Chapter 3
Feeling much more like herself, she wandered down the short hallway, following the soft sound of light jazz and delicious smells coming from the kitchen.
She paused at the edge of the main room, taking in the homey setting. Her first impression had, if anything, been an understatement. The large open space made the room seem palatial to her British sensibilities, yet the furniture was oversized, lending the room a comfortable air. It was utterly cozy with flames crackling in the fireplace and the firelight dancing along the walls. If she had to describe her dream home, this would be it.
The soft woof that greeted her appearance brought a smile to her face. Angus lounged on his bed in the corner, a gnarled antler between his feet as he watched her entry.
”Are you hungry?”
Frankie”s gaze swung toward the source of the deep resonant voice and she froze, blinking at the bolt of searing heat that shot through her. John stood at the stove, stirring whatever amazing concoction was cooking there, his back to her. Even without seeing his face, she was fiercely drawn to him, the sinewy lines of his torso and bulging muscles of his shoulders perfectly outlined by a soft-looking henley.
”Yes, I”m famished,” she answered, her voice barely above a whisper.
With a bob of his head, he reached inside a cabinet and grabbed two bowls, filling them quickly and depositing them on the nearby table. ”This is chili. I hope you like it.” He pulled a muffin pan from the oven and quickly emptied its contents onto a clean plate and then snagged a tub of butter from the refrigerator.
Finally, he turned toward her, a broad smile on his face—his brutally handsome face—and Frankie bit back a gasp. For a moment, she thought she might be hallucinating and swiped a hand over her mouth, afraid she was drooling all over herself with the way her mouth hung open.
She stared, taking in the mahogany brown hair buzzed short on the sides with longer, slightly disheveled curls on top. It framed his bearded, square jaw nicely. Her fingers practically begged to thread through those luscious locks. And those shoulders… they were as wide and as thickly muscled as she”d imagined, allowing his frame to narrow nicely into that vee shape so many male models tortured themselves to achieve.
My god. This must be what it”s like to gaze directly into the face of The David.
Oh, Sharon would be apoplectic if she were here right now. Or more likely in the process of ripping the clothes from her body and begging him to ravish her.
”Are you okay?” he asked finally, and Frankie started, snapping out of her daze. A warm rush moved up her neck as she realized she”d been openly ogling the man, quite rudely so.
Clearing her throat, Frankie nodded. ”Yes. Yes, I”m sorry. I am feeling much better. Today has just been a bit much. Thank you for everything you”ve done for me tonight. I don”t know what I would have done if you hadn”t shown up when you did,” she babbled. ”Probably something stupid like stumbling around, looking for shelter, and then freezing to death.”
Oh, shut up, you idiot. He”s certain to believe you”re a right bloody moron at this point.
The corner of his mouth drifted up, exposing a deep groove in his cheek, and his gorgeous cobalt blue eyes twinkled.
Seriously, this man just keeps getting more stunning by the second.
”Oh, hold on,” he muttered. ”I forgot utensils.” He turned toward the kitchen counter. ”What would you like to drink? I have beer, water, and milk.”
”Water, please,” she called out, grateful that awkward moment was over. It was just her luck that the man she had been searching for, researching, and practically digitally stalking for a year, was also unbelievably gorgeous. She had found very little of him online, just brief mentions and not a single picture, which was probably a good thing. One look at those long eyelashes and deep sapphire eyes, and she would have been obsessed. Or Sharon would have made the trip herself.
”Here we go.” John handed her a spoon and a butter knife, then placed a glass of water near her bowl.
When she just stared at the bowl, mortified at the track of her thoughts, he asked, ”You”ve been through a lot today. You don”t have to eat if you”re not hungry.” His tone was gentle, so opposite of his supremely masculine, physical appearance.
”Oh, no.” She met his gaze with a smile. ”I”m practically ravenous.” She huffed a light laugh. ”My brain doesn”t seem to be working properly at the moment.”
John grunted and took a big bite of chili. ”That”s the hypothermia tapering off. I”d guess I arrived just in time.”
An inelegant snort escaped her lips. ”You most certainly did, and for that, I”ll be eternally grateful.” She lifted her spoon and tasted the chili, humming at the savory flavor explosion. ”Oh, this is delicious.”
”Thanks. It”s my grandfather”s recipe. Been stewing all day.”
”Mmmmmm… Is this beef?” she asked, taking another bite.
“Bison. I source my meat from a local ranch.”
”I”ve never had Bison before,” she murmured. ”It”s incredible.”
He reached for a muffin and slathered it with butter, then crumbled it in his chili. ”You should try it with the cornbread,” he encouraged. ”The flavor combination is fantastic.”
