Page 7 of Hot Winter Nights (Bear Mountain Rescue 1)

Mrs. York squeezed his hands hard, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Thank you so much, Dr. Gracin.”

Then, to Hunter’s surprise, the trembling, mild-mannered Mrs. York turned t

o the man next to her and started raining blows across his head and shoulders. “You idiot! You almost got him killed!”

Hunter tried to intervene, but her little fists were too fast for him to grab. “Mrs. York, this is not the time—”

“Mary! I’m sorry. He wanted to come.”

Hunter lowered his voice to a soothing tone. “It’s all right. You don’t need to do that to your husband’s friend.” Hunter didn’t have a lot of experience consoling women, but her sniffles seemed to subside. As he tried to comfort Mrs. York, Allison chose that moment to walk by the waiting room, pause in the doorway, and stare at him.

Then, a smile stretched across her full lips, taking his breath away.

When she disappeared, Hunter wished he could extract himself and go after her, but he had to do his job.

What the hell did that smile mean?

Dex ordered another round the minute his best friend walked through the door of the Grizzly. The local pub had hardwood floors, cedar walls, oak countertops, and stools at the bar. It had the feel of a log cabin, complete with a big fireplace on the east wall. Locals usually avoided peak hours during tourist season, but after ten, out-of-towners went looking for livelier haunts than the laid-back Grizzly.

“Hey, buddy,” Hunter said, taking the stool next to Dex. “How did things go with that new tenant?”

Dex’s mouth thinned just thinking about Allie Fairchild and her ultimatum. “She’s a pain in the ass. Told me she wasn’t going to pay me any rent until I fixed up the place, since I’d misled her about its condition.”

Hunter whistled. “And you went for that?”

“My first reaction was to tell her to hop back into her little Jetta and get the hell off my property, but to tell you the truth, she wasn’t wrong in her reasoning.”

“So you’re really letting her squat in your cabin for weeks? Are you going to hire that contractor?”

“Hell, no, I’m not paying for something I can do myself. Little Miss Thang can enjoy her stay, because as soon as I get the place up to snuff, I’m going to renegotiate with a three-hundred-dollar rent increase.”

Penelope Davis set their beers down, smiling widely at Hunter. “Hey there. How was work?”

“It was good, Penny, thanks.” Hunter gave her his million-watt grin, and Dex almost gagged as Penny blushed. Ever since Hunter had moved to town, all the local women had started falling over themselves trying to catch his eye.

Not that there were very many. At least Penny was cute with her splash of freckles, bright blue eyes, and long dark-brown hair. Yet for some reason, Hunter didn’t seem interested in her.

When Penny went down the bar to help another couple, Dex nudged Hunter with his shoulder. “She likes you.”

“She’s a kid,” Hunter said.

“What are you talking about? She’s got to be in her twenties.”

“And I’m in my thirties, man. I’m looking for someone to settle down and have kids with, not a plaything.”

Dex sat back on his stool, staring at Hunter in surprise. “When did this happen?”

“When I turned thirty-four and realized that I wanted to do something more with my time than drink with you. I want to meet someone, get married and have a couple kids. You know, the whole ‘warm apple pie with a side of vanilla ice cream’ kind of life.”

Just thinking about that scenario made Dex break out in a cold sweat. He wasn’t against marriage, but he had a lot more oats to sow before he took the plunge. And he was only a year younger than Hunter.

“Anyone in particular you’ve got your eye on, then?” Dex asked.

“As a matter of fact, I met our new director, Allison Fairchild, and she is stunning.”

Dex choked on the swig of beer he’d just taken and barely managed to swallow before he had a loud coughing fit. Hunter slammed his hand between Dex’s shoulder blades. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Dex wheezed.

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