couple of the top chamber members, including Trevor’s dad Mr. Duncan, and their wives join us on stage while dinner is served. The waiters bring most of the men prime rib while the ladies receive dainty portions of Coho salmon. I ordered steak, like Shane. He shrugs off his jacket and rolls up his sleeves, like he’s at a pig roast, while I hold in a laugh.

My cut of prime rib is rare and melts in my mouth. I use my napkin to wipe the au jus sauce from my lips, and Shane grips his fork and knife like their shovels.

“Shane’s from Alaska,” Mom says in between sips of champagne while Fay and I have to drink Diet Cokes. It’s so humiliating.

Being from the icy frontier explains his barbaric manners, but I doubt any other man I know could’ve pulled off that save so easily. I study his rock-hard body and his rough, scarred hands. He doesn’t look like the kind of guy who flexes at the gym, but I bet he bench presses grizzlies to keep in shape.

Shane gulps a beer, rudely wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve, so he must be at least twenty-one.

“What part of Alaska?” I ask, grinning at him. I need to flirt like Fay. She has men dropping at her feet like blowflies.

“I’ve lived all over the state, but the last place is Tonakwa. It’s a small Eskimo camp, so I doubt you’ve heard of it.”

I haven’t. I dip my chin while tonging a morsel of prime rib and watching Shane’s reaction. “Sounds quaint.”

Eyeing me with lustful intensity, he chuckles. “It’s in the middle of nowhere, and in the winter, it’s colder than a witch’s tit.”

I can’t help it. I snort out a laugh. “Sounds charming.”

Mrs. Duncan sitting on the other side of Shane chokes on her asparagus. After she recovers, she asks, “How did it go today with you and Trevor?”

She’s bringing him up on purpose. Bitch. I put on my game face before wiping off the disdain from my lips and turning toward her. I lean across Shane, so only he and Trevor’s mom can hear, letting my breast sheathed only in silk rest on his bare arm. He literally stops breathing, and I smile at my small victory.

“Trevor and I broke up. He stole my virginity, and the sex sucked and maybe a real man, like Shane, could make up for it.”

“Cynthia,” she scolds. It takes her a full minute to recover while Shane laughs heartily.

“Trevor really likes you,” she says, but I know Fay has the suitable pedigree.

I smile. “No, he doesn’t. Otherwise, he would’ve satisfied me.”

Shane’s not sorry at all. He’s grinning and slips his hand onto the back of my chair, which sends a flurry of evil eyes my way from Fay and Mrs. Duncan and the other women in the room. Shane isn’t even Fay’s type, let alone mine.

He leans down and whispers, “You’re certainly a spitfire. If your mom weren’t here, I’d take you home and guarantee your satisfaction.”

My body lights up at the promise of sexual gratification. Shane definitely thinks I’m older. I gaze up and down this man’s stealth-like body and know he can deliver. I wiggle in my seat to open up a bit more breast flesh for Shane’s enjoyment, and he does take a few unrepentant peeks.

“Shane is also a tracker,” Mom adds.

“Like what?” I ask, actually interested. I should give him the chance to give me what I deserved earlier today.

“Mostly bears, but when I lived in Fairbanks, I worked for Wilderness Search and Rescue.” He takes on a more serious tone, and the hint of some intriguing past flashes in his green eyes but then darts away.

“Cynthia loves to fish,” Mom says, bringing me into the limelight. I love her.

I quit fishing because it’s too boyish, though Willa and I love to go with Dad. Other than gardening, it’s his favorite pastime.

“You do?” Shane’s gaze wanders all over me like a hot poker, and when his fingers graze the nape of my neck, I almost fall into his lap. So what if there’s a strong physical attraction. That doesn’t mean he’s marriage material, but sex and the big O, that’s a possibility.

“Yes,” I say in my most seductive voice while dragging my tongue over my lower lip.

As he studies me, his gaze flicking along my mouth then dropping to my breasts, he draws in deep breaths while that cocky grin upturns his mouth. His fingers twirl in the gold chain on my neck, tingling the sensitive skin and prickling the hairs.

“What year are you in college?” Shane asks, his fingers leaving a trail of burning coals on my skin while he uses his other hand to swig his beer.

Fay laughs while I glance at Mom to see if I can get away with a white lie. She gives a small shake of the head.

I sigh. “I’m sixteen, but I turn seventeen in another two months.”

“Sixteen?” he spits out a mouthful of beer. “Fuck,” he mutters under his breath. He’s so flustered he tips over a water glass, yet saves it before hardly any spills.

When he looks at me, like I just contracted herpes, I want to crawl under the table, but instead, I sit up straighter. He started this or maybe I did, but he joined right in.

Mrs. Duncan eyes grow wide at his obscenity and maybe for Shane hitting on me. She obviously has never listened to Trevor’s filthy mouth.

