Burns So Bad (Smoke Jumpers) Read Online Free PDF Page B

in and touch his
    sun-bronzed skin. She imagined most people would be plenty happy when September
    rolled around and they could hang Rio on their wall for a month. She winced. If
    she was honest, she’d count herself in that number.
    “He’s mighty fine.” Mimi traced
    Rio’s picture with her finger, with a small smile that said she was making a
    very happy trip down memory lane.
    Two could play the gossip game. “I
    heard you two are dating.”
    Mimi laughed and removed her hand
    from Rio’s picture. “Your gossip’s out of date. We spent some time together
    last summer, but Rio and I haven’t dated for months.”
    Relief probably wasn’t the safe
    reaction, but that was all Gia had. The look on Mimi’s face said she’d
    suspected as much too, and Gia hated being transparent. She drained half the
    shot glass and sucked on her lime while she considered that.
    Mimi surveyed the bar and sighed.
    “It’s not like there’s an active dating scene in Strong. My good parts are
    drying up.”
    “I’ll drink to that.” Gia raised
    her shot glass to toast that statement. When she banged the empty back down on
    the counter, Mimi topped it off.
    “You got a ride home tonight?”
    “I’ll find one.” After four shots
    of tequila, she had no intention of going anywhere near her truck.
    “I’ll take you when I close up.
    Just tell me one thing.” Mimi leaned closer. “I heard you saved Rio’s fine
    ass.”
    A new tune was starting on the
    jukebox and the bar had achieved that cheerful, slightly out of focus haze that
    meant no more tequila for her. “His chute malfunctioned.”
    “Uh-huh.” Mimi eyed her
    speculatively. “Four thousand feet above a man-eating wildfire. Tell me the
    part where you snatched him out of the air.”
    Gia had no idea what kind of story
    Mimi wanted. The simple truth was, she wasn’t so good with girls. Guys made
    sense. “I got close. He grabbed on. We landed.”
    Mimi made a face, so clearly Gia
    hadn’t told the story right. “Way to ruin the story. You sure he wasn’t crying
    like a baby or hollering with gratitude?”
    Gia pretended to think for a
    moment. “Positive.”
    “Well
    that’s a bummer.” Mimi shook her head. “That boy owes you. You should collect.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Come on. You’ve heard the stories,
    right? Person A saves Person B’s life and B has to spend a lifetime at A’s beck
    and call until he’s returned the favor? The Moor Azeem in Robin Hood ? Mulan ? Puss in Boots and Shrek ? Any of this ring a bell?”
    The thought of Rio owing her should not have her girly bits
    heating up, but she could think of all sorts of things her smoke jumper could
    do to pay her back. And none of them involved animated cats or ogres.
    “He’s a good guy,” Mimi offered,
    watching her face. “And he’s fantastic in bed.”
    Too
    much information.
    “He’s my jump partner.” She flipped
    the shot glass over, shaking her head when Mimi gestured with the bottle of Patron.
    Off-limits .
    Mimi raised a finger, gesturing wait-a-minute
    as another customer down the bar beckoned for a refill. “That’s a waste of a
    mighty fine man, but your loss. Here. Try this.”
    “I shouldn’t.” She had the day off
    tomorrow, but nursing a hangover headache wasn’t in her plans. Still, her
    fingers curled around the chilly sides of the short glass.
    “That’s true for lots of things.”
    Mimi grinned, turning away to do the refill drill down the bar. “Drinks. Men.
    Life.”
    ###
    Rio leaned against the wall, glad
    for the first time for his years working covert ops. Those two tours had taught
    him how to blend into the shadows when he wanted. It probably put him in
    stalker territory, but right now those skills let him watch Gia without
    freaking her out.
    Gia.
    His nemesis and fixation had her feet
    hooked around legs of the barstool, her thighs spread ever so slightly to keep
    her balance. By his count, she’d down four shots of tequila, so she