Heidi grinned. “Sure do. Catamount Outfitters. In fact, I’m headed in that direction. I could show you.”
“That’d be great. Thanks.” She lifted the bag. “I’ll just help carry this for you too.”
“Thanks.”
As they walked, Dakota estimated Heidi was a few years older than her own twenty-four. Blonde and petite, she was a polar opposite to Dakota’s darker skin tone and more average height of five foot six. But she wasn’t frail.
“So, what kind of trek do you have in mind?
Horseback? Snowmobiling?”
“Hadn’t thought about it really. This is sort of spur of the moment. I’m booked at a ski resort with a friend and her fiancé.”
“Ah,” Heidi said with a hint of sympathy, obviously reading between the lines.
“Yeah, exactly. Anyway, I guess snowmobiling wouldn’t be bad, but I’d like to do some hiking.
Maybe with snowshoes or cross-country skiing? And wouldn’t mind camping out for a few nights if there’s a cabin handy. Not really into canvas tents in the winter.”
Heidi laughed. “So, rustic, but not entirely without civilization.”
Dakota grinned. “Right.”
“I’m sure the guys at Catamount can handle that.
Nobody knows the Wenatchee like the Falke family.”
“Great.” Maybe her vacation didn’t have to be a bust after all.
“Here we are.” Heidi stopped at a door and used her hip to shove it open, the movement setting off a jingle to announce their arrival.
Stepping inside, Dakota saw a well-organized store filled with anything and everything a nature lover could possibly need or want. Heavy winter gear, skis, camping equipment arranged on racks and shelves.
Kayaks and canoes hung from the high ceiling.
Wordlessly, she browsed the aisles as she trailed Heidi deeper into the store. But when she looked up, she froze. Behind a counter stood two men—obviously identical twins—who belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine instead of in some remote outfitter discussing football. Someone else knelt behind the counter, his hand appearing every other second to place merchandise inside the glass display case, but her gaze quickly returned to the two men she could see. Not even the life-sized, stuffed mountain lion reclining at one end of the counter could turn her head, although she noticed it because it was the only animal in the store. Weren’t most outfitters decorated with trophy bucks and taxidermy’s prized works of art?
The third person stood up and popped off a challenge to something one of the others said.
Dakota’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He looked exactly like the other two!
Blond, tall, rugged-looking, with classic chiseled features, all three men rivaled any model she’d ever worked with at the advertising firm. Wearing the store’s uniform, they were practically indistinguishable from one another. She’d heard of identical twins, but identical triplets were rarer still. She stared, trying to spot some differences between the men.
Heidi chuckled, drawing a reluctant glance from Dakota.
“It never fails,” Heidi said, the humor evident in her tone.
“Fails?” She wanted to look back at the trio of hunks but managed to hold off long enough to get an answer.
“Your reaction.” Heidi leaned closer. “The Falke brothers always surprise the tourists.” She winked.
Well, who could blame them? The brothers were stunning.
Dakota dropped her voice to a whisper. “They’d stop traffic in Vegas.”
Heidi laughed louder. “I bet they would.” Her outburst caught the men’s attention.
An excited tremble ricocheted through Dakota.
Working with fashion models on various ad campaigns was considered a perk at her job; although being somewhat new to the business and at the bottom of the food chain, she didn’t always get to meet the hunks in person. Usually she had the pleasure of going through the proofs, and her coworkers fought over the chance to land men’s underwear clothing contracts.
But these guys weren’t models used to the limelight and fawning females. Not that she was one. Sure, she adored the male physique, and the sight of a sexy man could turn her head any day, but Dakota wasn’t the type to ask for an autograph, something the more arrogant models came to expect.
While the Falke brothers made her mouth water, they were everyday citizens working in a sporting goods shop. And staring was rude. She had to get over the shock of their looks and get down to business. She took a steady breath and tried to think of what that business was.
Oh, yeah. Wilderness excursion. Would one of them be her guide?
“Hey, sis. What’s so funny?”
Sis?
These men were Heidi’s brothers?
“Oh, nothing,” Heidi chimed. “Brought refreshment.”
“Excuse me,” a fourth man said as he edged past Dakota to take Heidi’s heavy burden. “You’re the best.”
Where’d he come from?
“Thanks, Tor.”
The man, or Tor as Heidi had called him, was yet another copy of the other brothers. Not an exact match, but close enough to testify to a very close family connection.
“Got food too.” Heidi’s grin was bright.
“Awesome. I’m starving!” A fifth man slid past Dakota’s other side to give Heidi a chaste, smacking peck on the cheek. “You’re our favorite sister,” he said with a teasing grin.
Stunned, Dakota did a double take and turned to look back down the aisle to see if any more would appear. All she saw were shelves of propane canisters, lanterns and a canoe hanging from the rafters.
Spinning back to face the men and Heidi, Dakota watched with a hint of awe.
Heidi laughed and shoved the kissy one away. “I’m your only sister, Sin.”
He chuckled and went to join the others who were opening the first case of cola.
“Nice and cold too,” one of them said. He popped the tab and took a swig.
God! There were five of them; only this latest arrival—Sin?—looked more like Tor, the fourth man, than the trio behind the counter. The two latecomers were about an inch shorter with slighter builds, and their mussed hair and quick grins gave them a more youthful appearance. She’d guess twins and a set of triplets.
As if seeing double—more than double—she felt lightheaded. She must look the fool, standing there gaping, but damn…
“Did you just call him sin?” Dakota asked in an aside.
“Yep, short for Sindre. Come on,” Heidi said, taking the bag from Dakota’s hand. “Let me introduce them to you.”
She set the bag of home-cooked food on the counter, and the men dug into the plastic containers.
Except for one who eyed Dakota and moved toward her.
She eased closer to the stuffed cat, unsure whether she wanted to come between a pack of hungry men and their food.
“Guys, this is Dakota…” Heidi glanced at her.
“Sorry, I didn’t get your last name.”
“It’s Tokala,” she answered, grateful for the distraction.
“That’s an unusual name,” said the brother who drew near, although the counter still separated them.
“It’s Lakota. It means fox.” Why she felt compelled to share that bit of trivia was beyond her, but her answer made him grin. Her tummy flipped.
The man was gorgeous. Their parents must’ve sold their souls to the devil to have had such a number of tall, healthy and handsome sons.
Like his brothers, he wore khakis and a maroon, short-sleeved polo shirt with the company’s name and logo—a stylized cougar head—on the breast. Around his neck, he wore a thin leather collar with a pewter medallion on it that bore another likeness to the wild animal.