Page 25 of Tempted To Be Mine

The walk to the main lodge was beautiful. The snow sparkled under the lights. The air smelled like pine and woodsmoke and clean. Pure. Crisp. Lucy looked like she was marching to her own execution.

“You doing okay?” I asked.

“I’d rather not talk right now. I don’t want any cold air in my lungs.”

We reached the main lodge and I pulled open the heavy wooden door, ushering her inside. A wall of heat and the smell of food greeted us.

Lucy made a sound that was almost obscene. “Oh, thank God.”

The lodge’s main room was everything the photos had promised. Massive timber beams overhead. A stone fireplace that took up most of one wall, flames dancing behind a metal grate. Comfortable furniture arranged in clusters, inviting people to sit and stay a while.

I spotted Sebastian across the room, already deep in conversation with one of the photographers. He caught my eye and waved us over toward a set of double doors that led to what I assumed was the dining hall.

“What do you think they’re serving for dinner?” she asked in a low voice.

“Food, presumably.”

“But what kind of food?” She leaned in. “This is Alaska, Jeremy. What if it’s like… moose burgers? Or bear meat tacos?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Bear meat tacos? Lucy, what do you think this place is?”

“I don’t know! It’s the wilderness! People eat weird things in the wilderness! I heard they eat whale blubber.”

“This is a luxury lodge, not a survival camp. I promise they’re not going to serve you anything you have to wrestle first.”

She didn’t look convinced. “You don’t know that.”

“I’m pretty confident.”

We made our way through the double doors and into the dining hall. It was smaller than the main room but just as impressive. A long wooden table dominated the space, set for about twenty people. Candles flickered between place settings. The far wall was mostly windows, offering a view of the frozen lake and the mountains beyond.

The crew was already filtering in, finding seats and making small talk. Bernadette, Sebastian’s wife and our safety coordinator, scanned the room like she was already cataloging potential hazards. The woman never stopped working.

The three female models from the shoot were clustered together near the middle of the table. One of them caught my eye and smiled. I nodded politely and kept moving.

The photographers had claimed seats near the windows, probably already planning shots based on the view. Their assistants hovered nearby, looking eager and slightly nervous. First big shoot jitters. I remembered that feeling.

Lucy and I found seats toward the middle of the table, close enough to Sebastian to be polite but far enough that we wouldn’t have to make constant conversation. She shrugged off her parka and unwound her scarf, finally revealing the pretty pink sweater she’d bought during our shopping trip.

The lodge staff began bringing out food. I watched Lucy’s face transform from suspicious to surprised to almost disappointed as platter after platter hit the table.

Fresh, beautifully prepared salmon that smelled incredible. Crab cakes with some kind of citrus aioli. Roasted vegetables. Mashed potatoes. Crusty bread with butter.

Normal food. Delicious food. Not a single bear in sight.

“This looks amazing,” Lucy admitted, already reaching for the salmon.

“Told you.”

“I was prepared for the worst.”

“You’re always prepared for the worst. That’s your default setting.”

She loaded her plate with crab cakes and potatoes, finally relaxing into her chair. The warmth of the room, the food and the wine was all working its magic. The tension in her shoulders started to ease. I was just about to declare victory when I spotted it.

A small platter at the far end of the table, slightly separate from the main dishes. Dark, coiled links of something that definitely wasn’t regular sausage. There was a small sign indicating what it was.

“Hey, Lucy,” I said, keeping my voice casual. “Check out what’s down there.”