when she added, “This isn’t your problem. I’ll figure it out.”
He had one last shot to convince her. One last shot to keep her safe.
“Look, I’ve got the wilderness skills you need to get through the Rockies in one piece. If you want to find April fast, you’re going to need me around.”
Grasping at straws, she said, “I can hire someone.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you really think you’ll be able to convince a stranger to head out on a wild-goose chase at a moment’s notice?” Even with all of her money, he was one hundred percent sure she couldn’t buy that kind of help.
“Fine,” she finally agreed, “You can help me.”
Okay, so he’d won this first battle with Dianna. Now he needed to win one with himself by getting one very important thing straight: Regardless of how he used to feel about her, from here on out he needed to treat her like a stranger in need, like any one of the thousands of people he’d helped as a hotshot. The key to success was to approach their mission methodically, rather than emotionally.
But even as he vowed to resist her, he was hit with the buzz of knowing their reunion didn’t have to end yet. It was impossible to push away the powerful anticipation of being with her again.
“We need to find the commune.”
It took him far longer than it should have to tune in to what she’d just said. So much for staying grounded and treating her like a random fire victim. He’d have to work a hell of a lot harder than this if he was going to keep himself from veering off the tracks.
“I agree,” he said. “The commune is the last place she was living and I think it’s our best shot at finding clues as to where she went and who she’s with.”
Dianna scooted halfway off the bed. “I’ll pack up my things so we can get going right away.”
Sam shot toward her and put his hands on her shoulders, immediately getting aroused by her nearness, her scent.
“Stay right there.”
Jesus, he thought as he took his hands away, if he’d gotten that hard with her sweater as a barrier between his hand and her skin, what would happen to his self-control if he accidentally touched a bare patch?
“I’ve got a friend on the Rocky Mountain hotshot crew who knows these mountains like the back of his hand,” he said, working like hell to get back on task. “It’s possible he’ll know the locations of any communes in the more remote areas like the one April described to you.”
The unabashed hope in Dianna’s eyes nearly did him in. Those weeks after her miscarriage, he’d wanted so desperately for her to look at him like that.
She never had.
Already heading to the door, he said, “I want you to rest while I go call my friend Will.”
He stepped outside before her green eyes saw too much. Before she could guess how much he still cared.
CHAPTER EIGHT
AS SOON as Sam closed the door, Dianna lay back against the pillows and closed her eyes. The room was spinning and she felt nauseous.
Knowing her sister was in trouble made her heart race and her skin feel clammy all over. But she wouldn’t be able to help April if she lost it. She had to keep it together, had to remember that her sister was a tough little cookie with more street smarts in her pinkie than Dianna had in her whole body.
And then, simmering beneath everything else, there was Sam.
He was the strongest man she knew, just as comfortable climbing a sheer rock face and jumping out of an airplane as he was putting out a raging wildfire.
On top of that, he was breathtakingly beautiful … and utterly dangerous.
When he’d read her the riot act about cutting him and everyone else in Lake Tahoe out of her life, she’d wanted to come back at him with all the ways he’d hurt her, wanted to hold a mirror and show him that he’d deserted her first, wanted to remind him that instead of being there for her after her miscarriage, he’d signed up to fight every goddamned wildfire in the western
He had one last shot to convince her. One last shot to keep her safe.
“Look, I’ve got the wilderness skills you need to get through the Rockies in one piece. If you want to find April fast, you’re going to need me around.”
Grasping at straws, she said, “I can hire someone.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you really think you’ll be able to convince a stranger to head out on a wild-goose chase at a moment’s notice?” Even with all of her money, he was one hundred percent sure she couldn’t buy that kind of help.
“Fine,” she finally agreed, “You can help me.”
Okay, so he’d won this first battle with Dianna. Now he needed to win one with himself by getting one very important thing straight: Regardless of how he used to feel about her, from here on out he needed to treat her like a stranger in need, like any one of the thousands of people he’d helped as a hotshot. The key to success was to approach their mission methodically, rather than emotionally.
But even as he vowed to resist her, he was hit with the buzz of knowing their reunion didn’t have to end yet. It was impossible to push away the powerful anticipation of being with her again.
“We need to find the commune.”
It took him far longer than it should have to tune in to what she’d just said. So much for staying grounded and treating her like a random fire victim. He’d have to work a hell of a lot harder than this if he was going to keep himself from veering off the tracks.
“I agree,” he said. “The commune is the last place she was living and I think it’s our best shot at finding clues as to where she went and who she’s with.”
Dianna scooted halfway off the bed. “I’ll pack up my things so we can get going right away.”
Sam shot toward her and put his hands on her shoulders, immediately getting aroused by her nearness, her scent.
“Stay right there.”
Jesus, he thought as he took his hands away, if he’d gotten that hard with her sweater as a barrier between his hand and her skin, what would happen to his self-control if he accidentally touched a bare patch?
“I’ve got a friend on the Rocky Mountain hotshot crew who knows these mountains like the back of his hand,” he said, working like hell to get back on task. “It’s possible he’ll know the locations of any communes in the more remote areas like the one April described to you.”
The unabashed hope in Dianna’s eyes nearly did him in. Those weeks after her miscarriage, he’d wanted so desperately for her to look at him like that.
She never had.
Already heading to the door, he said, “I want you to rest while I go call my friend Will.”
He stepped outside before her green eyes saw too much. Before she could guess how much he still cared.
CHAPTER EIGHT
AS SOON as Sam closed the door, Dianna lay back against the pillows and closed her eyes. The room was spinning and she felt nauseous.
Knowing her sister was in trouble made her heart race and her skin feel clammy all over. But she wouldn’t be able to help April if she lost it. She had to keep it together, had to remember that her sister was a tough little cookie with more street smarts in her pinkie than Dianna had in her whole body.
And then, simmering beneath everything else, there was Sam.
He was the strongest man she knew, just as comfortable climbing a sheer rock face and jumping out of an airplane as he was putting out a raging wildfire.
On top of that, he was breathtakingly beautiful … and utterly dangerous.
When he’d read her the riot act about cutting him and everyone else in Lake Tahoe out of her life, she’d wanted to come back at him with all the ways he’d hurt her, wanted to hold a mirror and show him that he’d deserted her first, wanted to remind him that instead of being there for her after her miscarriage, he’d signed up to fight every goddamned wildfire in the western
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