Under Alaskan Skies by Grace Carol Page B

happy with my life as it is. In a way, I’m married to my job. That’s what my dad used to say. You may not believe this, seeing me take time off this way, but I’m usually busy, flying around the state.”
    “What, no time for sight-seeing?” he asked.
    “Sight-seeing is more fun when you have someone to show the sights to,” she said.
    “I appreciate your taking time off to show me around. The eagles’ nests and this and your town. I feel…lucky.”

    “Lucky? Lucky that I interrupted your vacation? Lucky that you’re stuck here in the bush with nothing to do?”
    He tilted her chin with his thumb and forced her to look in his eyes. Dark eyes so deep she was afraid to get lost in their depths. She licked her lips nervously, hoping he couldn’t read her thoughts. Hoping he couldn’t know that she could never marry anyone who didn’t make her feel the way he did. That he was going to spoil her for anyone else who might come along. That if she was choosy before she met him, she would be more so after he left.
    “Lucky that I met you,” he said. He smiled and her heart caught in her throat. She knew what had to come next. If he didn’t kiss her, she would kiss him. It didn’t matter, she just had to feel his mouth on hers. She wanted his arms around her, pulling her close. She wanted to stop talking about the past or the future. She wanted to live in the present for only a few hours or a few days. She would deal with the future later.
    She knew this wasn’t going to last. She knew he was going to leave. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know it would never work. This time when she looked in his eyes she saw a flash of white-hot desire that matched her own. He angled his face and kissed her just as it started to rain.
    She felt his lips curve against hers as the rain came down through the open roof and soaked them in earnest. She tasted the fresh rainwater on his lips, then she ran her hands through his wet hair, loving the feel of the thick wet strands on her fingers. Her wet shirt was plastered against his. She could feel the musclesof his chest pressed against her breasts, almost as if there was no barrier between them. His lips found the indentation in her throat and she couldn’t control herself. She moaned, she sighed, she gasped. She wanted him. She wanted him so badly. But not here, not in the church. Not in the rain.
    “Let’s get out of here,” she said, pulling away.
    They ran back down the path, hand in hand, muddy banks on either side, their shoes sinking into the dense carpet of fallen needles at least a foot thick. Their feet made soft crunching sounds as they ran. She got into the boat first, a custom that was becoming a habit, and he pushed off as he’d been doing. He shook the water off his clothes and his hair before he got into the cabin with her.
    She looked at him and burst into laughter. “You look like a wet dog,” she said.
    He sat next to her and ran his fingers through her hair, sending a spray of water onto her shoulders. “What kind?” he asked.
    “A husky, of course.”
    “And you, you look like a golden Lab.” The look he gave her was amused but so tender it made it hard to catch her breath.
    A laugh caught in her throat. She shivered, both from the cold and from his touch.
    “Where are those hot springs you told me about?” he asked. “I could use a hot bath right now.”
    She started the engine. “Not too far.” She hesitated only a moment. Only long enough to think about taking off her clothes and soaking with him. This was no time to get modest. No time to call a halt to what was inevitable. She was falling in love with anotherunavailable, unattainable man. She was falling in love with Matt. She wanted to make love to him. She must not make love to him. If she did, she’d be sorry for the rest of her life. Trying to balance the conflict in her mind made her head hurt. She told herself to give up trying. This was not the time to be reasonable. This was a