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I laugh and spin off my stool, standing in front of him. Even while he sits, he’s bigger than me standing. “Mr. Laskin, I appreciate your dedication to bullshit, but I plan to annoy the hell out of you and your family until you follow the rules of the hunt.”
“When an animal becomes a menace, all means necessary should be used to take him down. That bear could’ve killed someone at the lodge on New Year's Eve.”
I hitch my hip and lay into the sarcasm. “Someone left the door cracked to the kitchen and thebear, who likes toeat, came to get somefood. It’s a bear. It didn’t get the rule book on what food was acceptable to eat and what wasn’t.”
Rowan stands, towering over me. Lord, he smells good, like he’s rolled in pine and cedar. “Right,” he grins, “and I suppose he didn’t get the memo about running into traffic, messing around in the trash, or that car he broke into last weekend…in broad daylight.There were children playing in the area. What would you feel if something happened to one of them?”
I huff and roll my eyes. “You know that would be terrible. All I’m asking is that you stay on the west side of the mountain and capture him. That’s why we called you guys. You’re supposed to be expert bear trappers.”
He closes his eyes and blows out a heavy breath before looking toward me again. “For the hundredth time, we need access to the entire mountain. You don’t govern everything. The landowners do.”
I know he’s right about some of that. “I can’t imagine anyone in town is giving you permission to hunt on their property.”
“People in town want us gone, so we’re getting a lot more cooperation than you’d think. Dad thinks he has the bear tracked over to the Keller property. If we can lure him out of the caves up there, we should be good to go, and we’ll be out of your hair in no time. What bone do you have to pick with us doing our job on private property, anyway?”
I laugh under my breath and stand from my stool. “You know who the Kellers are, right?”
“So far, they’ve been the most hospitable folks in town.”
“Yeah, well, I’d rethink that if I were you. Thomas Keller is the father of June… the girl your brother has been creeping on. Besides, are you sure the tracking evidence is real? I could see Mr. Keller as the kind of guy who’d mess with all of you. You know, hunting accidents happen all the time. Private land is a good place to teach a bunch of out of towners who are messing with his daughter a lesson.”
Rowan shakes his head. “You’re crazy. June is a nice girl, and my brother likes her. That’s all. And Mr. Keller is an honest farmer who doesn’t want an eight-hundred-pound grizzly on his property threatening his animals. The end. You should really get home and sober up. You’re starting to sound like one of those conspiracy theorists.”
I huff out a heavy breath. “Whatever you say. Just trying to help. I’ve lived up here my whole life. I know these people like the back of my hand.”
He stares down at me with dark brown eyes and a half smile. I want to slap it off his face and taste him all at once.
“Thanks for the help, princess. We’ve got this covered. Alaskans are some of the most private people on the planet. I can read a room.”
If he could really read a room, he’d know how badly I needed him to touch me right now.
“Don’t call me princess.”
“Queenie?”He laughs.
“How about you call me Bailey, consideringthat’s my name?Better yet, call me Ms. Barone.”
“Barone?That’s my buddy’s last name. Maybe you know him. He’s a cop in town. Geno Barone.”
My heart swells and sinks to the bottom of my stomach. “Your buddy? Geno Barone is your buddy?”
“One of my best buddies. We go way back. He used to bring his family out to Alaska for big game hunting before he took a position out here. Turns out, small town cops don’t get much of a break.”
“What? Why didn’t you ever visit?”
Rowan's heavy brows wrinkle. “Personal investment? You know this guy?”
I blow out a heavy breath. “He’s… my father.”
Rowan’s face contorts into various shapes before he finally speaks. “Your father?How is Geno your father? I’d remember you.”
“Yeah. Well… it’s really not important, is it? My father is a police officer in town and I’m the local game warden. So… you’re doing this hunt by my rules, Mr. Laskin.” I grab my jacket off the hook beneath the bar and pull it over my shoulders. “The end.”
I turn and walk toward the door, desperate to scrub this man from every fantasy I’ve been having.
He holds me by my arm. “What’s this really about?”
This is really about a lot of things, but I don’t say any of them. Instead, I laugh and pull my arm away from his grip.
