Wild Heat (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #1)(31)
Author: Bella Andre

“I believe you, Logan. I know you’re innocent.”

He was still holding her, his hands burning through her T-shirt, onto her back. “What made you change your mind?”

She could hardly believe they were having this conversation up on the roof. “So many things. But watching you out there risking your life …” She shook her head. “I don’t know a single other person who would have done something like that.”

He touched her cheek. “You were going to.”

“Once I saw how tall the flames were, once I felt how hot it was, I would have given up. But you didn’t.”

Oh hell, she shouldn’t kiss him again. But she was going to anyway. How could she not?

She pulled him closer and the ladder clanked hard against the gutter as she pressed her lips to his. She slipped her tongue between his teeth and moaned as he took what she was giving and gave it back tenfold.

I could love this man, she found herself thinking, and it scared her so much that she nearly fell off the roof trying to get away from him.

“I’m sorry,” she said, pulling away again. “I don’t want to lead you on. And you know as well as I do that we can’t do this.”

The look he gave her said he didn’t know anything of the sort, but he was willing to wait for her to come around. He helped her climb down the ladder, and his hands steadying her body felt way too good.

When they were standing on solid ground again, he said, “Thank you for what you said up there, about me being innocent.”

She felt so nervous with him all of a sudden, like a schoolgirl talking to the star quarterback. “I’m just going with my gut, but you’re welcome.”

She’d never been comfortable with the idea of his guilt, not for one single second. She wasn’t any closer to knowing who the arsonist was, but it was a huge relief to at least feel certain it wasn’t Logan. She wanted to get the okay from her superiors to take him off suspension as soon as possible, but first she needed more data. Running the evidence he’d procured from the explosion site under a microscope would help a great deal.

Wanting desperately to find some middle ground, she said, “Is the crime lab close by? I’m anxious to find out what caused the explosion.”

He pulled off his turnouts and dropped them into the cab of the truck. “I’ll call David right now.”

He clicked open his phone just as she slid into the passenger seat. “David, I’m glad I caught you. It’s Logan Cain. I need a favor. A big one.”

She was relieved when he quickly got a thumbs-up on using the lab. They’d have their data—and, hopefully, some answers—soon.

“So,” he said, turning his focus back to her as they traveled down the lakeside highway, “how’d you become a fire investigator?”

His low, sexy voice and his question jostled her. She couldn’t think fast enough to respond as if she had more than a handful of brain cells.

“The National Fire Academy.”

“Sure,” he drawled, “that’s the usual way. But why?”

For the past six months, she’d avoided firefighters like the plague. She hadn’t dated them or hung out with them or helped out with their fund-raising raffles beyond what she could do on the Internet in the privacy of her apartment. She hadn’t needed, hadn’t wanted, any more reminders of the two men she’d lost.

But now that Logan was clearly trying to get to know her—who she was, why she did what she did—making out with him almost seemed like the safer option.

Sharing their bodies was one thing. Sharing their hearts was something else entirely. Especially when she didn’t know if she had a heart left to share.

Finally, she said, “I knew from the start that I didn’t want to be a firefighter, but I liked certain aspects of the job. So I ended up getting a degree in Criminal Justice. When my father encouraged me to go into arson investigation, it seemed like a good path.”

“You know, I was thinking that your father and Joseph must be around the same age. I wonder if they worked the same fires.”

It was hard for her to talk about her dad. They’d been so close.

“Probably,” she said. “He was based near Monterey, where we lived, but his crew was sent to wildfires in the Sierras lots of times.”

“I probably worked some of the same fires he did. When did he retire?”

Maya stared out the window at the cars rushing in the opposite direction. “He didn’t. He died of lung cancer. A year ago.”

Logan’s hand covered her knee, his warmth penetrating her thin cotton Lake Tahoe sweatpants. “Jesus, Maya, that’s not fair.”

She was glad when he didn’t point out how close together her father and brother’s deaths were. Most people felt compelled to say that when they found out. It didn’t help.

“You must miss him.”

“I do,” she said, “but I also know he wouldn’t have done anything differently. And I wouldn’t have wanted him to.”

“I’m sorry.”

His two simple words pierced her heart. She didn’t want to talk about herself anymore. “What about you? Why firefighting? Why hotshots?”

She wasn’t asking because she was an investigator and he was a suspect. She was asking for herself now.

“Joseph is a phenomenal man. A great mentor. And he loved what he did. I wanted that life.”

“It fits you.”

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. The only thing I’ve ever wanted to do.”

She had a sudden flash of insight into the gorgeous wildland firefighter sitting beside her. “It’s what set you straight, isn’t it? It’s what made you stop lighting fires.”

He took his eyes off the road for a split second and caught hers. “You’re right. It is.”

“And I almost took it away from you.”

“You were only doing your job.”

He was right. Which was why she couldn’t relax and forget about the case. She had to keep asking the hard questions, even if it meant the end of their first truly pleasant conversation.

“Tell me about Dennis.”

His hand tightened on the gearshift. “What do you want to know?”

“You followed Joseph into firefighting. But his own son didn’t. Do you have any idea why?”

“Flying a helicopter isn’t easy.”

“No,” she agreed. “Being the passenger isn’t always easy either.”

“Never would have figured a tough investigator like you would be prone to motion sickness,” he teased.

She had to laugh at herself. “Trust me, it’s the only thing that’s ever made me reconsider my choice of career.” Quickly, she got back on task. “I guess what I’m wondering is why not fly for the Forest Service? They can always use more guys on water drops and search-and-rescue.”