White Heat Read online



  “And…?”

  “And…so am I.”

  Griffin looked into her lovely eyes, which she normally kept free of emotion. They weren’t so free of emotion now, nor had they been a few minutes ago in his bedroom. “I don’t want your gratitude.”

  “What is it you what?”

  She’d used her fingers as a comb again, and hadn’t bothered with any of the usual feminine vices except that her lips once more smelled like strawberries. He thought he could nibble at them for a good long time and never get tired of doing so, but that was a dark and dangerous thought process so he concentrated on the truth.

  She still wasn’t looking for anything more than a quick scratch to their obvious itch.

  And he still couldn’t fathom having her once, and then walking away. “I just want to get this over with.”

  “Then let’s do it.”

  “Yeah.” He could have stepped back when she moved past him and out the door, instead he stepped closer.

  She eyed him with a question, an expression that turned into something else completely when he put a hand on her hip. “Be safe today,” he murmured.

  “I always am—”

  “No, don’t give me that automatic response crap you give everyone else. Be safe,” he whispered again, his mouth so close to her ear he couldn’t help but let his lips touch the sensitive flesh just beneath.

  Her eyes fluttered shut. “I’ll…try.”

  “Yeah.” God, just the taste of her sweet skin…“Try real hard.” Insanely, he had to have more, so he dragged his mouth down over her jaw, to the very corner of her mouth.

  “Griffin—” Impatient as always, she slid her fingers into his hair and lined them up better, giving him that taste of strawberry gloss and woman he’d been dying for. Heaven, wet, hot, glorious heaven—until footsteps came into the kitchen.

  Lyndie pulled back first, that’s how gone he was, and he slowly blinked Rosa into focus.

  The woman smiled. “Don’t you two have something else to do first?”

  * * *

  When Lyndie got outside, Tom, Griffin, Brody, and three other neighboring ranchers were all climbing into the Jeep to get to the fire.

  Lips still humming, Lyndie looked at all of them, trying to figure out how to get in without sitting on someone’s lap. “Maybe we should take another car.”

  “There’s nothing else,” Tom said. “A caravan of three other vehicles just left. Hop in, you know it’s practically around the corner now.”

  Yes, but…hmm. She glanced at Griffin, who’d taken the front seat. Lyndie could tell he wasn’t thrilled about all of them risking their lives, but hell, his entire crew was risking themselves, as he knew all too well.

  Then Nina sauntered out of the house wearing clothes so unlike herself, Lyndie blinked. “You actually own a pair of pants?”

  “Look closer.”

  Lyndie did, then scowled. “Hey, those are my clothes.”

  “Yes, and thank you.” Nina danced around in a little circle wearing a pair of Lyndie’s favorite jeans and a long-sleeved chambray button-up, looking like a pinup girl playing dress up. “Good on me, yes?”

  Better than on Lyndie’s much leaner body, but now wasn’t the time to lament the fact she’d never been overly feminine and wasn’t likely to get that way anytime soon.

  Nina sauntered up close to the Jeep and smiled at Brody in the backseat. “Guess I’ll have to sit on someone. You don’t mind sharing your seat, do you, cowboy?” she asked.

  “Are you kidding?” Brody opened his arms. “Come on in, baby.”

  She hopped over the door and right into Brody’s lap as if the spot had been made for her. Brody caught her, barely, looking like he’d won the lottery as his hands got quite comfortable with his load.

  “Thanks for spending time with me last night,” Nina purred in his ear.

  Tom whipped around and glared, not at Nina, but right into Brody’s eyes, suddenly looking far more like a sheriff who means business than a hapless, go-lucky fly fisherman.

  Brody immediately straightened, lifting his hands, managing a small smile at the woman in his lap. “Teaching you to read English was…my pleasure.”

  “Then you can teach me more tonight,” she said.

  Once again, Brody glanced at Tom, who was now giving him the evil eye in the rearview mirror. “You having fun, boy?” the sheriff asked.

  “No. No, sir.”

  “See to it that you don’t.”

  When he started the engine, Brody let out a long breath, halted short when Nina leaned in and bit his ear.

  “Nina—” Holding his hands at his sides, Brody closed his eyes, tilting his head to give her better access, but dutifully keeping his fingers to himself.

  Lyndie rolled her eyes at Nina’s antics, then looked at the man sitting shotgun, the man who was eyeing her right back.

  “You getting in?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, wondering where she was supposed to do that. She sure as hell wasn’t going to give everyone a show like Nina just had.

  “Come on then,” he said, all business except for that glint in his eyes while he waited her out.

  And waited.

  “Damn it. Scoot over.”

  “Seat’s pretty small.” He patted his legs. “But I’ve got plenty of room right here.”

  Did he, now. Opening the door, she climbed in over him and sat, wriggling her butt until he was forced to scoot over on the seat. “See?” she said triumphantly. “We both fit.”

  “Uh huh.” He’d had to lift his arm to give her room, and as a result, it draped across the back of her shoulders. Tom hit the gas, and Griffin’s other hand, braced on the dash, left her feeling surrounded by him—and just a little bit breathless.

  “Funny, for two people who want some distance from each other,” he said in her ear, “We never quite manage it.”

  “Yeah. Funny.” Turning away, she gasped as they left town and began their climb. She’d seen the land from the air last night, but the dark and smoke had hindered her view. She was shocked at how much had burned.

  “Yeah, it’s bad. We’ve got that north and southwest end to block in again.” Tom pointed to the closest mountain peak, where Griffin had climbed that first day to get a good look at the perimeter. The flames had nearly claimed it. “We get them and things are good, right, Griffin?”

  “Right.” But he eyed that peak with misgiving.

  Fire headquarters had been moved far east of where it’d been because of the flames. Again, Lyndie was horrified at how much was gone. “My God…”

  Griffin looked equally grim as they got out and gathered around the two water trucks.

  There were three guys at each tank laying out hoses. They’d just come in from the river where they’d filled up the tanks. One of them had a GPS unit and a computer inside the truck, running on batteries to show them the map onscreen.

  “EBay,” he said in heavily accented English and smiled. “Buena, si?”

  “Yes, very good.” Griffin studied the map, then pulled out his palm-held and brought up the earlier map, updating it to the current fire lines. Then he dove right in, reassessing what had been done over the last week, what still needed to be done.

  Lyndie watched him run the men with a natural leadership and a genuine caring about the efforts that took her mind off the hot, grinding work. She saw that it was easier for him this time, but not by much, not missing the sick look in his eyes as they walked some of the perimeter, taking in the total of five completely destroyed ranches. She saw him go pale when she translated the news that three more men had suffered smoke inhalation last night, and were being taken out of here. And she saw him continually search her out as if checking to make sure she was okay.

  Each time he did, something happened to her deep inside, something she didn’t really understand, but they concentrated on the borders of the fire, which should have remained contained and hadn’t. This took a lot longer at the nearly 1,500 burning ac