Hot in the Saddle (Heroes in the Saddle Book 1) by Randi Alexander Page B

firefighter, this one dark-skinned with black hair
and eyes, crouched next to her. “If you’d lie down, ma’am, we’ll check for—”
    “No.” Something made her need to stay with the cowboy. “I
should go with Treven.” She struggled to get to her feet, but ended up coughing
so hard, she grew dizzy and sank down again.
    The fireman helped her sit, then pulled out a tank of oxygen
and gave her the face mask to hold over her mouth and nose. “He’ll be here for
a bit.” As he took her pulse, he looked from one of her eyes to the other.
“We’ll get you over there and you can ride to the hospital with him. You should
be checked.”
    Taking stock of herself, Delta figured he was right. Her
ears rang like she’d stood in front of rock concert speakers for six hours, her
lungs burned with each breath, and her throat felt like it’d been coated with
sandpaper. Even her nostrils hurt.
    “I’m fine, but I will ride in the ambulance with him.”
Taking a few deep breaths of pure oxygen, she struggled to her feet.
    He assisted her, but held her arm. “You should—”
    She pressed the canister into his hands and he tottered back
a bit as she stumbled into him in her rush to get to the cowboy.
    “Ma’am, wait.”
    Ignoring him, she hustled to the ambulance. The white-haired
firefighter—who must be a paramedic—hovered over the cowboy who half-sat,
half-laid on the gurney inside, and another older man took notes on a
clipboard. They’d inserted an IV into Treven’s arm and the cowboy’s eyes were
pinched shut.
    She stepped up to pull herself inside, and the white-haired
paramedic held out a big hand. “Hang on. Let us work here. Have a seat on the
bumper for a minute.”
    “I’m riding with him.” She tried to make her voice
commanding.
    Treven’s eyes opened, then widened when he saw her. “You
shouldn’t be walking around. You were unconscious for a time.”
    White-hair’s blue gaze shot to hers. “She was?” He gestured
to his partner. “Help her in, Buzz. Give her a non-rebreather.”
    The older man helped Delta climb in and sat her on the
bench. He handed her a clear plastic mask on a hose. She unzipped her fire suit
and peeled it off her arms. “What can I do to help?”
    “Stay out of the way for now.” White-hair set one of
Treven’s hands on some kind of plastic sheet-like thing as the older man left
the ambulance, closed the doors, and they got rolling.
    “Ms. Pennington, I don’t think we’ve been properly
introduced.” Treven gave her a sideways grin.
    Her heart gave an extra thump at the sweet cowboy manners,
despite what had to be a lot of pain for him. Or had they added pain meds to
his IV?
    “Please call me Delta.” She forced a smile. “And you’re
Treven…?”
    The paramedic sighed. “Treven Arnett, meet Delta
Pennington.” He gave her a look. “And I’m Clint Black and prefer no jokes about
the famous name, please.”
    “Not much for bedside manners, is he.” Treven winked at her.
    Clint shook his head. “Not much for common sense, Treven.
Diving head-first into a burning car.” He rechecked the IV.
    Delta had to agree, it’d taken no thought, just bravery and
adrenaline for Treven to do what he’d done. “I have to go with the hero
theory.” She coughed a few times, then smiled at Treven. “Especially since I
was the recipient of…”
    Treven’s eyes rolled back and his head dropped to the side.
Delta jumped up to grasp his forearm to keep his hand from hitting the rail,
but Clint was already there.
    “Thanks, ma’am.” The paramedic adjusted Treven so his
scorched hand sat on a sterile surface. “Now please, sit down.” He looked back
and forth between her eyes. “You’ve had a trauma, and I don’t need you passing
out, too.
    “Not. Passed. Out.” Treven’s eyes opened. “Just wanted to be
able to say that Miss Delta Pennington held my…arm?” He let out a sound that
could have been a laugh. “And you went and spoiled it,