“Humble, ain’t he?” Vince turned and stole a chicken wing off a nearby platter.
“What was Dad saying to you before he ran off to hide?”
“Oh, no. Don’t make me sing like a bird.” Vince licked sauce off his fingertip.
“C’mon. What’s he got planned?”
“Can’t say. Won’t say.” Vince finished off his chicken wing, wiped his hand on a napkin, and headed for the door. “I gotta find Vi.” He turned to me. “Alanna, glad you’re around. Dale here was turning into the male equivalent of an old spinster. He substituted a bunch of dogs for cats, but the story’s the same.”
“Get out of here, man.” Dale cuffed Vince on the shoulder.
“How long have you two been friends?” I asked after Vince left the kitchen.
“Since he moved next door to my parents’ house when I was six. Moving truck pulled up. He jumped out of the cab. Instead of going to his new house, Vince stalked up my parents’ walkway and sat next to me on the front steps. ‘I’m Vince,’ he said. ‘I’m Dale,’ I said, and that was that.”
“Boys have it so easy,” I said as Dale led me through the kitchen toward the little office. “Girls don’t connect that fast. We have to size each other up first, test it out, try on each other’s clothes and shoes.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“It is. My best friend though was like you and Vince. When I started at
Gaia
, Meg came into my cube and told me we were going to be friends.”
“She told you?”
“Yep. Meg’s a little…bold.” The best word I knew to describe her. She didn’t fade into the background. She didn’t take any shit. She didn’t loan out her shoes. You had to love her anyway.
“She’s expecting you back in New York then, huh?” Dale stopped in front of the office door.
“She’d come all the way over here to drag me back probably,” I said, meeting Dale’s gaze.
He exhaled a long breath and knocked on the office door. I wanted to pull back on liking him so much, but it was damn near impossible. Dale had managed to unlock the closed doors inside of me. Now that they were open, I didn’t want them sealed.
“Come in,” Ram hollered from the other side of the door.
“Why exactly are you talking to Vince in secret and hiding from me in here?” Dale asked a guilty-looking Ram as soon as the door opened.
Ram skirted around him to catch me in a bear hug. “Alanna. So good to see your pretty face around here again.”
“Can’t keep me away from those chicken wings, Ram.” I kissed him on the cheek.
“Dad,” Dale said again. “Look at me.”
Ram stiffened next to me but turned to look at his son.
“What are you up to?”
“Nothing. Ironing out a few details for the award presentation. That’s all. Honest.” Ram looked at Dale with innocent eyes. “A father wants everything to be perfect for his famous son. Is that a crime?”
“No, but I know you. You tend to overdo things.” Dale rested his hands on his hips.
“Me? Aw, c’mon.”
“He’s proud of you,” I said.
“Yeah,” Ram added.
“Whose side are you on, Alanna?” Dale shot me a sideways glance as his eyebrow arched playfully.
“I’m on the side of whichever one of you gets me a drink.”
“Bye, Dad.” Dale ushered me out of the office.
“Stay close,” Ram called. “Chicken wings are on the way.”
****
Sangria in hand, Dale led me back to the table where his sister’s family was seated. The boys were elbow deep in wings, barbecue sauce painted across each of their faces and all of their fingers.
“Sit here, Alanna. Please?” Noah looked at the seat between him and one of his brothers.
“Excuse me,” I said to Dale. “I’ve got an invitation to sit with that handsome boy over there.”
Dale shot Noah a glare and plopped his braced fist into his other hand as if he were warming up to give the kid a beating. Noah giggled and rested his head on my arm when I sat beside him.
“You wait, Noah.” Dale took a seat across from me. “When you least expect it…” He held up a fist again, which lost its impact due to his dimples.
“Stop threatening my children,” Selia said as she breezed by and sat next to her husband.
“Yeah,” Jake chimed in. “That’s my job. Although, Selia, I have to say Noah is asking for it.”
“Finally.” Dale threw up his hands. “Someone who sees what the little rat is doing.”
“Don’t worry, Dale,” I said. “There’s enough of me to go around.”
“Dale’s always had a problem with sharing.” Selia patted her brother’s hand on the table. “He’s the baby, you know.”
He grinned at me from across the table as he picked up his beer. Mick hopped from his seat and climbed into Dale’s lap.
