Where There's Smoke: inspirational romantic suspense (Montana Fire Book 1) (18 page)

Wow, he loved her.

Loved. He hadn’t let his feelings congeal into thought until now, but in truth he couldn’t remember
not
loving her.

The realization swept through him, and in its wake, a tremble at how much he longed for them to find a way to live happily-ever-after in a world where a stiff wind could blow their lives apart.

He unleashed a steadying breath, shoved his hands into his pockets, and headed over to her.

She looked up, and he expected a smile. Instead— “Wait until you see what I found.”

“That sounds ominous.”

She finished stitching the row, pulled the fabric away, and snipped the ends of the threads. Then she got up and took his hand.

He was hoping for something a little more affectionate, but she dragged him over to the table. “So far I found three chutes with tears.”

“Yeah, Ruck told me. That sounds...well, not okay, but these are old chutes—”

“I’m not talking regular wear and tear.” She picked up a chute, searching through the yards of silken white fabric. She located her source, grabbed it, turning. “This is not a rip, Jed. This is a tear—a deliberate tear.”

He took the fabric, examining the tear. A three-inch opening, about six inches from a seam.

“See how it’s smooth, like it’s been stabbed and pulled? The threads are seared clean off. If this had been a puncture, say from a tree, it would be jagged, the surrounding threads dangling. And wear usually happens around the seams, not in the middle of the fabric.”

She put her hand over the hole, looked up at him. “This was deliberate.”

He took a breath. “Kate—seriously. Yes, this looks like what you say, but think about it. Who would deliberately sabotage the chutes of a jump team?”

“Right? It’s crazy.” She took a long breath. “I don’t know. But I’ve checked all the chutes, and only these three”—she indicated the two on the table, the one at her machine—“are damaged. And I also reinforced a few fraying seams on the others. We should be good to go, but I think we need to lock up the ready room and the loft when we’re not here.”

He had no words for that, or the insane idea that someone might want to hurt them.

“Maybe they got damaged after the fire last year. There were a lot of people upset—they could have been handled roughly.”

She studied him for a moment, then her breath eased out. “Maybe. You’re right—there was a lot of chaos at the end of the season. Who knows how—or by whom—these chutes were put away.”

He took her hand, pressed it to his mouth. “Good thing you’re here,” he said, then drew her to himself. “We’ll lock up the loft...in fact, I like that idea a lot...” He caught her chin in his hand, lowering his mouth for a kiss.

“Jed! What are you doing?” She pressed her hands to his chest, her voice cut low as she glanced over his shoulder at Ruck. “Not here.”

He grinned and took her hand, pulling her toward the tower. “C’mon—no one will see us...”

“Jed—”

He glanced at Ruck, absorbed in his packing, and then pushed her into the tower and toward the frothy embrace of a white canopy, draping it around them. “I used to dream about this,” he said, settling his hands on her hips. “I’ve always been a little crazy about you, Kate. From the first moment I met you and you looked up at me with those amazing green eyes. You always made me feel invincible.”

He tugged on her braid, and her beautiful mouth answered in a grin.

“It was your laughter and the way you made everybody feel like they belonged—made
me
feel like I belonged. Every time I headed up to the Airstream to shoot the breeze with your dad, I was secretly hoping you’d wander out, sit with us under the stars. I’m not sure why, but you made me feel safe, Kate. Maybe it was the fact that I could see myself in your eyes—”

“Oh, I wasn’t that easy, was I?”

He laughed. “You were. I could see you crushing on me for miles.”

She covered her face. “I was so transparent.”

He drew her hand away, kissed it. “It only made me like you more.” He folded his fingers between hers. “I was always trying to figure out ways to talk to you without Jock knowing about it. In my worst nightmares he figured out the mad crush I had on you, too, and he beat me within an inch of my life. Or kicked me off the hotshots—I’m not sure what would have been worse.”

“You’re pretty tough. You could have taken the beating,” she said, winking.

“Yeah, well, I can admit to a few scuffles with guys who might have had their eye on you. Like that guy Nate, from Sheridan. He practically followed you around the entire summer.”

“He was cute. A cowboy—”

“He was a loose cannon. Walked off the line halfway through the summer. He didn’t know how to stick around to the end.”

“And you do?” She touched his cheek, running her finger down his face into the hollow of his neck, lighting a fire.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice husky. He couldn’t stop himself from leaning over, brushing her neck with his lips. “I do. Although I can admit this, here, was something I thought would never happen.” He raised his head, caught her gaze. “I should have done this seven years ago,” he said softly and bent down, pressing his lips to hers.

Now this was what he’d been thinking about, waiting for all day. The heady abandon of losing himself in Kate’s smell, the taste of her, the little noise she made when he kissed her well, how she moved into him, molding herself to him.

It was Grizzly’s and more. Much more, because this Kate was smarter, savvier. This Kate knew just how hard it was for him to let her go.

This Kate would be careful with his way-too-fragile heart.

She wove her hands up, around his neck, playing with the hair at his nape, stretching her body against his, her kiss languid and soft, lingering. It was all he could do not to skim his hands down her body, give in to the sudden racing of his heart.

But despite the fact Jock had departed from the earth, he still lingered in Jed’s head. Enough for him to rein in his desire. For now.

Still, the longing turned every nerve ending to fire as he pressed his forehead to hers. “In my head, I dreamed of us fighting fires together, building a life in Ember. I might not have thought that through all the way, what that meant, but I always believed we belonged together, Kate.”

She leaned back, her eyes shining. “We’re going to be okay, aren’t we? You’re not going to freak out the next time I put on my jumpsuit, right?”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “How about if we talk about something else. Like whether we pass Hannah and Riley.”

She frowned, just a little. “Jed, seriously—”

“I trust you, okay? You just need to trust me back. I’m going to keep my promise to do my best to not freak out, all right?”

