“Stalker much?” I said, still gasping for breath. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Thorin frowned. “I assure you that wasn’t my intention.”

“Well, clear your throat or scuffle your feet next time. Give a girl a clue before you walk up and scare the bejeezus out of her.”

“If I could slip up on you, so could anyone else. You should be more careful.”

“I don’t think you’re trying to threaten me, but it’s kind of hard to tell.”

If sharks could laugh, then they probably sounded a lot like Thorin when he chuckled at me. “If I was threatening you, you would know it.”

“You might have a point, Mr. Thorin, but I sure don’t like the way you’re going about making it. What are you doing here anyway?”

Thorin gestured to the building behind us. “This is my store.”

“I know that, but why are you lurking around outside in the dark?”

“My store, my business. I should ask the same thing of you.”

I smiled a saccharine smile. “I’m not lurking. I was dropping Skyla back at her bike. We went out together. Girls’ night.”

“And you made plans to go fishing? How feminine of you.”

“Women’s lib, ever hear of it?”

Thorin snorted and changed the subject. “I saw that you finished the stockroom. Give me your hours, and I’ll cut you a check.”

“Keep your money. Think of it as a gesture of…” I was going to say friendship, but Thorin didn’t strike me as the type to need a buddy. “Goodwill.”

Thorin started to say something, but my phone rang. I checked the caller I.D. “It’s Val.”

Thorin motioned toward the phone. “Well, then, by all means.”

“Hello?” I said, trying to sound chipper despite the unsettling company.

“Solina? Where the hell are you?” Urgency and worry permeated Val’s tone. “Tell me you’re all right.”

“I’m fine,” I said. Thorin stiffened and leaned closer to the truck. “What’s going on?”

“Where are you?” Val asked again.

“I’m at the store. I just dropped Skyla off. We went out.”

“Are you by yourself?”

I looked at Thorin, who returned my stare and raised an eyebrow. “No, actually. Thorin is here.”

“Good. Stay with him until I get there.”

“What’s going on?” The breathless feeling Thorin had given me a few moments ago returned. “Is something wrong?”

“Stay there, Solina. I’ll tell you everything when I get there.”

“No, Val, tell me now.” Too late. He had hung up.

“Is there a problem?” Thorin asked.

“Apparently. He wouldn’t tell me what it was about. He said to stay here and wait for him.”

Thorin nodded. “Come on then. Let’s wait for him inside.” He led me behind the store and punched in a code to unlock the doors and disarm the security. I expected him to take me to his office or the break room, but he showed me to a set of stairs leading to an apartment over the store. The steps ended at a landing that opened into a kitchen.

The absence of knickknacks and clutter gave the place a sterile feeling and suggested no one lived there full-time. “Is this your place?”

“No,” Thorin said. “It was storage space when I bought the store. I had it refurbished into an apartment.”

“But if no one lives here…” I said, not understanding the point of such a space.

Thorin pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, giving the impression he would have preferred I sit silently and not ask questions. “I use it on occasion. When I need to stay late or be here early to meet a group. Sometimes I rent it to clients when hotels are booked up with tourists, or when unexpected weather changes travel plans at the last minute. Empty apartments have a way of coming in handy.”

“So, I guess that means you don’t live nearby?”

Thorin grimaced at me before turning to the cabinets. “Would you care for coffee?”

Not a fan of personal questions, I see. “Sure, if you don’t mind.”

“If I minded, I wouldn’t have offered.”

A smarmy response burned on my tongue, but I held it back. At best it would start a petty verbal battle. At worst, Thorin would dismiss me as childish. Not that Thorin’s opinion of me mattered, but he was decent enough to let me hang out in his store after hours and make coffee for me, so maybe he had earned a little of my deference in return.

I sat at the small kitchen table and watched Thorin pull things from the cabinet, fill the water pot, and measure the coffee. Even in those simple and mundane tasks, strength and elegance graced his movements. As much as he irked me, Thorin’s allure was undeniable. How did a tiny town like Siqiniq collect such a high concentration of attractive men?

“Sugar?” Thorin asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“Huh?” I said, misunderstanding. Before she died, my grandmother had always called me “sugar,” a common term of affection in my neck of the woods.

“For your coffee,” Thorin said. “How many scoops?”

“Oh, uh, two.” I turned away to hide my blush. “Two’s good.”

“There’s only canned milk. I don’t keep the refrigerator stocked unless someone’s staying here.”

“That’s fine.”

Thorin brought me a cup of hot, sweet coffee, and I wrapped my hands around it, appreciating its warmth. He settled into a chair next to me, and an electric hum filled the air. Or maybe I imagined it. “Are you from Alaska?” I asked, in an inane attempt to fill the silence.

“No,” he said. I waited for him to say more, but he didn’t offer to expound.

I drummed my fingernails on the table and sipped coffee in the awkward silence until Val arrived and brought in a breath of congeniality. He rushed to where I sat at the table and threw his arms around me. He drew me out of my seat and into a crushing hug. “Thank God you’re all right,” he said.