Caribou's Gift Read Online Free PDF

but in the sub-zero temperatures, lugging a tired and hungry little girl? Ugh. Taxis weren’t exactly common out here. She could probably go back inside, though, and score a ride from someone.
    A tap on her window made her squeak.
    A familiar visage peered at her. “Need a lift?” Kyle asked.
    Pride or convenience?
    Minutes later, they’d transferred, Gigi, her booster seat, and Crystal to Kyle’s truck. While the warm cabin sure beat an arctic walk, it also made her uncomfortably aware of him. His scent. His maleness. His wicked smile. His conversation with her daughter.
    “So, sweetie, whatcha asking Santa for Christmas?”
    “I want the Lego Friends Mall.”
    Which at one hundred and thirty dollars wasn’t likely to happen. “Remember what I said, Santa can’t always get you exactly what you want.” With about fifty-six dollars saved, Crystal could get her daughter a smaller building set and a few items from the Dollar Store, but only if she managed to find a sitter for Gigi and hitch a ride to a bigger town over the next few days, else she’d have to make do with whatever their local shops had in stock.
    “I know, Mama. Santa does his best,” said Gigi, with all the exasperation a child could manage who’d heard a speech one too many times. “I just hope he can find me without Rudolph to guide his sleigh.”
    Crystal almost grinned as Kyle stiffened. Nothing like having the cutest little girl on earth inadvertently guilt a man.
    It didn’t take long for them to reach their home. “This is the place,” Crystal announced, and Kyle pulled his truck against a snowbank by the curb.
    Home sweet home. Not much, an apartment over a book store that she got rent free in return for working evenings a few nights a week. The owner, an old lady, was friends with the Alpha’s grandmother. Between that and the pittance she earned from Reid for managing the parade—which she personally called charity, but he called a business deduction—she was managing to stay afloat, but she’d need a steadier, better paying job if she wanted to get ahead.
    “Thanks for the ride.” Crystal unbuckled Gigi before sliding out of the passenger side. Standing on the ground, she held out her arms and lowered her daughter before she turned to reach back in for the booster seat.
    Kyle’s hand stayed hers. “Might as well leave it for the morning.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Your car’s broken, and you’ll need a ride. So what time am I picking you up?”
    “We usually get there around nine a.m. but—”
    “Nine? That’s practically the crack of dawn.”
    “Dawn’s currently later than that.”
    “Still. It’s early.”
    “Then don’t come. We’ll manage fine on our own.”
    “No, you won’t because I’ll be here. At nine.” He flashed her a smile as he leaned over to snag the passenger side door. She moved out of the way as he pulled it shut.
    Only after he pulled away did she think to say, “Don’t bother.” But it was too late.
    Too late for a few things, such as stopping the hero worship in a certain little girl’s eyes. “Isn’t Kyle great, Mama? He’s a knight.”
    “Oh really?” She would have termed him more a rake.
    “He’s going to save me from bad guys.”
    If only he could, little one. Especially pesky ones, she thought with irritation as her phone vibrated, again, against her hip. “Come on, munchkin, let’s feed you before you turn into a dragon he needs to slay.” To the sound of her daughter’s giggles, they went inside.
     
    The next day Crystal didn’t hold out much hope that Kyle would show up at nine. She’d noticed him arriving at parade central a touch before noon the day before with the look of a man who’d recently rolled out of bed.
    Alone or not?
    None of her business. It didn’t stop her from wondering, though.
    Just like she wondered why she couldn’t stop thinking of him, or noticing his every move. She could have sworn every hair on her body rose the moment he’d entered