Jack and Pete shared a crafty smile and gave each other a low fist bump. Gideon turned Kennadee in his arms, trying to prevent her from seeing their conspiring fathers. The last thing he needed was for Kennadee to realize their dads had a hand in their romance.
Now if only he could figure out a way to get rid of everyone so that he could be alone with the woman he loved to distraction.
“All right, everyone,” Kennadee addressed the crowd. “You need to get Ryder home, and I need time alone with my fiancé. So, get.”
Amid half-hearted grumbles, they filed out, taking a crutch-walking Ryder with them, and Gideon was left blessedly alone with Kennadee.
“I’m in badly need of a shower,” she said with a twinkle in her green eyes.
“And I’m in badly need of getting you naked,” he replied. “After all, I should examine you thoroughly to make sure you didn’t sustain any injuries.”
“Well, then, isn’t it nice that we’re on the same page. Plus, playing doctor does appeal to me in the naughtiest way.”
She took his hand and led him into his studio apartment where they proceeded to start their new life together. A life Gideon knew would be fraught with delicious tension and constant risk.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
THE END
Continue reading for a preview of Wild Card the fourth book in the Alaska Wild Nights Series, featuring Zoe Wilde and Alaska State Trooper Trip Hunter.
Preview of Wild Card (Alaska Wild Nights Book 4)
Prologue
“This can’t be good,” Avery Dawson said, setting down two beers in front of Jack Wilde, Heartbreak’s notorious matchmaking father, and Vance Hunter, retired state trooper and celebrated true crime author. “What are you two up to?”
“Now, why is it, Dawson, every time you see me in the Pump House, you think I’m up to something?” Jack asked, his tone innocent enough, but he couldn’t do anything about the crafty twinkle in his eyes that he knew gave him away.
“Because you are.” Avery glanced from Jack to Vance. “You aren’t seriously thinking of setting up Zoe with Trip, are you?”
Vance shifted on his seat, looking guilty, the leather of the booth squeaking under him. “You have to admit. Those kids would make a great pair.”
“Zoe’s only nineteen,” Dawson said.
“She’s almost twenty,” Jack tried to justify. “I was nineteen when I married my lovely Nicola and she’d just turned eighteen. Love isn’t constrained by age. And besides, my Wild Card has always been older than her years.” His expression darkened, remembering why. Losing her mother at the young age of nine forced her to grow up way too soon. His children had seen such heartache, watching their mother fade away day by day, suffering each and every one of those days, until it was more a relief when she’d finally given up the fight and let her spirit fly into the ether. He missed her every minute since she’d been forced to leave him.
“This might be your hardest challenge yet,” Avery said. “Trip looks at Zoe like a little sister. Then there’s the fact that he’s best friends with Ryder and Dare. No man worth his salt would dare poach on the younger sister of his best friends.”
“Wait a doggone minute.” Luke Waterman turned around in the neighboring booth. “Zoe is dating my boy.” Luke slid his considerable frame from the booth and planted himself next to Avery, towering over Avery’s height of six-two. “If you’re playing matchmaker—and I have to commend you, Jack, with what you’ve pulled off with Sorene, Cat, and Kennadee—who ever thought that one would settle down, am I right? —” He elbowed Avery, “—is the stuff of legends, but I have hope my son will drag that little girl of yours to the altar. He’s completely smitten with her.”
Jack frowned. “Zoe and Derek are dating?” This was the first he’d heard of it. He thought they were just friends.
“On and off. I don’t want to say anything bad about your girl, there, but she does tend to string men along.”
“That she does,” Jack agreed. Another reason he needed to find a man worthy of her. Hopefully, if she fell in love, love would help her to focus on what was really important to her, rather than giving into her impulsiveness at every turn.
“Hey,” Vance said. “Trip is the ideal man for Zoe, not Derek. Derek is still a boy.”
“You did not just say that,” Luke said, narrowing his eyes.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Vance said quickly. Luke had a reputation of bashing heads to get his point across. “Just that, haven’t Zoe and Derek been more like friends most of their lives?”
“Sure have,” Luke said. “They’re the same age, have a ton of things in common. Why, I heard that Derek is even helping Zoe on her little project.”
That little project had been a bone of contention with him. Zoe had taken over her sisters’ bedrooms, even going so far as installing locks on the doors to keep the curious members of the Wilde Clan out, which meant most of them, until she was ready to reveal what she was up to.
“Jack, here, just said that love isn’t constrained by age,” Luke continued, “which I totally agree with. Been married to the missus since we were twenty-one, and still going strong with thirty years under our belt. I’ve got a brood of five kids to prove it. How many do you have, Vance?”
“Hey, that’s not fair. The amount of kids a man has doesn’t have any bearing on his marriage. Right, Jack?”
“Well…” Jack began hoping to smooth over the conversation, but then he was the father of seven, beating Luke’s five, and Vance had been married twice and divorced twice with only Trip to show for the unions.
“Jack,” Avery said. “You, my future father-in-law, have a problem.”
Didn’t he know it. Two suitors vying for Zoe. Oh, boy. He knew she’d be a challenge, but he’d never considered this.
“There’s no problem here,” Vance blustered. “Trip is the right man for Zoe.”
Luke puffed his chest out like a penguin. “We’ll just have to see about that. My money is on my boy beating out yours.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Vance said.
Jack brought his beer up to his mouth and drank deeply.
Figuring out the right suitor for his Wild Card’s heart was going to be the trickiest poker hand he’d ever played.
Wild Fire (Alaska Wild Nights Book 4) will be available on May 25th, 2018 and now available for preorder on Amazon.
About the Author
USA Today Beset Selling Author Tiffinie Helmer is always up for an adventure. Raised in Alaska, she was dragged “Outside” by her husband, but escapes the lower forty-eight to spend her summers in Alaska as often as she can get away with it.
A wife and mother of four incredible kids (now adults) and four furry babies, Tiffinie divides her time between enjoying her family, throwing her acclaimed pottery, and writing of flawed characters in unique and challenging situations.
To learn more about Tiffinie and her books, please visit www.TiffinieHelmer.com
Also by Tiffinie Helmer
Alaska Wild Nights Series
Wild Heart - Book 1
Wild Cat - Book 2
Romance on the Edge Series
Edge - Book 1
Hooked - Book 2
Shiver - Book 3
Death Cache - Book 4
Romance on the Edge Bundles
Romance on the Edge - Bundle One (Edge & Bearing All)
Romance on the Edge - Bundle Two (Impact & Hooked)
Romance on the Edge - Bundle Three (Moosed-Up & Shiver)
Romance on the Edge - Bundle Four (Death Cache & Dreamweaver)
Wild Men of Alaska Novellas
Wild Men of Alaska Bundle
Impact
Moosed-Up
Dreamweaver
Bearing All
Wild Women of Alaska
Wild Women of Alaska Bundle
Reel Trouble
Bushwhacked
Fireweed
Icebreaker
Topl
ess Club Series
Topless - Book 1
Heartless - Book 2
Short Stories
Bait
Mooseletoe
Acknowledgments
Wild Fire Page 11