“Where’s Gypsy, Uncle Dale?” Mick said.
“She’s keeping watch on all the other dogs at home. Why? Do you miss her?”
All three boys yelled a hearty, “Yeah!”
“I’ll let her know.”
“Can you bring her over on Sunday?” Riley asked.
“By the way,” Selia began, “do you want to come for dinner on Sunday?” She gave Riley a stern look.
“Sorry, Mama,” he said.
“It’s okay, baby.” She ruffled Riley’s hair. “So, how about it? Alanna, you too.”
I looked at Dale over the rim of my glass, and he looked back at me expectantly as did three pairs of little brown eyes. “I’m game. Thank you, Selia.”
“No, thank you,” she said. “Finally, another woman will be around. Do you know what it’s like having to hang around with this crew of manly men?” She flung her hand out indicating Dale, her husband, and her boys. “Not to mention Dad and Uncle Jerry too. A gal can only take so much.”
Jake leaned over and kissed Selia on the cheek. “Aw, stop. You love us all to pieces.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Selia rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the love she had for all those men in her life. She had a wonderful family.
One that was surrounding me and sucking me in like quicksand.
Satiated by wings and sangria, I sat back in my chair and took a good look at the assembled crowd. In addition to Dale’s relatives and Vince, I had been introduced to several of his elementary school, high school, and college teachers, all of whom had praised Dale as a model student. I met his Boy Scout troop leader, who claimed he taught Dale everything he needed to know about surviving in the wild. The fire chief told a story of Dale rescuing a kitten from a rabbit snare, and the family doctor remembered every stitch and broken bone he had tended.
Everyone I met knew Dale. I mean, really
knew
him. It made me realize how impersonal a city like New York could be. I could walk down the street back home and not know or make eye contact with anyone. Dale couldn’t do the same in Fairbanks. And it wasn’t because he had won the Iditarod. These people gathered in Ram’s Den knew him long before his win. Knew him and loved him.
I didn’t stand a chance.
“There’s that dopey grin again.” Dale slid into the seat that Noah had abandoned.
“I’m enjoying myself.” I tilted my head to look at him.
He pressed a warm kiss to the back of my hand, and its power shot to my hidden depths.
“I can’t wait to take you home with me tonight,” he whispered into my ear as he traced its edge with his thumb.
I swept my gaze around the immediate vicinity. Selia and Jake had taken the boys to the restroom in an attempt to “de-sauce” them, which left Dale and I alone at our table.
“Who said I was going home with you tonight?” As if I had a choice. If he kept caressing my ear, I’d be begging him to take me home.
“I don’t know about you, but I slept like crap last night without you in my bed.” Dale slid his hand down my neck and shoulder, along my arm, and rested it on my thigh under the table. “I missed you.”
“When you say shit like that, I have to go home with you.” I poked him in the chest.
“All part of the plan, Gaia-girl.” Dale kissed my cheek. “I can’t wait to have you naked beneath me, calling my name, wanting more.” He breathed the words into the curve of my neck, and if his friends and family weren’t in the tavern, I would have stripped down naked right there on the spot and surrendered to him. My body itched to have his fingers combing over me.
“My room at Moose Point is nice, but it’s missing the perks your house offers.”
Dale looked to his hand still on my thigh. “If you packed your stuff and stayed with me until you have to…you know, leave, we could get more time in together. I don’t want to pressure you, but this whole thing between us, whatever it is, has a time limit on it. I don’t want to waste possible moments with you if I don’t have to. I’m selfish like that.”
He pulled his hand off my leg and fiddled with the brace on his other hand. He was so damn adorable, I wanted to tear into him. Reaching over, I lifted his chin with my index finger. When his eyes met mine, they were so green, so deep. I opened my mouth several times to reply, but everything about him distracted me. The coppery stubble around his mouth and chin. The seductive curve of his lips. The broad, yet welcoming span of his shoulders. All of it was perfect, and he was offering all of it to me.
“Would there be more blueberry syrup in the mornings if I stayed with you?”
“There would be anything your heart desired if you stayed with me,” Dale replied.
“Anything?” My heart pumped a little faster as I thought of the possibilities.
“Anything. I aim to please.”
“Count me in then.” More of Dale wouldn’t be too much of a burden. It’d be more like a dream. “I do have to get my article done though.”
