Stars Over Alaska (Wild River #4) - Jennifer Snow Page 0,1

the complete truth and there wasn’t time to get Unicorn before leaving town.” The star’s five-pound Chihuahua had been at the Posh Puppy Spa when they’d made their hasty exit out of LA.

Selena’s pinched expression revealed her annoyance had reached a breaking point, but she wiggled in the seat. “We’re not staying here, but I really have to pee, so here’s the plan. We go inside. I pee. Then we get the hell out of here before Jason shows up in a hockey mask and murders us.”

Leslie’s teeth clenched. She could accommodate the first two parts of that plan, but Selena was going to have to accept that they wouldn’t be leaving. Not until Leslie figured out what to do next. “Let’s go in,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll feel better once you see the inside.”

“Don’t count on it,” Selena muttered. She stared out the window. “How are we even supposed to get to the door?”

“Um...” Leslie glanced at their feet. Selena’s running shoes and her work shoes weren’t a match for the trek through three feet of snow.

No one had been to the cabin since the summer before; her sister, Katherine, habitually came here for several weeks a year to regroup. She claimed that the pleasant acoustics and being surrounded by the natural exposed wood helped her relax, get away from the stress of her job as a homicide detective with the Alaska state troopers’ office. Outside of that annual visit, no one in their family really used the cabin anymore. Not since their father died and the family dynamics became tense. And definitely not during the winter months when access to the cabin and outdoor activities was limited, hence the lack of maintenance.

Leslie knew the heat wouldn’t be turned on inside either and neither of them was dressed for Alaska weather, wearing only fall jackets and thin stretchy dollar gloves from the last gas station before they hit Alaska.

Admittedly, she hadn’t thought the logistics of this rushed decision through carefully...or at all. It was a heartbeat reaction to a dangerous situation. Her fight-or-flight instinct kicked into high gear and she’d chosen flight, unsure of what they were fighting against. Her training taught her that going in unprepared was always a disadvantage and she hadn’t wanted to put Selena in more danger, waiting it out in LA.

Selena’s gaze burned into hers. “Well?”

She wouldn’t panic or look unprepared to her client. Stay cool.

Leslie reached down to untie her boot. They had extra winter clothing and boots inside the cabin. They just needed to get there. “We’ll switch.”

“Gross. Absolutely not.”

“You think you can make it through the snow in those?” She nodded toward the bright pink-and-teal running shoes.

“Nope. So, I guess you’ll have to carry me to the door.”

This woman was officially out of her goddamn mind. “You want me to carry you?”

“Look, becoming a bodyguard was your life choice. Therefore, you signed up to protect my body—all of it, any way you need to. And if you want to do a traditionally man’s job...”

Jesus, they were back to this again. Selena’s disbelief and disappointment that she’d been assigned a female guard. For the first month on assignment, all she’d heard was Selena’s skepticism that Leslie could actually protect her in a life-and-death situation. Leslie’s credentials—five years as an Alaska state trooper, graduating third in her class at the academy, and her intensive twenty-eight-day protective detail training along with her black belts in jujitsu and karate hadn’t worked to ease the star’s mind. Leslie had learned to tune out the comments muttered under her breath and those said not so quietly when Selena was in a mood. If the star wanted reassurance that Leslie could do her job, this was her opportunity to prove it.

“How much do you weigh?”

“That’s rude.”

Leslie scanned her. Five foot six, but supermodel thin, she couldn’t be more than a hundred pounds. Unfortunately, Leslie wasn’t a heavyweight herself, but she was strong and determined and that beat size any day. Or at least that’s what she’d told herself repeatedly over the last seven years through the rigorous and demanding training whenever she’d been tempted to quit.

Leslie opened the door, pushing hard against the deep snow, then climbed out and trudged toward the passenger side. Wet snow fell into her boots and clung to the fabric of her jeans and the damp air chilled her. Snow started to fall and the big, thick flakes covered her thin jacket within seconds. She opened the passenger door and turned around,