Taming Alaska (So Not Prince Charming Book 1) Read Free Page A

spits out a mouthful of beer. “Fuck,” he mutters under his breath. He’s so flustered he tips over a water glass, yet saves it before hardly any spills.
    When he looks at me, like I just contracted herpes, I want to crawl under the table, but instead, I sit up straighter. He started this or maybe I did, but he joined right in.
    Mrs. Duncan eyes grow wide at his obscenity and maybe for Shane hitting on me. She obviously has never listened to Trevor’s filthy mouth.
    My chest is damp from Shane’s beer, and he stares at my breasts with a dazed expression. He reaches for the napkin that never made it to his lap and dabs at the beer coating my chest. When he realizes what he’s doing, he mumbles, “Shit.”
    I’ve completely discombobulated a fully-grown man, so I’m enjoying this, except for the fact he wants to ignore me now.
    I smile at him, and he almost loses the beer he’s clutching. Mom purses her lips to stifle her giggling.
    “Why did you lead me on?” he whispers into my ear. “I could go to jail for grabbing your ass.”
    “Not to mention touching my boobs, and you groped my butt on purpose?”
    He snarls. “I’m not that much of a klutz, and I’m fast.”
    “Maybe you should slow down because that’s not a suitable quality in a man,” I shoot back. I know from experience now. My chin juts out because I’m no longer a virgin. I’m a woman.
    “Not at that, you little tease. I should take you over my knee, like I used to do with my younger sister.” Anger laces his words at being duped.
    I glare at him, though a twisted grin works its way into my lips. I enjoy messing with him. “You’re not man enough.”
    “Trust me, Princess, I most certainly am.”
    I swallow hard, not just at the palpable carnal tension between us but the contempt setting deep ridges into his brow. He’s really mad.
    It was just harmless flirting. “Get over it,” I say, pouting because now he won’t even look at me.
    Mom cuts off our dispute by standing and introducing the board members and Shane as the entrepreneur of the year. He has some sort of foreign communication service, which I barely listen to because he’s ignoring me. That brings a triumphant smile to Fay’s pink lips.

Chapter Two
    Cyn
    Early the next morning, Mom and I drive to Albuquerque because Mom wants to illegally collect wild flowers and cacti for her garden along the way. With the radio cranked to my favorite country station, we drive for hours listening to the music. I inhale the sagebrush and desert flowers, and the hot, dry air flows over my arm hanging out the window.
    Given the Mercedes’s top is down, the sun beats on us and also bathes the desert in its lemony glow. On the distant horizon, lightning arcs in the clouds in jagged spears, splashing light against the dark grey. Storm clouds stack onto each other, like black beetles dog piling.
    Mom points at the sky. “It’s magnificent, isn’t it? Let’s stop to eat in New Mexico, so we can watch the storm roll in.”
    I sigh, breathing in the scent of rain, even though it’s far off in the distance. “Sounds good.”
    “Oh, see those?” she asks excitedly, pointing at the blossoming desert daisies.
    Under her direction, I drive off onto a dirt road into the desert toward a patch of white wildflowers. Before getting out of the car and opening the trunk, she glances around, probably for rangers or cops. I don’t know why it’s illegal to pick weeds.
    I slide out and help her grab a flowerpot and hand trowel. I kneel down beside her to carefully dig the desert chicory from the earth. After donning her gardening gloves, Mom scoops out the daisy and places it into the pot.
    “Isn’t it lovely?” she coos.
    The simplest things give her such great joy. This trip is as much for her as it is for me. I needed the break from all the drama involving Trevor. Teasing Shane was enjoyable, especially the memory of his touch searing my skin.
    Before we get into the car, she stops, wiping