My chest is damp from Shane’s beer, and he stares at my breasts with a dazed expression. He reaches for the napkin that never made it to his lap and dabs at the beer coating my chest. When he realizes what he’s doing, he mumbles, “Shit.”

I’ve completely discombobulated a fully-grown man, so I’m enjoying this, except for the fact he wants to ignore me now.

I smile at him, and he almost loses the beer he’s clutching. Mom purses her lips to stifle her giggling.

“Why did you lead me on?” he whispers into my ear. “I could go to jail for grabbing your ass.”

“Not to mention touching my boobs, and you groped my butt on purpose?”

He snarls. “I’m not that much of a klutz, and I’m fast.”

“Maybe you should slow down because that’s not a suitable quality in a man,” I shoot back. I know from experience now. My chin juts out because I’m no longer a virgin. I’m a woman.

“Not at that, you little tease. I should take you over my knee, like I used to do with my younger sister.” Anger laces his words at being duped.

I glare at him, though a twisted grin works its way into my lips. I enjoy messing with him. “You’re not man enough.”

“Trust me, Princess, I most certainly am.”

I swallow hard, not just at the palpable carnal tension between us but the contempt setting deep ridges into his brow. He’s really mad.

It was just harmless flirting. “Get over it,” I say, pouting because now he won’t even look at me.

Mom cuts off our dispute by standing and introducing the board members and Shane as the entrepreneur of the year. He has some sort of foreign communication service, which I barely listen to because he’s ignoring me. That brings a triumphant smile to Fay’s pink lips.

Chapter Two

Cyn

Early the next morning, Mom and I drive to Albuquerque because Mom wants to illegally collect wild flowers and cacti for her garden along the way. With the radio cranked to my favorite country station, we drive for hours listening to the music. I inhale the sagebrush and desert flowers, and the hot, dry air flows over my arm hanging out the window.

Given the Mercedes’s top is down, the sun beats on us and also bathes the desert in its lemony glow. On the distant horizon, lightning arcs in the clouds in jagged spears, splashing light against the dark grey. Storm clouds stack onto each other, like black beetles dog piling.

Mom points at the sky. “It’s magnificent, isn’t it? Let’s stop to eat in New Mexico, so we can watch the storm roll in.”

I sigh, breathing in the scent of rain, even though it’s far off in the distance. “Sounds good.”

“Oh, see those?” she asks excitedly, pointing at the blossoming desert daisies.

Under her direction, I drive off onto a dirt road into the desert toward a patch of white wildflowers. Before getting out of the car and opening the trunk, she glances around, probably for rangers or cops. I don’t know why it’s illegal to pick weeds.

I slide out and help her grab a flowerpot and hand trowel. I kneel down beside her to carefully dig the desert chicory from the earth. After donning her gardening gloves, Mom scoops out the daisy and places it into the pot.

“Isn’t it lovely?” she coos.

The simplest things give her such great joy. This trip is as much for her as it is for me. I needed the break from all the drama involving Trevor. Teasing Shane was enjoyable, especially the memory of his touch searing my skin.

Before we get into the car, she stops, wiping perspiration from her brow. “Do you know why I married your father?”

“Because you love him?” Her question catches me off guard but only for a moment. I assumed this trip was to also give me motherly advice concerning my tumultuous breakup. Though I will always love my dad and be his little princess, an hombre like him is not who I wish to marry. Trevor comes from money and a good family, but I left him in the taillight’s red glow of my Porsche.

“That’s part of it.” She studies me for a moment. “What happened between you and Trevor?” she asks tentatively. “His father was very upset that you left him out in the middle of a field.” She puckers her lips to hold in a laugh.

My face burns. It’s too embarrassing to tell her.

“Did you sleep with him?”

Now my whole body catches fire. How does she know everything?

“You did,” she says softly. “I was your age when I let some boy talk me into sex.” She crinkles her nose. “It wasn’t very good.”

“I didn’t get anything out of it, and it was over in the blink of an eye,” I blurt out, snapping my fingers to show her how short. “He blamed me and told me I was too hard to please. He told me he was sleeping with Cassie all this time and that she was much better.”

“I’ll have a word with his father.”

“Please don’t,” I say in horror. That would make it far worse.

“It takes a long time for boys like Trevor to master the art of taking care of a woman, but he’s not for you. Find a nice boy who will treat you like a princess, like Shane O’Flannery.”

“Him?” I asked shocked. “He knows I’m sixteen, and he handles his silverware like their tools to dig in the dirt with, and isn’t he too old for me?” I don’t think he’s too old, but maybe Mom will let me date an older man.

Mom smiles. “He won’t be too old in a couple years, and he just turned twenty-one. Women mature physically, emotionally, and mentally faster than men.”