She traced her finger down his cheek, freshly shaven this morning. “I think we need to pass them both.”

“Really?” He put her away from him, just enough so that she didn’t distract him with the feel of her body against his, the touch of her hands—although he couldn’t run too far, not inside the tower. “I don’t know...”

“Riley McCord has finally stopped thinking of this as a grand adventure. Getting rid of Paul helped. I think he can actually do this. And Hannah. She’s wants this.”

“She can barely make her landings,” he said.

“But yesterday she didn’t freak out when her reserve got knotted. She kept her cool.”

“She had no choice,” he said, wanting suddenly to forget the image of her struggling with the chute and how, for ten long seconds, he thought he might throw up in front of his recruits. And the thought of what he’d have to say to Ray...he shook the image away. That was why he remained detached—or tried to. So he could do his job. “I know she wants this, but—”

“She could have screamed and lost her head, even done something really stupid and cut away her reserve. But she didn’t—she fought the knot and won.”

“This time.”

“Right. Well, we can only do what we can—I’ve examined all the chutes, Ruck is repacking them, and the rest we have to leave to faith that everyone will be okay.”

“Really?”

She drew in a long breath, lifted a shoulder. “Trying on my dad’s legacy. He always had it, you know—faith. Only time I saw it shaken was—”

“In Alaska.”

“Right.” She shook her head. “But he believed in a good outcome, and that’s how he lived his life.”

He wished he could see the benefit of that, really. But he couldn’t rely on fate or hope or luck—or whatever faith looked like. “We can’t pass someone who isn’t ready.”

She pressed her hand on his chest. “I wasn’t ready.”

He took a long breath, her hand burning where she’d touched him. “No, you weren’t. But you had the look. And you...you had the instincts.”

“Hannah does too. And yes, I’ll probably lose my mind if anything happens to her, but I know what it feels like to work harder than every guy out there to prove yourself. To carry the weight and outthink the fire and basically make sure you don’t endanger lives because you might be smaller, lighter, even weaker. Hannah deserves this.”

He tipped up her chin, met those beautiful green eyes. “Just like you did.”

A slow smile.

“Okay. We’ll pass them both.”

Kate curled her hand around his neck, brought his head down to meet her lips. This time, her kiss was anything but slow, anything but soft.

It only stirred the smolder inside. He let out a soft, guttural moan and grabbed her up, his arms around her waist, his heart thundering in his chest. Probably he should be thankful for the scant privacy the canopy afforded them.

His pulse raced hot in his head as he deepened his kiss. He put her down, and his hands moved lower—

She slowly put her hands on his and pulled them away. “Jed—”

“Sorry.” His breath came out ragged. “Sorry.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “I suddenly can’t seem to get enough of you.”

This elicited a smile as she wove her fingers into his. He was leaning down for another go when he heard a voice from the door.

“I know you’re in there, Boss. And I get the feeling you’re not alone, so whoops! Sorry about that. But even so, Miles wants to talk to you.”

Jed froze. Pete. “Shoot—”

Kate grinned, leaned up, and kissed him.

He caught her shoulders, backed away. “Shh—Kate. This isn’t—”

But she waggled her eyebrows and nipped at his lower lip.

“What are you
doing
?”

“Jed Ransom, Mr. Self-Control, seems to be in over his head.”

He gave her a look. She pulled his arms behind her, leaned in.

“Stop it,” he whispered. “Be quiet. Maybe he’ll go away.”

“He won’t go away,” Pete said, now walking into the room.

“It’s Pete,” she mouthed.

“I know,” Jed mouthed back.

“Aw, C’mon, Jed. I swear, I won’t tell anyone.” More steps.

“Fine!” Jed grabbed the edge of the canopy and spilled it back to reveal Kate in his arms, giggling.

Pete, dressed in his green pants and a white T-shirt, stopped, mouth open. Then a small, playful grin lit his face. “I guess I need to send back the wedding invites.”

Huh?

But Kate laughed, disentangling herself from Jed, from the canopy. She stepped away, just the slightest blush pressing her face.

“I told you, right?” Pete said to her, and she just shrugged, still smiling

“Told her what?” Jed said, glancing at her a second before heading for the door.

“Kate might want to hear this, too,” Pete said, turning. “The fire investigators from Boise are here. They have a report on that drone we found at the Solomon River fire.”

“Oh, yeah?” Kate turned, hot on his tail.

A woman dressed in the Bureau of Land Management browns waited for them in Miles’s office, holding her iPad.

Jed stuck out his hand, introduced himself, Pete, and Kate.

“Amy Fee, out of the Inter-Agency Fire Center in Boise. It’s good to see you again, Kate.”

Jed glanced at Kate, remembering her days in Boise.

“Jeff and I just got back from the Solomon River site.” Amy indicated another man, now striding down the sidewalk outside. “And from the burn pattern, as well as the remains of the flare, we have our suspicions that this fire was deliberately set.” She pulled up a picture on her iPad. “If you’ll look here at the fire source, you’ll see a number of different fuels—grasses, kindling, a mound of materials that would flash over and keep burning until the suspect departed, but close enough to the campfire to make it look as if it might be accidental.”

Kate was examining the picture. “What was this?”

“Like Jed said, it’s the remains of what looks like a weather drone or a remote-control airplane.”

“A kid’s toy?”

“It seems bigger than that, more sophisticated.”

“Did it crash?”

“It doesn’t look like it—it seems more of a set fire. We’ll bring the drone back to the lab and see what we can extract, but if there is someone setting fires out in the Kootenai, with weather conditions the way they are, well...”

Jed wanted to reach out, take Kate’s hand.

“You’d better get your team ready, because you’re in for a hot and lethal summer.”