When pilot Silas Burke flies a beautiful blonde into town, he thinks he has her all figured out from the jump. She’s a city girl who has no business in the rough Alaskan terrain. Silas decides against his better judgment to help Mia acclimate to life in Paradise after seeing her struggle. But he’s an impatient teacher and she’s a frustrated pupil—and nothing gets them more fired up than each other. Can these two polar opposites find common ground and let their hearts soar?
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Magnificent was the first word that came to Mia’s mind. If she was casting a model for a rugged, outdoors spread to attract women from far and wide, inspiring them to buy something for their own man from a new Lafayette wilderness clothing line, this would be her guy. There was a hint of irony in his half-smile, a hint of mischief in his blue eyes. He was fit and tall and confident enough to take on the wild. They’d make a fortune.
He looked her over from head to toe. Then he moved his attention to her luggage.
The five men rolled to their feet.
“Hey, Silas,” one of them said.
“Ricardo,” the man, obviously a pilot, and apparently named Silas, said in return.
“How’s it going?” another of the men asked Silas.
“Welcome back to the grind,” Silas said.
The other man grinned and nodded.
They all hoisted their backpacks and lifted their compact duffle bags to head for the door.
Silas, the pilot, stepped to one side, out of their way, while Mia sat down to wait.
“I take it you’re Mia,” Silas said.
She looked up, met his bright blue eyes and felt her chest tighten and her toes tingle in recognition of his sex appeal.
Yeah, she was a woman and she was alive, and he was a perfect specimen of a man.
Then it hit her. He knew her name.
“You’re here for me?” she asked. She’d thought he was here for those men.
“I’m from Paradise.”
“But?” She looked through the glass to where the five men trooped to a small airplane parked on the tarmac.
He waited.
“What about them?” she asked.
“We’re dropping them off.” He moved toward her, nodding at her luggage. “Raven didn’t tell you to pack light?”
Mia looked at her things. “This is light.”
“Lady, we’re getting into a Navajo PA-31 with five other passengers who, as you can see, are heavier than the average weight.” He picked her bags up one at a time, seeming to test them for weight. “They’re my paying cargo. You’re a ride-along.”
“I’m going with them?” Mia was still getting past that information.
Silas pulled her biggest roller-bag to one side. “You have to leave this behind.”
“What?” Was he insane?
“Becky?” he called over his shoulder. “Can you store this bag?”
“Sure,” the woman named Becky said.
“No!” Mia cried out.
Silas gave her a glare of impatience. “Okay, then these two.” He pointed to her garment bag and her carry-on.
“No way.” She shook her head. She could not leave her carry-on behind. “I’ll put this one on my lap.”
“It’s a weight issue, not space.”
“But . . .”
“Those two?” He pointed to her smaller roller-bag and the garment bag.
That was a bit better but still not doable.
Becky joined them, obviously waiting to see which bags she’d be storing in the FBO.
“There must be some other way?” Mia tried her ice-princess look, the one that usually got her what she expected. When that didn’t seem to move Silas, she changed her expression, hoping to appeal to his compassion. “Maybe one of those guys could . . .”
“Those guys are heading to a drilling camp for three weeks. They took exactly what they needed.”
Mia didn’t have an answer for that.
Silas folded his arms over his chest, his expression implacable. “I am not crashing the airplane so you can bring your makeup and evening gowns.”
“My . . .” She started to be affronted but then dialed it back. Okay, she had brought one dress that could be considered an evening gown. It was a gown, and she could wear it in the evening, not to a super-formal event, but surely to anything that happened in Alaska.
“You coming or not?” He looked fully prepared to leave her behind.
“Fine. But I have to rearrange a few things.”
Silas muttered something under her breath.
Before he could tell her no, Mia quickly crouched and unzipped her smaller roller-bag. She pulled out the essentials: panties, bras and nighties. It figured he’d have to get a look at her underwear. But that was the kind of day she was having.
About the Author
Photo Credit: CATHIE ARCHBOULD
Barbara Dunlop is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has published more than fifty novels. Her stories have ranged from lighthearted comedies to family sagas. Barbara is a four-time finalist for the RWA RITA award, and her Tule novel His Jingle Bell Princess has been optioned by Motion Picture Corporation of America for a Hallmark movie. Barbara resides in Yukon, Canada with her bush pilot husband. You can find her at www.barbaradunlop.com.
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