Wild Heat (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #1)(41)
Author: Bella Andre

“A couple of weeks ago, I dropped by to check on him just as he was coming back from a hike. I noticed ash on his treads, but when I asked him what he’d been doing, he couldn’t tell me. He didn’t know. Two miles up the trail I found a fire burning in a circle of rocks to the side of the footpath.”

“I don’t get it. Why would he have lit a campfire in the middle of the day during a short hike?”

“I’ve been trying to figure that out, and the only thing I can come up with is that the fog was pretty heavy, so maybe he got cold. Or maybe he got hungry and was cooking something to eat.” He let her digest what he’d said, practically able to hear the gears churning in her head.

“Okay, so that could possibly explain what started the wildfire, but what about everything else? The anonymous tip? The fire in my motel room? The explosion? The bomb in your car? Who hates me and you and all of the hotshots enough to try to kill us all? Because there’s no way Joseph could be involved with any of that.”

Thank God, she wasn’t blaming Joseph for everything, wasn’t leaping out of bed and calling the police to go after an old man who wasn’t hurting anyone.

“Someone is obviously watching us. Following our every move. We need to find out when that bomb was put in your truck. In your driveway? Or was it earlier?”

He went to the window to look down at the smoking vehicle. He wasn’t worried about it sparking a fire on the wide swatch of gravel. But there was no way they were going to be able to sort through the wreckage until it cooled down.

“It’ll be hours, at least, before we can get close to the truck.”

She stood up, letting the sheet fall away completely. God, he thought as his chest constricted just looking at her, she is absolutely beautiful. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

Taking her once wasn’t enough. Not nearly. Where Maya was concerned, he was insatiable.

Their relationship wasn’t going to end with the resolution of this case. He wanted to be with her, and not just because of the hot sex. How could he let go of a woman this fearless, this resilient in the face of daunting odds and death threats?

“I can’t just sit here and wait for the truck to cool down.”

She reached for her underwear and pulled it on before jamming her legs into the severely beaten-up borrowed jeans. And then, suddenly, she looked up at him, a strange look on her face.

“You need to get back to the fire.”

He heard the words coming out of her mouth, but he could hardly believe they were real.

“Say that again?”

“You’ve told me absolutely everything. I know about your pyromania. About Joseph. Even about your relationship with Dennis. I also know you didn’t light any fires. You didn’t put a bomb on the hillside or in your own truck. You’re completely innocent. I’m not going to wait another second to take you off suspension.”

Holy crap. She’d just offered him the one thing he’d wanted most—and hadn’t expected: The chance to get back to his crew, to keep his men safe, and to make sure they put the fire out in the most expedient way possible, before it struck down anyone else.

And yet, how could he go? The last thing he wanted to do was leave Maya alone. Especially after their near escape from the truck.

He couldn’t let anything happen to her.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m not going anywhere.”

Maya stared at Logan in utter confusion. Why wasn’t he already halfway out the door? He’d said his men needed him to put out the fire. What the hell was going on?

“If you’re worried about that letter from McCurdy, I’ll make sure he knows this is entirely my decision. I’ve never met him in person, but from everything I’ve heard he’s a fair man. And he wouldn’t want an innocent hotshot sitting around twiddling his thumbs while a fire is raging.”

Logan was across the room in a heartbeat, his hands on her rib cage. His strength and warmth were far too welcome, his faint five o’clock shadow making him look far sexier than any man had a right to be.

“Thank you for your willingness to go to bat for me, but there’s no way I’m leaving you alone.”

She shivered, even though his gaze was hot. Possessive. No man had ever looked at her like that. She hadn’t known how much she’d like it. But she did know that she couldn’t possibly allow herself to get used to it.

“I don’t need you to protect me,” she said softly, even though until she nailed the arsonist, potential danger lurked around every corner.

“Some point or another, we all need help,” he said. “Even a tough arson investigator like you. I don’t want to see you get hurt. I couldn’t live with that.”

His reaction to her declaration of independence was not what she’d expected. She’d gambled on stubborn, not protective. She wasn’t at all certain how to respond, could barely wrap her head around the idea that he was more concerned for her safety than his job and his responsibilities to his men.

“None of this makes any sense, Maya. Hell, I wish it did. Everything would be different if your life weren’t in danger. But someone set your hotel room on fire. Someone wants to hurt you. It’ll be harder for anyone to get to you if I’m there too.” His eyes were dark and impassioned. “I won’t let anyone harm you. No matter what.”

She should have pushed him away, but she couldn’t stop herself from running her hands down his back. He winced and she couldn’t believe she’d forgotten for one second about the beating he’d taken to protect her from the explosion.

“You’re bleeding again,” she said. “You should have told me to stop, you know, earlier.”

His answering grin took her breath away. “I wouldn’t have even if I’d noticed. Which I didn’t.”

“Where’s your first aid kit?”

He stepped away from her and pulled it out from a bottom dresser drawer.

“Sit down,” she said, and when he sat on the edge of the bed she pulled out what she needed. “This is going to sting,” she warned, but he barely reacted as she gently swabbed his back with alcohol.

As she worked, she grew more convinced that Logan needed to return to his crew. Not only to fight the fire, but because someone was trying to kill him. She hoped that putting him back in action would get him out of harm’s way.

According to the note she’d been left at the motel, this was personal. What had she and Logan both done six months ago to piss off an arsonist? And could it have something to do with her brother, with something—or someone—he’d been involved in before he’d died?

Logan looked at her over his shoulder. “I’m not going to like what you’re thinking, am I?”

No. He wouldn’t be happy to hear that she had no plans to hide away from the arsonist, to run scared.