Hot as Sin (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #2)(23)
Author: Bella Andre

Jesus, he thought as he took his hands away, if he’d gotten that hard with her sweater as a barrier between his hand and her skin, what would happen to his self-control if he accidentally touched a bare patch?

“I’ve got a friend on the Rocky Mountain hotshot crew who knows these mountains like the back of his hand,” he said, working like hell to get back on task. “It’s possible he’ll know the locations of any communes in the more remote areas like the one April described to you.”

The unabashed hope in Dianna’s eyes nearly did him in. Those weeks after her miscarriage, he’d wanted so desperately for her to look at him like that.

She never had.

Already heading to the door, he said, “I want you to rest while I go call my friend Will.”

He stepped outside before her green eyes saw too much. Before she could guess how much he still cared.

CHAPTER EIGHT

AS SOON as Sam closed the door, Dianna lay back against the pillows and closed her eyes. The room was spinning and she felt nauseous.

Knowing her sister was in trouble made her heart race and her skin feel clammy all over. But she wouldn’t be able to help April if she lost it. She had to keep it together, had to remember that her sister was a tough little cookie with more street smarts in her pinkie than Dianna had in her whole body.

And then, simmering beneath everything else, there was Sam.

He was the strongest man she knew, just as comfortable climbing a sheer rock face and jumping out of an airplane as he was putting out a raging wildfire.

On top of that, he was breathtakingly beautiful … and utterly dangerous.

When he’d read her the riot act about cutting him and everyone else in Lake Tahoe out of her life, she’d wanted to come back at him with all the ways he’d hurt her, wanted to hold a mirror and show him that he’d deserted her first, wanted to remind him that instead of being there for her after her miscarriage, he’d signed up to fight every goddamned wildfire in the western hemisphere.

And yet, she couldn’t deny that, right now, he was the very best person to help her find April.

But despite her immense gratitude for his help, Dianna was incredibly wary of working as a team. She’d been in charge of her life for ten years, calling the shots on her own TV show for four. Now, she was about to put herself in a position where she knew nothing, where she had to rely on someone else—a man, no less—for everything.

No. Not for everything. Just to help her find April and bring her home. That was it. Nothing more.

At the end of this journey, she’d shake Sam’s hand and thank him sincerely for his help. They would never again be friends—how could they be?—but she would be forever grateful for his willingness to forget about their past and help her find her sister.

As long as he stayed on his side and she stayed on hers, everything would be fine, she thought as exhaustion hit her and she fell into an uneasy sleep on top of the covers.

She woke at the creaking sound of the door opening and looked up to see Sam stepping back inside her room. One look at his tanned skin, his broad shoulders, his flexing biceps as he moved toward her was all it took for her to know she was full-on lying to herself about keeping her distance: She was powerless against Sam’s charms.

How long could she possibly hold out?

“I spoke to Will,” he said. “Evidently there is one main commune around here that is commonly referred to as the Farm by its residents. Given its proximity to Vail, he’s pretty sure it’s the same one April’s been living in.”

When he didn’t say anything else, didn’t tell her if it was a “good” or “bad” commune, her heart rate sped up. Just like always, he was afraid she couldn’t handle the truth and was keeping the full details from her.

No way. She was a big girl now. Whether or not she could handle the truth was beside the point. She had to not only handle it, she had to face it head-on. For April.

“There’s more you’re not telling me, isn’t there?”

A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Will’s heard rumors.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“The Feds have been trying to shut it down for years, sure that they’re hiding something. Evidently, the Farm looks clean from the outside, like nothing more than a group of green advocates wanting to live off the land.”

“Maybe it is clean,” she found herself saying out of desperation, even though she was suddenly sure that her fears for April’s safety were completely justified. “Maybe they aren’t doing anything worse than growing medical marijuana. Maybe they’re all just looking for a simpler life?”

“Maybe. But word is the owner of the Farm hasn’t been off the mountain in more than a decade. He’s built his own little world up there. Doesn’t need any part of civilization. Makes you wonder why. Especially since most communes aren’t growing pot anymore.” His expression was as serious as she’d ever seen it. “Methamphetamine is king, Dianna, and the drug makes people crazy, obliterates their brain cells. Don’t forget what happened in Jonestown,” he said, referencing shootings, poisonings, and mass suicides at the intentional community in Guyana led by California cult leader Jim Jones in the ’80s.

Oh no, she thought, no longer able to wallow in denial, what have you gotten yourself into, April?

“There is a primitive dirt road that heads toward the commune, but it’s totally impassable right now due to some trees that went down during late spring storms.”

With every word he said, she could feel herself sinking deeper and deeper into despair. “But we’ve got to get there, Sam.”

“My friend will drive us as far up the road as he can get.”

His eyes moved from her face to her arms, then her legs. He was clearly trying to assess her in some way. But how?

“I’ve spent a lot of time in these mountains, both as a hotshot and for pleasure. Everything within a fifty-mile radius of Vail is rugged mountains,” he informed her. “Fast-running rivers, steep rock faces, vertical hikes over boulders. It looks like the fastest way to the commune will be by river and then up through the mountains on foot.”

For the first time, Dianna wished she was less well versed in designers, and more in bagging high peaks. The only research she’d done on mountaineering had been when the star of Man vs. Wild had been a guest on her show, but even then she’d known that her viewers had been more interested in his smoldering looks and sexy British accent than his outdoor skills.