Dakota Heat (Book 3 - Dakota Hearts) by Lisa Mondello Page B

breathing in smoke and dirt for so long, it was refreshing to breathe in the sweet scents of a woman.
    “Not exactly. I grew up in Rudolph.”
    That earned him a lingering second glance. One that afforded him a few seconds to really look into her eyes, at her face.
    “Really?”
    “My whole life.”
    She glanced around quickly. “When I got in last night I was told the basecamp here was new this year. I didn’t realize South Dakota had a dedicated fire basecamp.”
    Sam had never worked fire duty in his home state before. And he’d never come to a new location and been so familiar with faces as well as the location. His reason for wanting to come back to South Dakota this year was personal.
    A lot of his friends who worked with the Interagency Fire Crew were still reeling after the deaths of nineteen Hotshot firemen in Arizona last summer. Some had quit fighting fires altogether at the urging of their family. Sam’s own mother had tried her best to do the same during many phone calls since the tragedy, but Kate McKinnon settled for having him come home to Rudolph to work.
    “This was just constructed this year. The Black Hills are a hot spot this year because of all the flood and ice damage that occurred over the winter. When I found out they were setting up a base here to do fire control for the season, I put in a request to work here.”
    She nodded. “Must be nice to be home. At least for the season.”
    She glanced down at her paperwork again.
    He chuckled at how quickly she fell into her reading again. “You’re looking at that like you’re cramming for a final exam.”
    She shrugged. “I feel I am. This is my first season working fire dispatch anywhere.”
    “Ah, then that explains it.”
    “Must feel good to be home after—”
    “Summer?”
    Both Sam and the girl looked up to see the chief calling out from across the tent. The girl quickly collected her paperwork and stuffed it in a folder.
    “Be right there,” she called out. She turned to Sam, lifting the bottled water in her hand. “Thanks for the water.”
    “No problem.”
    But she was already trotting over to the superintendent’s office. He hadn’t even had a chance to get her name. But he would before the day was done. This was one woman he had a feeling he wanted to get to know.
    * * *
    Adam White sat down at his desk and glanced at the folder Summer had handed him. She’d been given strict orders to report immediately to the superintendent of the Interagency Fire Crew she’d been assigned to on her first day on the job.
    Summer hated first days on the job. The butterflies that had been souring her stomach for the past two days as she drove from Providence to Rudolph were only getting worst. She’d barely had enough time to get herself settled in the basecamp housing let alone look at the portfolio of information she’d been given when she’d been booted out of the police station.
    She’d left her meeting with the chief to find Bobbi had already packed her bags and loaded them in her car. Matt had handed her an itinerary and a given her an envelope full of petty cash, courtesy of an officer collection at the precinct. It didn’t take a genius to know Bobbi had been behind it. Her friend had been worried sick about her ever since the call came in on her phone line from the serial killer, telling her he was watching her.
    When she’d counted the money, she’d gasped, not knowing whether to be flattered that the officers in the department cared that much about her well-being, or be offended that they wanted her out of town so badly. Since Bobbi had been on duty when she left, Summer hadn’t had time to thank her friend for all she’d done for her before Summer left the city.
    Adam finally closed the folder and handed it to her. “Did you find everything you need last night?”
    “Uh, yeah. I guess.”
    “Good. It’s the dormitory is rudimentary but has everything you’ll need for the time being. I was told that some of the