Slow Burn (Smoke Jumpers) by Anne Marsh Page A

up on his off-hours. Small fires don’t always stay small.”
    It was like a quest, she thought. An adventure, but also something more. Something that really mattered . These men were clearly a unit, their team more like family than most families were. All that laughing and teasing camouflaged close-knit bonds. They knew who they were, and they had each other’s backs. Except that, possibly, one of them wasn’t all that he seemed to be. One of those firefighters might be lying.
    That kind of betrayal cut right to the core.
    She knew all about firemen who lied, didn’t she? She was a first-class expert on the kind of secretive asshole who got off on riding out on fire calls. Mike had taught her all about that.
    She’d never taken Mike’s last name, and, looking back, that had been a sign. She’d never answered to Mrs. Thomas, never even hooked his name together with hers and a hyphen. Because strong, independent women kept their own names and identities, thank you very much.
    If she was honest with herself, she’d thought about Evan’s offer all afternoon—and, the longer she thought, the more seductive that offer to stay on in Strong and go adventuring with him got. Maybe Evan Donovan could be her get-back-on-the-dating-horse fling. She’d never had a fling before. He could be her two-week treat to herself. If he wanted her. She put her hand on his knee, savoring the immediate tension in his body.
    He wanted her.
    Why not? That was her new motto. And why shouldn’t she take Evan up on his adventure-a-day offer? Sure, he was big and gruff, and making him talk was the verbal equivalent of pulling teeth. He certainly acted as if he’d rather be anywhere else when it came time to talk rather than do, which made teasing him all the more fun. Fresh out of a bad relationship and a divorce, she didn’t want happily-ever-after. So why not enjoy him and all he had to offer? This wasn’t a relationship—her trip to Strong was pure adventure, and she might just end up with the photos of a lifetime.
    She’d do it.
    There really wasn’t any reason not to.
    Leaning in, she put her mouth to his ear. He stiffened but didn’t move away. “Get ready to pony up, big guy.” She blew lightly. “I accept your adventure-a-day proposal.”
     
    Those photos were a potential problem. Hollis hadn’t thought it through, not quite, when the red Corvette had zipped through his flames and pulled over. The lady had been real pretty, seated behind the wheel, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a female looking at him like that.
    Like he was a real, live hero.
    He should have hightailed it out of there, but, no, he’d been all caught up in that interest of hers. Of course, she’d been good and scared when she flew around the bend and into those flames. Her eyes had been real big and her hands tight on the wheel, like she was afraid to let go. He’d noticed, because he’d suddenly been watching her .
    When his turn in line came, he’d loaded up his plate with barbecue. He’d lucked out when he’d been loaned to Strong’s fire team for the summer. After all, he’d fixed up the lull in the action pretty good, and he was going out on calls fairly regularly now.
    Despite the fact that the jump team was still off-limits to him.
    He eyed the jumpers hanging out around the fire pit. Lots of things could happen. Fire season wasn’t nearly over yet. He’d have an opportunity to show them what he could do—that much he was sure of. If not, he could make his own luck. That matchbox of his provided real equal opportunity.
    “You know who she is?” he asked the man in front of him, because the more he learned about her now, the sooner he’d know what the chances were she’d made him.
    The other firefighter shrugged and piled a load of slaw onto his plate. “Photographer for some fancy magazine— that’s what I heard. She came up here to do a piece on the firehouse restoration.”
    Hollis spooned beans onto his plate