Wild Men of Alaska 02 - Moosed-Up

button on her jeans and freed it.
    His mouth dropped open as she began a slow striptease out of her jeans, being careful as she peeled the material from the wound.
    “Get a move on,” she scolded. “I don’t want to bleed all over your kitchen.”
    Her tone, more than her words, snapped him out of his salacious, sexual fantasy.
    “Right.” He turned and exited the room, mentally slapping himself. Get a grip. She’s hurt, not looking for a hook-up.
    He returned to find her without her pants in the cutest, littlest pink panties he could remember seeing. He swallowed hard as the blood in his brain flowed south.
    “There you are.” She gestured toward the heavy toolbox he’d set on the counter. “This is a first aid kit?”
    He unclipped the latches and opened it up. “Yep, everything you could possibly need is in here.” He didn’t know how he spoke seeing all that creamy skin on display in his kitchen. All he needed to do was lift her up on that counter, and she’d be the perfect height for him to—
    “What do you use this for?” She held up a tranquillizer dart.
    “In case I need to put you down.” She didn’t laugh at his joke. The wrinkling of her forehead increased. “I’m the law enforcement officer for the Refuge,” he explained further before she thought he was a loon.
    “Huh.” She looked him up and down with what he hoped was renewed interest, her eyes taking their time traveling over his exposed chest. Guess, he should put a shirt on, but he might as well enjoy her examination. Packing on these muscles hadn’t come easy, and they didn’t come from a gym.
    “Where’s the mirror?” she asked, tearing her gaze away and studying the items he unpacked from the first aid kit.
    “Don’t have one.”
    “What do you mean you don’t have one? Everyone has a mirror.”
    He shrugged. He was a guy. What did she want from him? “There’s just the one over the sink in the bathroom.”
    She twisted, and her soft cotton blouse rose up to reveal a flat stomach. “How am I going to sew myself up?” she muttered to herself.
    He walked around to look at her backside. “Yep, that’s going to need stitches.”
    “I know that. Geez. I could tell by the amount of blood loss.”
    “Are you feeling faint?”
    “I’m a nurse practitioner. I don’t faint at the sight of blood.”
    “I meant from the loss of blood.”
    She gritted her teeth together. “Listen. I need a mirror so I can sew this closed.”
    “I can sew you closed.”
    “Seriously?” Her tone said differently.
    “Done it many times. What? You think since I live in a small village in Alaska that I don’t know how to do stuff?” He met her eyes. She did . His ego hit the floor. “Hell, woman. I live in Alaska. Have all my life. I can stitch on a button, sew up a cut, set a broken bone and cook my own dinner. Self-sufficient. Heard of it before?” Besides, not only was he a Fish and Wildlife Officer, he was a certified veterinarian. The injured had been coming to him before she’d arrived, four-legged and two-legged alike.
    “Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you.”
    “Right.” He huffed. “We haven’t had anyone manning that little clinic for years. How do you think we survived?” He answered for her. “We did for ourselves and each other. You want to fit in, you’d better adjust your attitude.”
    “I said I was sorry,” she muttered.
    Yeah, she was sexy as hell, but her attitude was down-right ugly.
    “Bend over,” he said.
    “Excuse me?” Her big blueberry eyes got even bigger.
    “So I can clean and sew this up. You’re bleeding all over my kitchen, and I just mopped my floor. Yeah, I know how to use a mop too.”
    She slowly leaned over the counter, bracing herself on her elbows, showing her ass off to its advantage. Since she’d gotten him so hot under the collar, he was able to see the wound objectively. Somewhat. She smelled good too. Like some hot house flower. Tropical with hints of heat. Heat that had his blood quickening a trail back down south. He did a better job of controlling his physical responses to her when she was running her mouth.
    “So what brought you here?” he asked.
    He thought he heard her mutter “stupidity” before she asked, “Could you keep me abreast of what you are doing as you do it? I don’t like surprises.”
    Good thing she didn’t have eyes in the back of her head, or she’d be surprised by the hard-on he sported. He’d never sewn someone up with a woody