Wild Heat (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #1)(33)
Author: Bella Andre

He let her look her fill, one corner of his mouth moving into a grin.

“Suit yourself,” he said, then headed into the bedroom off the kitchen.

Maya stood in the middle of the living room and worked like hell to tamp down her stupid hormones. As soon as she heard the shower start, she stepped into the master bedroom and tried to ignore that fact that Logan was only a couple of rooms away.

And he was naked. Her mouth went dry.

Her body urged her to accept his invitation to join him in the shower.

But even though she didn’t think he was guilty of arson, she still couldn’t allow herself to get involved. Not while she was working on a case. And definitely not with another firefighter.

Quickly, she pulled a pair of designer jeans and a T-shirt from the dresser. She drew the line at borrowing a stranger’s underwear, however. She’d just have to stick to having the words “Lake Tahoe” scrawled across her behind.

Knowing she’d do something reckless and stupid if she was still standing there when Logan walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, she locked herself in the laundry room to put on the new clothes. Both the jeans and T-shirt were a bit snug, but anything was better than the pink T-shirt and sweatpants she’d bought at the tourist shop in her motel.

She waited impatiently for Logan to return to the living room, and when he finally emerged she had to work like hell not to react to how ridiculously sexy he was in low-slung surf shorts and a T-shirt. Her only chance at fighting her attraction was to stay wholly focused on the investigation.

“How much longer do you think David will be?”

When he didn’t bother telling her to relax, she knew he was just as anxious for some answers.

“Let’s go ask him,” he replied.

David was still hard at work when they opened the lab door and stuck their heads in.

“Not done yet,” he said, locking a slide into place beneath a microscope before he looked up. “I’ll bet you guys haven’t stopped to eat today, have you? Our fridge is pretty much empty, so how about you head down to the Bar & Grill at the end of the road and I’ll meet you there when I’m done.”

Maya felt Logan tense beside her. The Tahoe Pines Bar & Grill was the last place either of them wanted to go, but it would be beyond awkward to explain to David why heading to that particular establishment was a very bad idea.

And then her stomach betrayed her by growling, sealing the deal.

“You guys are hovering,” David said, so they went outside, closed the door behind them, and stood looking at each other on the flagstone walkway, neither one of them saying a word.

Finally, Logan shrugged. “I’m game if you are.”

“I guess I am pretty starving.”

All of a sudden the idea of taking a load off for a few minutes was a good one. Even if they were about to wade into emotional quicksand.

Maya knew she needed to be on her guard at all times around Logan. He was too good at knocking through her defenses, patiently pushing them away one by one. But she was so tired. And hungry, since it had easily been twenty-four hours since she’d last eaten.

Worst of all, she was more aroused than she should be by a great-looking firefighter in surfer clothes.

Silently, they drove down the hill, parked, and walked into the crowded restaurant. Logan hadn’t been back in the place since Eddie had sold it to a couple of guys from Las Vegas about a month after Maya’d come in for a drink and blown his mind.

Logan wasn’t sure he liked the changes. It had always been a neighborhood hangout, somewhere his crew would go when they were streaked with dirt and sweat, to shoot some pool and forget about staring death in the face for a couple of hours. The new owners had glossed it up, making it look more like a big national chain than a neighborhood bar and grill.

Posed pictures of people having a good time on the lake studded the walls, along with new paint and windows. Even the crowd was different. Flashier, richer.

“Man, this place has sure changed,” he said as they grabbed a free table by the window.

She looked around. “Has it?”

What was he thinking? She’d been so full of grief over her brother six months ago that she probably hadn’t noticed anything about the place. Besides, he’d shoved her into the wall of bottles and had been all over her so fast she couldn’t have seen much of anything.

“I hate to break it to you,” he said, intent on changing the subject, “but you’re no longer in the running for Miss Lake Tahoe. Looks like Kelly’s stuff fits pretty good.”

A gorgeous flush worked itself onto her cheeks. “She’s a little smaller than I am.”

Logan dropped his eyes to her br**sts for a brief moment. “A little. But trust me, it works on you.”

Dennis’s girlfriend, Jenny, came around the corner carrying a heavy tray of drinks. He’d forgotten that she worked lunch and dinner all summer. She smiled widely when she saw him, but when she noticed who he was sitting with, her smile turned to confusion.

“Logan, what are you doing here?” She didn’t add with her to the end of her sentence, but he could read her mind.

“Time for lunch,” he said. “What’s good today?”

She looked down at her pad. “Everyone’s been ordering the grilled chicken and avocado sandwich on a French roll. We’re almost out.”

Logan looked at Maya and she nodded. “We’ll take two if you’ve got ’em. And two Cokes.”

Jenny wrote down their order, but didn’t get the picture that now wasn’t a good time to talk. Especially considering Maya’s new suspicions regarding Jenny’s boyfriend. Logan knew Jenny wouldn’t much like hearing that. Not any more than he did.

“I went by Joseph’s cabin after breakfast,” she said with a frown. “I had no idea things were getting so bad. He barely seemed to know who I was. You should have asked for my help earlier.”

Up until now, Maya hadn’t made the possible connection between Joseph’s illness and the trails heading up from his backyard into Desolation, and Logan didn’t want to give her any reason to turn her suspicions that way. Even though she’d been in Joseph’s house and had talked with him, the less said about the extent of Joseph’s situation, the better.

Logan’s conscience knocked at him. Maya had treated him with honesty from the get-go, she’d told him precisely why she’d thought he was guilty and then admitted she was wrong as soon as she’d decided he was innocent.

He wanted to be just as straight with her, but he didn’t know her well enough yet to be absolutely certain how she’d respond to his concerns about Joseph. And he couldn’t let anything happen to Joseph because he’d said too much to the wrong person.

“Thanks for going by, Jenny. I really appreciate it.” He didn’t bother with subtlety. “I’ll give you a call later and we can talk more about the situation.”