”I don”t know that you could top this, but if you insist.” Frankie cut a delicate muffin in half and spread a thin layer of butter before taking a nibble. ”Oh my! You”re right.”
Then followed his example and added it to her chili. She closed her eyes and groaned in delight as the flavors burst on her tongue. ”I”ll be honest. This is not how I expected my evening to go,” she commented as she licked her spoon clean.
When he didn’t respond, she glanced up and the tight expression on his face made the breath leave her chest. His hot eyes were zeroed in on her mouth and after a moment, he blinked and it was gone.
John huffed a rueful laugh. ”Me either.” He lifted his beer glass. ”But here”s to meeting new friends, even if it”s in the middle of an early winter storm.”
”Cheers!” Frankie tapped her glass with his.
They ate quietly for several minutes. Frankie’s shoulders relaxed and her frazzled nerves smoothed out as she enjoyed the companionable silence and tried to forget the melting look on his face that had sent pleasurable tingles up and down her spine.
”Stanley said you were looking for me.”
The comment came out of the ether and Frankie blinked as her brain processed his words. She took a sip of water and blotted her mouth with the napkin.
”By Stanley, I assume you mean Ranger Brooks?” At his nod, she continued. ”That”s correct. I”m from the British Arborist Society and we”ve just received a substantial grant that will help considerably with our reforestation and rewilding efforts in the UK.”
John”s mouth slanted to the side. ”I”m not making the connection of what that has to do with me.”
Frankie took a deep breath, anticipating his reticence. ”Well, Mr. Robbins, there is—”
”John.”
”I beg your pardon?” Frankie asked, thrown off by his interruption.
”Call me John,” he clarified.
”Or how about Lumberjack John, if I recall the name Ranger Brooks gave me correctly?” she teased, giving him a mischievous grin.
His bark of laughter was her only response. He leaned back in his chair, his sprawled masculinity dominating the space as he rubbed a large hand over his chest. ”That nickname was given to me. I didn’t choose it.”
”Well, it’s an impressive moniker,” she emphasized. ”Anyway, John, there are many ways you can help. Your record on conservation and the reforestation of northern Wisconsin is remarkable, as well as the diversification of natural resources. I believe—we believe—there is a lot you can teach us.”
He stared at her for a long, painful moment, making her squirm in her chair. ”I come from a long line of conservationists,” he started. Frankie nodded, already knowing what he was about to tell her. ”My great, great, great grandfather bought this land in the 1870s after a wildfire destroyed everything that was left from decades of logging. This land was a disaster, and it”s taken consistent efforts through each generation to bring it back to what it was before.”
”Yes, I am aware. And while we”re not necessarily dealing with a total environmental disaster, I do believe you can help us create a plan to improve our success.”
”My point is, Ms. Evans—”
”Frankie,” she interrupted, throwing him another teasing grin.
”Frankie,” he acknowledged, that sexy groove making another appearance in his cheek. ”My point is that anything I would recommend would take decades, maybe even a century to get what you want. Reforestation, and especially rewilding, doesn”t happen overnight. Not to mention, you would need a significant and consistent level of support from the government. That is an absolute requirement.”
”I know that, John.” Frankie leaned forward to emphasize her point. ”And before you recommend it, we have already contacted experts throughout Great Britain, and no one has created a strategy that works for more than a year or two. I think your perspective and family’s historical experience could make all the difference.”
John grunted. His scowling expression told her he was far from being convinced. ”England, huh?” She kept quiet as he held her gaze for a charged moment. ”I”d think the Pacific Northwest would be more similar to the British climate. You should find someone there to help you. I”d guess there are numerous experts in either Seattle or Portland,” he said.
”The climate is comparable to Britain and those regions have been salvaged from over-logging. But they haven”t dealt with recovery from complete environmental disaster the way this area has.” She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, her chin automatically lifting. ”I”m sorry, Mr. Robbins, but it has to be you. No one else has the background. We need your expertise.”
John released a disgruntled huff as his mouth flattened into a line, his previously light mood gone. He stood abruptly, his chair scraping across the wood flooring, making Frankie and Angus jump. The dog”s soft woof was a gentle admonishment.
”I need to take Angus out.” John patted his leg. ”Come on, boy.” The dog slowly rose to his feet and padded quietly across the room, then followed his owner out the door.
Frankie exhaled sharply and glared at the closed door. She had assumed she”d meet some resistance, if anything her grandmother had written in her journal about the Robbins family was true. But the reality of John immediately digging in his heels was more difficult to process than anything she had imagined.
Think! Find a way to convince him.
She rolled her eyes as Sharon’s voice immediately played through her mind. I know exactly how you can get his cooperation… Sharon”s suggestions were usually on the lurid side.