“Sure, sure. No problem. I can stay out of your way while you’re working and be completely in your way when you’re not.”
The devilish smirk on his face made my pulse explode in my veins. I scanned the room, looking for the doctor I’d met earlier. Surely the human body couldn’t be this turned on all at once.
“Attention! Attention!” Ram’s voice boomed over the microphone he had set up along the far wall of the tavern.
“Oh, boy,” Dale said. “Here we go. C’mon.” He tugged at my sleeve. “I think we can still sneak out without anyone noticing.”
I swatted his hand away. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re going to accept the praise and adoration of everyone here tonight. I know it won’t be easy, but you’ll manage.”
The dimple in his cheek flashed. “You don’t know the embarrassment my father is capable of conjuring here.”
“All the more reason for
me
to stay and watch.” I laughed at Dale’s attempted frown. “C’mon. You deserve attention.”
“I want attention. Your attention.” Dale drummed his fingers on his knee. His other foot tapped against the floor to an unheard rhythm.
“Wait a minute.” I grasped his wrist to stop his movement. “Are you nervous?”
His whole body went still as he sat straighter in his chair. “Nervous? No, I’m not—”
“Yes, you are. This is something I didn’t expect. Mr. Iditarod doesn’t like public recognition.” Around us, people took their seats and quieted down. Ram waited at the microphone with the governor at his side.
“I like it fine.” Dale’s foot tapped again. “I can’t trust Dad to not blabber on and on though.”
“About you,” I said. “You can’t trust him not to put the spotlight on you.”
“He’s going to put the spotlight on me.” Dale exhaled. “And I’m only nervous because he didn’t run his plans by me. I don’t know what to expect. He could have a slideshow of baby pictures ready for all I know.”
“That would be wonderful. I’ll bet you were adorable.”
“Not helping, Alanna,” he whispered with a half-smile. “Not helping at all.”
“I’ll help you plenty later,” I whispered back. “Help you out of your sweater, your pants, your underwear. Help you into bed, into me…”
Dale pushed his chair closer to mine and draped his arm around my shoulders. “I’m going to hold you to that promise of help.” He twirled a finger around the end of my hair and nipped at my ear.
“A huge thank you to all of you for coming out tonight to celebrate with us,” Ram began, causing Dale to shift away from me and pay attention. Ram’s eyes were twinkling with pride as he stood in front of the microphone. “As you all know my one and only son, Dale, is this year’s Iditarod winner.”
Thunderous applause echoed throughout the tavern, and Dale stood to bow to the crowd. Laughter sifted into the applause, and it was easy to see why they loved him. Clean cut, as Vince had said. Humble as well as humorous. Gentle and passionate. All of those contained in one outstanding package.
“C’mon up here, son,” Ram said, his face bright with pride.
Dale weaved through the tables until he came to stand next to his father. Though their coloring differed, the way the two of them stood was identical. Strong legs, long and solid, spread apart about hip distance. Arms folded across their chests, chins level in confidence. Eyes making contact with various faces in the tavern, lips curling with humor.
A chorus of “Uncle Dale” from Mick, Riley, and Noah rose in volume as the clapping subsided. More laughter and pointing to the adorable triplets followed until the crowd finally settled down for Ram to continue.
“Not only is Dale the winner, he’s also the youngest Iditarod winner to date. A monumental accomplishment at any age, Dale has achieved it sooner than any of his predecessors. Finishing in record time with no injuries to his dog team, he has only himself to beat next year.”
Another round of uproarious applause rode on Ram’s words. Dale nodded in appreciation, a flush on his perfect cheeks. Though he didn’t seem nervous, he wasn’t entirely comfortable being in the limelight and listening to his father’s praise either. The modesty only made him more attractive. Once we got to his house tonight, I was going to attack him. There’d be no stopping me. Not that Dale would try.
“In honor of Dale’s accomplishment and with the help of Dale’s Iditarod sponsors, we here at Ram’s Den are going to be expanding.” Ram let that news sink in.
Murmurs of surprise flitted amongst the patrons, and Dale looked as if it were the first he’d heard about such plans.
“I’ve kept this tidbit hush-hush until now,” Ram continued. “But…” He pointed to Vince who stood by a covered easel.