“You thought wrong.” Her eyes were completely void of temper now. “Look, I know you think I’m speaking in tongues when I say this, but I want to be a
Well damn if that didn’t both defuse his temper and humble him to the bone. Unable to help himself, he lifted a hand to her face, using his fingers to tuck her hair better into the helmet. At the feel of her smooth, soft, precious skin, he felt that now familiar ache from deep within him. He couldn’t seem to stop touching her. Nor kissing her, apparently, because he leaned in, cupped her jaw in his hand and put his mouth against hers.
She kissed him back, slipping her fingers into his hair at his nape, drawing him closer, deeper, and when she made a sound of pleasure and desire mixed in one, he was lost. He might have stayed that way forever, locked in her arms, if the smell of smoke hadn’t finally penetrated his swamped senses.
Smoke.
He looked up and his heart nearly leaped right out of his chest. Above them, the summit once again raged with flames.
8
WITHIN AN HOUR they had ground support, air support, and more of both on the way for the flare-up. There were firefighters on the backside of the mountain, digging their way through a firebreak, and more on the west and east side, attempting to gain quick control this time.
Ally watched Chance quickly and methodically make sure every guest and employee was safe and accounted for. She witnessed his anguish, his fear, and felt it as her own.
“All staff members on duty are on the radio,” Ally told him as she caught up with him in his office. “They’re just waiting for directions.”
“The only direction is to stay the hell out of danger and let the firefighters do their thing.” He shouldered his backpack, checked his radio and headed toward the door.
He was going up there, she realized with a shock. She grabbed his arm. “What happened to staying out of harm’s way?”
“I’m going to see what’s going on.”
“No!”
A pained look crossed his strong features. “Ally, standing down here, over a mile away, torturing myself with what’s happening to the land,
“No! Stay here, stay where it’s-”
“Safe?” He whirled on her, eyes hot and fierce, jaw tense. “Not if there’s anything I can do to help.” Then, shocking her further, he kissed her, hard, and on impulse, she clung to him.
For just a moment, he clung back.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
Without another word, he vanished out the door.
ALLY’S HEART REMAINED firmly in her throat, until the fire was fully contained and everyone was safe and accounted for.
Including Chance.
By midnight, things were finally quiet again. That was the good news, but there was bad as well. The fire chief didn’t think the fire was a flare-up of the old one, which meant it could either be the unusual heat wave or arson, and they’d be looking for answers come daylight.
Just the thought had Ally burning with fear and fury. It wasn’t Brian, she knew that much. She’d witnessed his joy in this place. It had become his home. He wouldn’t hurt it.
She turned off her office light, intending to go to her cabin and collapse in bed, but a light down the darkened hall drew her.
All thoughts of sleep vanished, replaced by images of comforting him, holding him close, somehow making him accept the fact that for once,
She was just outside his office door before she heard his low, quiet voice say, “Yes, everyone’s safe.”
“And Ally,” came Lucy’s voice from the speakerphone on his desk. “How’s my Ally?”
Chance was leaning on his desk, arms crossed, staring out the windows into the dark night. Every inch of his body looked tense and taut as steel. As if he sensed her, he turned to the door. Their gazes met and locked. “Ally’s okay,” he said, staring at her. Absorbing her.
“And you?” Lucy asked, blissfully unaware of the tension now shimmering in the room. “I know you too damn well, Chance. You’ll be the one out there where it’s not safe.”
Chance didn’t break eye contact with Ally. “I’ll be fine. I have to go, but I’ll call you first thing in the morning, okay?”
“Fine. But Chance?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you, as if you were my own son. I just wanted you to know that.”
CHANCE TURNED AWAY from the window and grabbed the phone. With his throat suddenly tight, so tight he could barely speak much less breathe, he was eternally grateful for the dark room.
“Say it,” Lucy said in his ear. “You don’t have to tell me you love me back, just say you know
His eyes burned, and it wasn’t from inhaling smoke for hours. “Lucy.”
Her voice softened. “Hon, I know damn well you’ve never let your own family close enough to tell you how they feel, so let
He hadn’t ever believed that, until now, but he couldn’t speak past the football-size lump in his throat. He was painfully aware of Ally watching him.
“Chance? I’m going to keep telling you, do you hear me?”
“Hard to miss it,” he managed gruffly. “You’re shouting.”
Although he knew Ally could no longer hear Lucy’s side of the conversation, he saw her smile. It was a bit ragged, as was she from the night’s events, and more than anything, he wanted to hold her. “I’ve really got to go.”
“Okay, you don’t want to talk mushy, I understand. But I meant what I said.” Lucy’s voice was full of warmth and affection. “Goodnight, Chance.”
“Goodnight…and Lucy?” He waited until the last possible second to say it. “I love you, too.”
He hung up and stared at the phone for a long moment before lifting his head. Ally was still there, silhouetted in the dark, open doorway. She was filthy, smelled like smoke, was pale as a ghost, and she’d never looked more beautiful to him. He wanted her, probably more than he’d ever wanted anyone, but that wasn’t what scared him now, as he’d felt that need before, with other women. It was how badly he wanted to bury his face in her hair, wanted
That was entirely new.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice soft and somehow comforting in the dark.
“You should be in bed.” Another image he didn’t need, her in a bed, all tangled in the silky sheets, hair spread over the pillow, lips soft and inviting…
“I’m going soon.”
Good. Great. He’d be picturing that for the rest of the night. “Tired of the big, bad wilderness yet?”
