Falke’s Peak

me.”

She dropped her eyeliner into the sink and her compact of powder fell off the puny vanity, the lid breaking off as it hit the tile floor.

She growled and spun on her heel, stalking into the living room of their miniscule apartment.

“Hey, honey,” Axel said, coming out of the bathroom, wiping shaving cream from his cheek with a damp facecloth. “It’s going to be okay, you know.”

“You guys always decide it’s time to shave when I go to put on my makeup. We don’t have to be in the same room with each other 24/7 you know. It’s not like we don’t—” Gunnar grabbed her from behind, spun her and clamped his mouth over hers to shut her up. As usual, it worked. She shoved at his shoulder with her fist, but his talented tongue had her melting in seconds, making everything else disappear for the moments she spent in his tight embrace.

“Jerk,” she murmured when he lifted his head and smiled down at her with mischief twinkling in those gorgeous eyes.

“We know how to release your tension,” Gunnar said without remorse.

“We’ve still got a half hour before we have to meet them. Plenty of time for some stress-relieving down and dirty sex,” Axel added oh so helpfully.

Dakota laughed and rested her head against Gunnar’s shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist and using him as an anchor.

She would accept their offer, but if she did, thirty minutes would turn into an hour, and she might never make it to their fathers’ home that day. No, they had to go. They couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer.

Axel rubbed a big, gentle hand over her back and kissed her cheek. “The offer is still the same as before, honey. You don’t have to tell them anything. Pick one of us to introduce as your boyfriend, and that’s that.

Nothing to worry about.”

As if she could choose one!

In a half hour they would meet up with her parents at the Falke home. In thirty minutes, her parents would meet her lovers. They had already met her new in-laws, although they didn’t know about that relationship…yet. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to breathe evenly.

For three months, ever since she moved to Leavenworth, she’d kept her parents away with excuses of getting settled into her new job, not having time to entertain because of her workload. It hadn’t kept them away very long. They’d always been hands-on parents. Just because she was an adult didn’t mean that would change.

So, they’d surprised her, showed up in town with no warning, and caught her off-guard outside Catamount Outfitters when she was returning from a lunch run with Heidi. And now her time was up. It would all come to a head in a half hour.

Lifting her head, she looked back and forth between her men. How could she choose one to announce to her parents as her boyfriend? They weren’t dating. They were mated. For life. She had the marks on her flesh and all the love in her heart to prove it.

“You don’t have to make a decision now, sweetheart,” Gunnar said softly. “Let’s just go and have dinner, and see how it turns out. They’re your parents, and you have to decide what to tell them, but remember, they’re our family too, now.”

“Yeah, no pressure there,” she said, letting the sarcasm out loud and clear as she pushed away from Gunnar’s safe embrace. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. They already think—assume—a man is involved in this move. I’ve been grilled repeatedly, in very gentle and roundabout ways, of course, about the real reason I moved to the middle of nowhere when I’d spent every minute since my junior year in high school aiming for a big job in a big industry in a big city.”

“And you told them?”

She rolled her eyes. “I evaded. And rather well, I think.” She gave a shaky little laugh and wrapped her arms around herself. “I want to tell them everything.

They’re good parents, the best, and we’ve always been close. I want them to share in my happiness.” She made a face at the two gorgeous men in front of her. “I just don’t know how to share…this.” She dropped her arms and shrugged. “I have no idea how they’ll take it.”

Axel stepped up to her, cupped her cheek and kissed her softly. “Whatever you decide, hon, we’re right there with you, okay?”

She nodded. “I know.”

“Come on,” Gunnar said, taking her hand and tugging her toward the door. “It’s time to go.”

“And,” Axel said as he followed, locking the door behind them after they stepped into the hallway, “it’s not as if we’re staying in this apartment forever. The house will be done before first snowfall, and then you can have your very own bathroom to do all your girl stuff in.”

Dakota laughed and bumped her shoulder against Axel’s. “I love you guys.”

“Love you too,” they said in unison as they went down the steps that led into the alley behind the shop.

“But if I don’t tell them the truth, how will I explain a big ol’ log house in the woods the next time they come to visit? The tourism bureau and Catamount Outfitters don’t pay me that much to design their advertising.”

“Land is fairly cheap around here,” Gunnar said with a cheeky grin as he tugged her down the alley toward one of the company Jeeps.

She snorted. “Yeah. And my dad was born yesterday.”

The sun was high, the temperature warm. Dakota had been right; summer in Leavenworth was just as gorgeous as the winter. The tourists were abundant, and the store had been bustling since the beginning of June. The Falke brothers had even turned down a couple of jobs so that all of them could attend this dinner. The ride to the dads’ house didn’t take nearly enough time. Her father’s old F150 with the new Bigfoot camper he’d bought this spring sat in the driveway. Dakota’s stomach cramped.

Axel reached over from the driver’s seat and clasped her hand. “It’ll be fine.”

Gunnar reached from the back seat and tenderly rubbed the back of his knuckles along her jaw line.

“Whatever you decide, sweetheart. We’ll follow your lead. And the rest of the family will too. You’re one of us now, and we all look out for our own.”

“Okay. Let’s get this over with.” She shoved open her door and got out, heading up the walkway instead of waiting for her men as she usually did.

Everyone was gathered on the back deck. Two massive stainless steel barbeque grills smoked, and the scent of venison steak and Heidi’s special marinated chicken wafted into the early evening air.

“Hey,” she said, swiping her sweaty palms on her jeans.

“There’s the lady of the hour,” Fridrik said with a grin, getting up from his Adirondack chair. He enveloped her in a bear hug and whispered in her ear, “It’ll be okay. We’ve been through this before.”

She hugged him back and said, “Thanks.”

“Quit hoggin’ the girl,” Burke said, pulling her away from Fridrik and hugging her.

She burst out laughing, probably from nerves, but she did like the attention the dads gave her. They seemed to enjoy having another female around. She returned Burke’s hearty hug. “Thanks, Dad,” she murmured quietly before he let her go and grinned at her. It was easy to love this whole family.

Her own mother and father came up to her and gave her hugs, and then she heard Axel and Gunnar come out onto the deck. They’d been sweet to give her some distance before they came along.

“So, I guess you’ve already met everyone?” Dakota asked her parents.

“Except these two,” her mother said, eyeing Axel and Gunnar. “What a group of good looking men.”

Dakota grinned. There was no arguing that point.

She turned and pointed. “Axel and Gunnar. The oldest of the boys. Axel owns the shop. Guys, these are my parents, Mary and John Tokala.” They shook hands, said the typical “nice to meet you” pleasantries.

“She speaks very highly of you,” her mother said to Axel. “Saved her life in the mountains, then gave her a job.”

“At least she’s out of that damn city,” her father grumbled. He’d hated her living in Vegas all alone.

“She’s safe here,” Axel said, and the deep meaning behind the words helped calm Dakota a bit. She was safe with him, Gunnar and the whole Falke family.

Her mother narrowed her eyes a tiny bit and looked Axel up and down with an assessing gaze that made