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“I’m sure,” he said firmly. “Just tell me what you need me to collect, and show me how to do it right.”
Relief spread through her. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this,” she told him. “I already owe you my life, and now you’re offering to do half of my job, too?”
He leaned over the table and covered her hand with his big, callused one. “Look, you’re hurt and need someone to help you out. I wanna do that.” He paused and stared deep into her eyes. “Holly, I want to take care of all your needs. Some girls want roses and diamonds and stuff like that from a guy who’s courting them.” His scarred face twisted into a wryly amused smile. “You want me to collect camera cards and bear shit. Hey, no problem.”
Her face grew hot. “Is that what you’re doing?” she asked, hardly able to believe it. “Courting me?” It was such a sweet, old-fashioned term.
Ice nodded. “You okay with that, Holly? You’re a really special woman, and I’m hopin’ you might be in the market for a, uh, boyfriend. Despite me being a shifter, and all.”
She stared at him, unable to believe her ears. This wasn’t just a fling? He wanted her as his girlfriend?
“Uh, sure. Right,” she stammered.
Smooth, Holls, real smooth, she told herself.
“I mean, um, yes, I’d be open to uh, considering you. As my boyfriend. Yeah.” Her cheeks burned as she stumbled to a halt.
Great. First, I step in a bear trap, and now I’m thrown for a loop by this gorgeous man telling me he’d like to date me. He must think I’m hopeless, she thought.
Ice’s smile widened into a grin. His incredible eyes glowed with a mixture of amusement and happiness. “So, we have a deal?”
“You have a deal,” she confirmed.
He extended his hand, and they shook on it. “Great. As soon as this storm passes, I’ll snowmobile over to your cabin and move your stuff over here. Want another waffle?”
She handed him her empty plate. “Yes, please!”
Still grinning, he took it, rose, and returned to the stove.
“So, I was wondering,” she began as he ladled batter into a big, old-fashioned metal waffle iron placed directly on top of a burner. “Besides your sister, how many other shifters are there in Bearpaw Ridge?”
His grin vanished. “I don’t get why you need all this information if you’re planning to keep the whole shifter thing secret, like you promised.”
I guess Grumpy Ice is back to stay. She sighed.
“I’m insulted that you think I’d break my word,” she protested. “Look, I’m a scientist, and this is probably the most exciting discovery I’ll ever make in my career. I need to know everything, even if I can’t tell anyone about it.”
He grunted and turned back to the waffle iron. He flipped it over to heat on the other side. “You really love your job, and that’s cool,” he said. “A lot of people out there just exist, you know? All they care about is their next paycheck.”
“Well, anyone in my field has to love the job,” she informed him. “Because it’s both underpaid and highly competitive. It also involves an awful lot of sitting around and waiting for animals to show up, plus those poop samples we’ve already talked about.”
Ice laughed. “Speaking of samples, should I be worrying about flushing the toilet really carefully?”
She loved his sense of humor, and the fact that he didn’t find her job threatening or weird. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on collecting any samples from you,” she reassured him. Then she added, “Though now you’ve put the idea in my head…”
“Don’t you dare,” he growled, slapping the plate with a freshly made waffle down in front of her. “Or I really will have to spank you!”
“Promises, promises,” she said, pouring a generous amount of huckleberry syrup. “What about you? You love your job, too, right?”
He shrugged. “It’s okay,” he said, clearly trying for casual. “Before you showed up, I was planning to leave the ranch and the restaurant in the new year.”
“Why would you do that?” She frowned, puzzled. “And what about your sister?”
“I figured it was time to move on and leave Becca to her happy-ever-after. Paul’s a good guy. He’ll protect her and make sure she’s happy.”
Hearing that made her feel sad. “And what about you, Ice?” she asked quietly. “Don’t you deserve to be happy?”
He shrugged again. She saw a flash of guilt and pain cross his face before the mask dropped. He handed the bowl of whipped cream across the table.
