White Heat Read online

  “I care about her,” he said, his voice low. “I know that sounds crazy, but I do. Maybe as much as you care about my brother.”

  She stared at him, unexpected emotion clogging her throat. “Well, then we’re both crazy.” With that, she tried to turn away from him, but he held her back.

  “Lyndie, this is none of my business, but about Griffin—”

  “That’s right, it isn’t any of your business.”

  “I lost him for an entire year.”

  She let out her breath. “I know. But he’s back now, and he’s—”

  “Falling for you.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, he’s just trying to get back to the living, he’s—”

  “Falling for you,” he repeated quietly. He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Are you falling back?”

  She stared at him. “He’s not over what happened to him last year. He’s not ready to fall for anyone.”

  “Probably not, no.”

  Each word felt like a stab to her heart, which didn’t make any sense.

  “But they’re gone,” he said softly. “They’re gone and he isn’t. He’s learning he’s not dead. That his heart can love again—”

  “Oh, no.” She laughed. “Listen, you’re way off base here. We’re not in love, we’re just…” Jumping each other’s bones.

  Brody laughed. “Yeah. You’re just.” He twirled her around again. “You know you’re really different from anyone he’s ever been with.”

  She scowled. “So?”

  “So…” He looked amused now, damn him. “That’s a good thing. You’re strong, independent. Tough as hell. I think that’s exactly what he needs. Someone to challenge him.”

  “I’m going to challenge you here in a minute. To a nice dunking in the creek.”

  Brody laughed again. “Hey, I’m not trying to pry. I want him happy again, that’s all.”

  “He’s going to be plenty happy once I fly you both back in the morning.”

  “And what about you?”

  “I’ll be happy, too.”

  “You sure?”

  “Positive.”

  Brody stared at her for a long moment, then sighed. “All right.” He lifted his hands in surrender. The song ended and he stepped back, a sad smile on his face. “Don’t hurt him, Lyndie.”

  And then she was standing on the dance floor by herself, suddenly and desperately in need of quiet.

  Whirling to find a door, she plowed right into Tom.

  “Hey,” he said. “I was just looking for a pretty dancing partner.”

  “No way, I—”

  He spun her until she was cursing at him and laughing. “That’s better,” he said. “That’s way better. I know there haven’t been many reasons to smile down here for the past few weekends—”

  “We’ve almost got it all behind us now.”

  “Yes,” he agreed with a relieved smile. “But in any case, I believe things happen for a reason.”

  “The fire? You think something good can come out of all that damage and destruction?”

  For a moment he didn’t say anything, just continued to spin her around the room to the wild, loud music. “Yes,” he finally said. “I do. I think the ranchers learned a valuable lesson, one that the U.S. government has been trying to teach them for a long time. Their slash-and-burn methods have to change. I think the town realized how much of a team they are, and how important every single person is. I think Nina learned the world doesn’t always revolve around her.”

  “Did you learn something, too?”

  “Nothing I didn’t already know. Life is short, Lyndie. Too damn short. Things happen. Bad things.” He clipped her lightly on the chin. “So make the most of it. Make the most of every single second.” He smiled. “Though given what you learned, I probably don’t even have to say it.”

  “Oh, really? And just what is it you think I learned?” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Griffin enter the courtyard. Immediately he sought her out, and when he found her, she felt her heart stutter just a bit.

  Tom touched her nose, his smile widening. “You just smiled genuinely for the first time all evening, did you know that?”

  Startled, she looked back at Tom. “I did not.”

  “You did. And you know what else? It suits you. Do you know yet what you learned down here, Lyndie?”

  “What is it about tonight that makes you all think I want or need to hear about my life? I don’t need advice, I don’t need any lessons attached to what’s happened down here. Bottom line, you needed help, and getting you that help is my job. End of story.” And if she’d gotten a little action on the side, well then, that was no one’s business but her own. “But if you need it spelled out…I learned what a nosy bunch you all are. Now get out of my way, big guy, I need out of here. Badly.”

  Tom laughed. “You can run, but you can’t hide.”

  “Cut him off,” she said to Rosa, who was coming by with a tray of beers.

  If Rosa did, Lyndie couldn’t have said, because she went out of the inn and into the night, drawing a deep breath of it into her lungs, holding it for a long moment before letting it go slowly.

  She should be up in that air right now, flying her ass off, without an important thought in her head.

  She shouldn’t be standing here by the creek, wondering if Griffin was going to give her another mind-blowing orgasm tonight. She shouldn’t be wondering if he was wondering about her.

  And she sure as hell shouldn’t be wondering if he was going to miss her, even a little. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that here was her peace and calm whenever she needed it, a place that had stolen a chunk of her heart.

  It would be enough.

  “You needed out, too.”

  She took her gaze off the sky and eyed the man most on her mind, who stood there, hands in his pockets, his shoulders slightly hunched as he stared off into the night.

  “Yeah.” She pushed away from the wall, came toward him. “Everyone in there seems to feel so comfortable telling me how to run my life, so I felt comfortable getting the hell out.”

  “It’s funny what people do in the name of love.” Griffin lifted a brow when she stopped midstride. “Oh, that’s right. You don’t like that L-word. It must really overwhelm you to come down here then, with Tom and Nina and Rosa all so crazy about you that they’d do anything for you. Including each of them threatening me with bodily harm if I hurt you.”

  “What?” She sputtered over that for a moment, then growled, but Griffin cocked his head, studying her with an interest she wasn’t sure was a good thing. “Look,” she said. “No one hurts me. I make sure of that.”

  “Right.” He nodded agreeably, and walked around her.

  She turned in a circle, keeping her face to his. “What does that mean?”

  “I know exactly how tough you are. I know you don’t let people close enough to even think about hurting you.” Reaching out, he stroked a cheek. “And when I first met you, when I first felt that zing of heat between us, I worried about that—I worried about leading you on, hurting you somehow in spite of it.”

  “Because of what happened in that Idaho fire.”

  “Because I knew I was no good to a woman, not in the state I was in. In any case, you were so impenetrable, I decided it didn’t matter.”

  Direct hit.

  “But then I got to know you.”

  “You did not,” she said. “It’s only been a week.”

  “I got to know you,” he repeated gently. “And you know what?”

  Seeing that heated, affectionate look in his eyes as he stepped close and put his hands on her hips, she started to shake her head. She didn’t want to know, she—

  He kissed her, just once, soft and undemanding, but her body flared to life. “You might be fearless,” he whispered. “You might be independent, but on the inside you’re just as in need of love as the rest of us.”

  “No—”

  He put his finger on her lips,