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“Not yet. He’ll try to stop me.”

  “Nina.” She pressed her fingers to her eyes. “I can’t. I can’t do that to him, I can’t help you run away without a word, without—”

  “Fine.” Nina stood again, feeling her chest tighten, her eyes brighten with the tears she would absolutely not shed. “I’ll find another way. On my own.”

  “Nina—”

  But Nina wasn’t in the mood to hear empty platitudes, she was in a hell-raising mood. And lucky for her, the night had just begun.

  * * *

  Lyndie woke to the scent of fresh tortillas and the sound of Tallulah’s collar jangling, and sat straight up in bed.

  It was still dark. Her clock glowed five o’clock. Rosa’s dog had pushed open the door that never locked and now sat on the floor by her bed, waiting expectantly to be rewarded for such adorable behavior.

  “Go away.” Lyndie stretched and groaned. Every muscle ached, and then some. The long night hadn’t helped. She’d heard Griffin get up every few hours. The last time, near four a.m., she’d gotten up also, and had found him whispering with Tom at the front door.

  Tom had the radio, checking in with the men on the status of the fire, and then relaying that info to their firefighter.

  Griffin’s dedication and concern had tightened her chest, and she didn’t know why. Didn’t want to know why.

  Still on the floor by her bed, panting sweetly, Tallulah added a little whine for attention.

  “Oh, all right.” Leaning over, she reached out to pet her. With a blissful grunt, Tallulah lay on her back, exposing her pathetic hairless pink belly, which Lyndie now couldn’t reach. And she wasn’t getting out of bed to pet a dog.

  She wanted to lie back and pull the covers over her eyes. Normally she popped right up in the mornings, but last night had been a long one, and she glared at the paper-thin walls, through which she’d also listened to that amorous couple go at it for hours—and they had been particularly amorous, and arduous.

  It hadn’t relieved any of her inner tension, that was for sure. “Damn it.” She sat up. On the nightstand was a note from Rosa: EAT.

  That it was in English, not Spanish, made Lyndie shake her head. Rosa wanted to make sure she got it.

  She did. But for once, it wasn’t food on her mind, but the fire, and the long day ahead.

  She got out of bed, tripped over Tallulah, then ended up squatting down to pet her for a moment. Then she grabbed a towel and headed down the hall to the bathroom.

  In the Rio Vista Inn, there wasn’t any sense in locking the bathroom. There were two toilet stalls and two showers, and no such thing as privacy.

  Tossing aside the big T-shirt she’d worn to bed, she hung up her towel right outside one of the two showers, which were nothing more than a long tiled wall and two shorter tile walls no higher than her collarbone, jutting out to create the two different stalls. A plastic curtain could be pulled across the back, creating the fourth wall. Hopping into the shower, she yanked the curtain closed, dunked her head beneath the hot spray, and wondered what Rosa had left her to eat.

  Something good, of that she had no doubt. Something with eggs and peppers and beans and lots and lots of fat.

  Her mouth started to water.

  Rosa always spoiled her rotten when she came, they all did. She kept her eyes closed as she shampooed and conditioned. What was it about being here, with these people, that got to her? Why did they matter so much when all her life what had mattered had been seeing everything and everywhere and never staying in one place? “And why here,” she murmured as she rinsed her conditioner out. “Why am I growing roots here?”

  “Roots…where are they, coming out your feet?”

  Her eyes flew open at that low, already extremely familiar voice. Sure enough, standing there amidst the rising steam of her shower, looking quite pleased with himself, was one hotshot firefighter Griffin Moore.

  Far too at ease, he leaned back against the door and let out a slow smile. “Maybe I should just come in closer and take a peek at those roots.”

  Her heart had kicked into gear at just the sound of him, but she managed to sound bored. “Sure. Come on in and get a closer peek. In fact, peek all you want, Mr. All-Talk-And-No-Go.”

  An eyebrow lifted as he studied her. He wore another pair of wildland firefighter trousers and a plain white T-shirt with a firefighter logo over his left pec. And a nice pec it was. Either he’d gotten more sleep than she had in spite of checking on the fire, or he managed to hide it well.

  She lifted one eyebrow right back at him, then nearly swallowed her tongue when he pushed away from the wood and started walking toward her.

  “Hey!” She lifted a soapy arm and pointed it at him. “You’re not supposed to take that dare.”

  “If you knew me a little better, you’d know I take all dares.”

  “Great time for you to open up and tell me such a thing.” He was still walking toward her, with his long legs and tough, rangy body, and determined, intense expression. His eyes glittered with intent, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. Exactly what kind of intent did he have, and why-oh-why did it make her body hum? “Okay, stop!” She wanted to wince at how shaky she sounded, how breathless. “Stop right there, Ace.”

  Halfway between the door and the shower, and only about two feet from her, he did.

  The air seemed to crackle around them, as it had on several occasions now. Griffin smiled, just a little one, with a good amount of wickedness in it as the steam swirled around his head. “What’s the matter?” he asked softly.

  “I didn’t expect you to really have the cajones to come in closer for a peek,” she had to admit. “Not after last night at the creek.”

  “Surprise.”

  “I hate surprises.” She knew he couldn’t see anything, at least not yet, but her entire body was doing the strangest thing in reaction to his invasion.

  It was melting. Nipples tight, thighs quivering, stomach dancing, the whole deal. Apparently, it’d been too long. “Okay, show’s over. You can get out now.”

  “Funny thing about bathing around here. No privacy. Take, for example, when I was taking my bath.” He said this in a perfectly reasonable tone, as if they were discussing what they were having for breakfast instead of her very naked body. “In fact, you goaded me into that water, and then never took your eyes off me.”

  Yeah, but he’d been something to look at. It was what had led her to the cold creek only a little while later, needing the cool air and water to soothe her unwelcome aching and yearning. “In case you haven’t noticed the difference between last night and today,” she said. “I’m completely bare-ass naked here.”

  “If you expect that to work as a deterrent…” He let out a soft little laugh that was so incredibly sexy to her. “Think again.”

  The water began to cool, a warning she knew all too well. She had less than one minute to get rinsed off and out before it went cold. “Why are you in here?” she asked desperately.

  “To brush my teeth.” He brandished a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. With that wicked smile still firmly in place, he sauntered on over to the sink, which put him only a foot from her.

  She hugged up close to the tile wall of the shower and glared at him.

  “Oh, don’t worry. I can’t see anything you don’t want me to see,” he said all friendly-like, and turning away from her, flipped on the water.

  Her water went a surge warmer, only a surge, warning her she was really on borrowed time. “I wouldn’t swallow any of that,” she warned him when he bent over the sink.

  “Don’t worry.” His words were a little garbled because of the toothbrush in his mouth. “I have a stomach of iron.” He rinsed and lifted his head, and met her gaze in the reflection of the steaming mirror in front of him.

  The water cooled even more.

  Lyndie hugged the tile and ignored it while she watched him. She had no idea what was so sexy about him brushing his teeth. She considered herself good at reading peo