Frankie’s lips twisted to the side. Sleeping with John was not an option—which was a real shame. Men that dreamy and masculine didn”t come along every day. But a girl could dream, right?
It helps that we’re stuck in an isolated cabin together while a winter storm rages outside, making the roads impassable. It was like the premise of a sexy drugstore romance novel.
Frankie grimaced, a wry smile replacing the frown, and ruefully shook her head. Sharon”s influence was still as strong four thousand miles and an ocean away.
Okay. Enough of that. Get your mind out of the gutter.
Sex was out of the question so maybe it was time she brought out her secret weapon. The one that started her on this adventure.
***
John watched from the porch as Angus moved around the tree line, impervious to the icy snow that was beginning to layer on every surface, stopping to sniff a rock, peeing at least four times. When the dog”s bladder was finally empty, he motored slowly up the stairs and leaned against John’s leg.
John rubbed his wet ears. ”You”re a good boy, Angus.”
As much as he usually grumbled about the amount of time it took Angus to do his business, John had desperately needed a break from the gorgeous and confounding woman currently occupying his cabin. He pulled in a long, bracing breath and released it slowly, feeling his body cool off. It took a lot of self-restraint to appear nonchalant around her, as if she wasn”t the most stunningly beautiful woman he”d ever met.
He huffed out an ironic laugh. When he”d spotted her car wedged between two trees, he’d had every intention of making sure that she was fine and then reading her the riot act for her recklessness. He”d expected injuries, whining, and high maintenance requests. His annoyance had been riding high. The woman was just one more person he had to help because they didn”t have enough sense to stay home in weather like this and not enough respect for this forest and mother nature in general. If he were honest, his irritation had more to do with him having to leave his warm home, chili, and glass of whiskey to go on a wild goose chase.
And then he’d met his wild goose.
When he”d opened that driver”s door and she”d turned those gorgeous hazel green eyes up at him, with deep emotion and relief welling in her gaze, a part of him sparked to life—a part that had been buried beneath layers of scar tissue, heartache, and self-imposed isolation from the female of the species. In an instant, that unwavering resolve had melted when she”d burrowed her head into his chest, her innocent movement shooting straight to his heart.
He sighed, remembering the way his arms tightened around her as if he never wanted to let her go. It took everything he had not to run his hands over every part of her body searching for injuries, thread his fingers through those wavy, soft brown locks, and to rumble that she was safe, that he”d never allow anything to hurt her ever again. Thank god she had been so disoriented that she hadn”t noticed his response.
John stared up at the dark sky, watching the snowflakes swirling in the wind on their descent as if he were in the middle of an otherworldly snow globe. He”d always loved the first snow of the year, when it was all so fresh and clean. It hadn”t stuck around for months on end, turning gray with collected debris, or hardening into a glacier. Right now, it was still magical and beautiful, and there was more forecasted before the storm moved on.
What had previously been termed a brief early season winter storm, was now predicted to last through the night at the very least with an estimated six to eight inches of snow over the next twenty-four hours. The temperature had dropped faster than expected and the storm had slowed dramatically, increasing the snowfall amount.
As winter storms went, it wasn”t bad for this area, but it wasn”t something you wanted to drive around in. The timing couldn”t be worse, although John wasn”t sure if he was referring to the storm or to the intoxicating woman currently occupying his cabin. Probably both if he was honest with himself because it looked like they were stuck together for at least another day, maybe two until the roads were cleared.
John bit back a groan at the thought. She was heart-stoppingly lovely, smart, and shared his passion for the forest. In other words, tailormade to shatter his resolve and unleash his baser instincts.
Complicating things even further, there was the matter of her request for help. Her group”s mission was a noble one in his opinion, but there were many factors at play that could affect the outcomes of reforestation efforts, and to make a strategy blindly was difficult and irresponsible. Without the proper training and guidance, his recommendations would be a halfhearted effort at best.
No, the only way he could truly help them was to travel to the UK to see the grounds himself, and that he would never do.
A weight dropped on his foot and John looked down with a smile at Angus, who rested his head on John”s boot, telling him without words that he was ready to go back in where his bed lay cozy by the fire.
With a heavy sigh, John leaned over to give the dog”s ears a rub. ”Guess we better head inside, huh boy?”
A muffled “thwack” was his answer as Angus’ tail beat happily against the snow-covered wood. They could stay outside for only so long, especially with the temperature dropping as quickly as it was. But going inside meant dealing with her again, seeing her in his space, smelling her, wanting her.
”Come on. Let”s go in.” John turned, steeling his resolve to resist this woman, and more importantly, remain steadfast in refusing her request.