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"Are you suggesting I cheated?" he asked, and seemed to enjoy her loss far tooabout … work"

"That’s a convenient excuse, and you know it The fact is I played a superior game"

"Sure you did," she muttered sarcastically, and reached for the deck "We’re playing for the match, remember"

"Why don’t you rest your brain for a fewwith pretend sympathy He rose from the table and came to stand behind her, and placed his hands on her shoulders He rubbed and kneaded the knotted flesh as shivers of awareness shot down her spine Giving in to his touch, Carrie closed her eyes with a sigh and let her head drop forward This was divine It ination, but for just an instant she thought she felt his breath against the side of her neck as if he’d bent over to kiss it His touch was so light, so tender, that it could well have been wishful thinking Froer to be rid of her

"What I need," she said, scooting back her chair, anxious to break this trance that had come over her, "is soly stuffy The storht appeared relatively peaceful

Handing Carrie her coat, Finn walked her to the front door When she stepped outside, her araze went to the star-filled heavens In all her life, Carrie had never seen solight dotted the sky, ht up in the ic of the moment "This is unbelievable"

Finn carow tired of this view," he whispered

"No wonder It’s incredible Aweso"

"Now look north" He turned her halfway around so that she faced the arctic

Carrie gasped The sky was filled ave upon wave of color--gold, bronze, and lavender arced across the night sky "Is that the … aurora borealis?"

"You’ve never seen it before?"

"No Of course, I’ve heard about it, but I had no idea it was this beautiful, this drahts dance their seductive ballet chased off the chill of the frigid night Then Carrie realized the source of this toasty feeling was Finn’s arms, which surrounded her He’d tucked his warht air

"Close your eyes," he suggested, his head close to hers

She did as he requested

"Do you hear anything?" His breath ar sound"

"That’s the northern lights Not everyone can hear the the words out Having him this close took her breath away

"Yes" His lips nuzzled her neck, and Carrie sighed audibly

At the same moment, they both seemed to becoether, as it were Without a word, Finn snatched his arms away and returned to the house

Carrie followed aat the table by the ti now?" he asked, and cleared his throat, busying hi the cards

"Ah, sure" Her breath trehtly, and she hoped that if Finn noticed he wouldn’t co more beautiful," she whispered

"Me neither," Finn added

Her hts and sounds of the innate beauty of Alaska Inhaling a deep breath, she glanced up to find Finn studying her She wanted to thank hi his home and his life with her for the past two days The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she doubted she couldfrom her eyes These last fewin a church and singing hya out of the ordinary had happened and at the same moment acutely aware that it had

As luck would have it, she won the second game, but it was no thanks to her skilled card sense The air between thehts, even as they both chose to ignore it Perhaps that was for the best, as she would be flying out at first light An ily short amount of time, Alaska had won her over, and Finn had, too

The last cribbage game was close, but in the end Finn won Little wonder, really, as Carrie’sto say good-bye when she had the distinct feeling she would be leaving her heart behind

Finn seehed as she set her cards down and pulled the pegs fro forward to another s considered, a little discomfort was a small price to pay

Finn seemed to read her lack of communication as disappointment "You can have the bed," he told her

"No You won," she said"I’m the intruder here, remember?" Hennessey would lie at her feet, and he’d keep her coht It wouldn’t be so bad, and if she was fortunate enough to catch the flight back to Seattle and then o, she could sleep on the plane