Teri Wilson - Sleigh Bell Sweethearts

She pushed the thought away. While she was hand-feeding him, it seemed cruel to even contemplate the notion of Palmer turning up on a menu somewhere.

The carrot rested on her open but somewhat shaky palm. Alec wrapped his fingers around her wrist and guided her hand to Palmer’s head. The reindeer pressed his muzzle against her palm. It felt like velvet against her bare skin.

She laughed. “It tickles.”

“Yeah, I guess it does.” Alec met her gaze for a split second then looked away and released her wrist.

Zoey cleared her throat and shoved her hand back in her glove. “Now what?”

“Now we take the escape artist for a walk.” He produced another carrot from his pocket and showed it to Palmer. “Come on, bud. There’s more where the other one came from, but you’ve got to get out of the way first.”

And just like that, Alec led Palmer off the runway and out of harm’s way.

He made it look so simple.

A cheer rose from the crowd of pilots, airport personnel and other onlookers who’d gathered around the frozen lake to witness the spectacle. Zoey had been so caught up in the drama, she hadn’t even noticed that half of Aurora had turned out to watch.

“Tell me that’s not a news crew,” she muttered under her breath.

“It’s not a news crew.” Alec chuckled. “Except that it is.”

She was mortified. How was she supposed to gain any credibility as a brand-new charter pilot when one of her reindeer had shut down the entire airport?

You won’t be a charter pilot if you can’t make the down payment on that plane...

Five days. More like four, now that the sun was setting. A full moon had already risen high in the pink Alaskan sky. The horizon was bathed in a soft lavender glow that made the mountains resemble icing on a cake. How lovely it would have looked from the cockpit of a plane.

Zoey’s eyes grew misty. What was she going to do? Palmer was under control for the time being, but it was a hollow victory. She still owed Alec a thousand dollars, and she still had thirty other reindeer to worry about. How was she ever going to afford all that, plus her airplane?

“You okay?”

Zoey glanced up at Alec, still leading Palmer around with a very literal dangling carrot. “A little overwhelmed, that’s all. It’s been a long day.”

“Keep your chin up. Everyone will forget about this in a day or two.” He kept his gaze glued to Palmer.

Zoey wasn’t sure if he was worried about the reindeer bolting, or if he felt as uncomfortable delivering a pep talk as she did to be on the receiving end of it. “Just so we’re clear, you’re officially un-fired.”

He let out a laugh. “You never fired me.”

Hadn’t she? She’d certainly meant to. “Yes, I did.”

“No, you didn’t.” He glowered at her. “I can take this from here. Don’t you have a pedicure to get back to or something?”

How on earth did he know about the pedicure? “I appreciate the concern, but my toes are fine.”

He gave her another look filled with blue-eyed ire. “Are you walking back with us, or will you be arriving via your private plane?”

Just how had he spent his afternoon off? Investigating her? “It’s not like you think. I’m not a spoiled heiress.”

He shrugged. “So you keep saying.” Zoey braced herself for another sarcastic sweetheart. It never came. She was almost disappointed.

She counted to ten before she did something stupid, like blurting out that he was fired again. Because clearly she needed him, as much as it pained her to admit it. By the time she got to five, they were engulfed in a throng of people. Zoey found herself with two television cameras and half a dozen microphones in her face. Everyone wanted a sound bite, something clever and quirky for the evening news. Because this was Alaska, where things like renegade reindeer made the front page—just one of the myriad reasons why she loved Aurora. She blinked against an assault of flashbulbs.

When her vision cleared, Alec and Palmer were nowhere to be seen.

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