Husband Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #1)(42)

Elyse set Miki down and wrapped her arms around Ian’s neck.

“Woman, I’ll get you an entire dog sled team of pups if you want, but I can’t give you babies. It wouldn’t even feel right leaving you to raise them while I sleep half the year away.”

“Okay,” she said, tears burning her eyes. She would keep taking her birth control and accept this for now. Perhaps in a few winters, he would feel differently, but this was something Ian was giving her a hard “no” on right now, and she had to respect it.

“I want to give you everything you want, Elyse—”

“It’s okay.”

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Josiah said quietly from ten yards away.

Ian started in her arms and turned, crouched slightly as he shoved her behind him. To stop the soft growl in his throat, Elyse rubbed his back and stepped around him. “Uh, Ian, this is my brother, Josiah. Josiah, this is my husband, Ian Silver. Er…not husband. Fiancé.”

Josiah looked a lot like her. Sandy brown hair peeking out from under his winter hat, and the same odd-colored gold eyes they’d both inherited from their absent father. He was a lot taller though, much wider in the shoulder, and intimidating in his quietness to strangers. She knew her brother, though, and she adored him.

“Fiancé?” he asked, his face a frozen, emotionless mask.

Ian cleared his throat and straightened his spine, then strode over to her brother and offered his hand. “Nice to meet you. Elyse talks about you a lot.”

Josiah’s eyebrows quirked up. “Funny, she’s said nothing about you. Fiancé,” he repeated, ignoring Ian’s outstretched hand. “Please tell me you didn’t answer her advertisement.”

“Josiah,” Elyse warned. “It’s not what you think.”

“You didn’t hire him to be your husband?”

Aw, shit-cicles. “Well, yes.”

“Are you f*cking kidding me, Elyse? I told you that ad was a terrible idea.”

“Actually, it was an awesome idea because I met Ian.”

“Well, forgive me if I don’t throw my trust at you, Mr. Silver. My sister doesn’t exactly have good taste in men. The last one she brought home was a worthless little shit.” Josiah’s lips lifted in a dead smile. “What do you want with my sister? Is it the land?”

Ian went rigid, hands hooked on his hips. He cast Elyse a ghost of a glance, then dragged his attention back to Josiah. “Look, I appreciate that you’re protective of your sister, and I’m not asking for you to like me right now. I’m asking you keep your mind open to me, and I hope I earn your trust in time. Elyse and I met in unusual circumstances, yes, but I’m only interested in her land when I’m running it beside her, and I’m here because I care for her. We’ve got hay to cut and shit to do, so if you’re up for it, we could use your help cutting and hauling it. I’ll let you two have some time. ’Scuse me.” Ian strode off in the direction of a pair of green tractors bouncing toward the fields.

“Why are you acting like this?” Elyse asked, mortified by her brother’s behavior.

“Because look at him, Elyse? Does that man strike you as a mail-order husband? He can get any girl he wants. Think real long and hard about why he’s here, Elyse. I can’t f*cking stand watching you go through another Cole McCall.”

“I learned my lesson from Cole, you swamp turd.”

Josiah’s judgy little eyebrows jacked up even higher. “Did you?”

“Yeah, Jo, I did. You want proof? That man you just insulted has filled the hen house, fixed my snow machine and four-wheeler, and brought his own snow-machine, just in case you’re comparing him to my moocher * late-boyfriend. Ian has been working himself to the bone chopping firewood, and he gets up earlier than me every morning and has my breakfast warming on the stove. He works until sundown getting our place ready for winter. He’s gone on two hunts, has my once-empty freezer half-filled, and he protected me from a f*cking bear attack without a thought for his own safety.” She yanked up the hem of her pant leg and showed him the scabbed over claw marks. The stitches were still in the worst one. “And it’s him who’s been doctoring me without me ever asking, and no he doesn’t need the money or the land, you snooty dick-weevil. He has a plane and runs a successful bush pilot career that he put on hold to come prepare me for winter. And,” she growled, stomping past him, “I love the guy, so there’s that.”

“You were attacked by a bear?” her brother called after her.

“That was your only take-away from that entire tirade?” Elyse asked. “Seriously?”

The sound of Josiah’s boots became louder and louder as he jogged to catch up. “When?”

“Two weeks ago. We were fishing, and a brown bear sow and her cubs went after our fish. And then after me.” The memory still made the blood in her veins run cold.

“Why were you fishing in brown bear country in the first place?”

“Because my freezer was empty, Jo. I missed the big salmon run, and it wasn’t hunting season yet, and we needed meat fast.”

“Why was your freezer empty? Hey!” Josiah pulled her arm, yanking her to a stop. “Why were you that hard up for meat?”