Hotshots (Wildfires Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

meant men. Men usually smiled at her and tried to impress her with their looks and humor. She could spot a narcissistic man from a mile away and stayed clear of them. When she decided to take on a man, she didn’t want to be forced to compete with him for mirror space each morning.
    Nix Cayson wasn’t pretty, he wasn’t conventionally handsome, the man was seriously sexy. He was also stoic and she got the feeling he didn’t like her one bit.
    Being the straightforward type of woman, she slapped six pancakes on a plate, grabbed the syrup and a fork and took it over to where he was sitting. Maybe they needed to talk and he could get his hang-ups about her taken care of so it wouldn’t get awkward in the near future. Her father always told her that a team had to function as one unit, or things could get dangerous in the high country while fighting wildfires. Having the team leader giving you dirty looks all the time wouldn’t help at all. She set the plate down near his arm, and left the syrup and fork next to it before going to the coffee urn.
    She sat down across from where he’d begun eating. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? “
    His eyes raised and met hers as he nodded his head. He hadn’t planned to have a heart-to-heart with her until he knew for a fact if she was going to be the type of pilot to go in hot, almost waiting for the exact moment before a line of trees fell. He admired her old man, but he wasn’t a fan of the way he did the job. Nix had been on the ground the day Stryker bought it, and almost killed his kid in the process. He was the one who had pulled her body from the wreckage and hauled her out far enough for the medics to work on her, and he had gone back to finish the job of fighting the fire. The girl’s blood stayed on his hands and gear until he and the others finally got the fire contained. They’d lost two other men that day and the blame for their deaths was laid entirely on Stryker’s shoulders as far as Nix was concerned. Officially, they’d perished in the fire, and that would always stand, but he knew if the pilot had been listening to the instructions he’d been given, the chopper and the two front men would still be alive to tell the tale.
    “I’m sure you know who my father was, and you might think that I got special treatment to get here, but I had to work for the position. Jeb and Corbin demanded that I was in top shape before I was allowed to step foot inside The Shack. I’m here because I’m a damned good pilot. So if you have a problem with me being here, let’s get it hashed out now.”
    She folded her shaking hands, not certain why she was so agitated. “I want to understand why you act like you don’t like me or want me here. I’ve never met you before, so if you’re in a sharing mood, please tell me. And before the others come down, if you don’t mind. I am trying to fit in here as much as anyone else, and the glares you were giving me last night, I am pretty sure some of them picked up on. I don’t want to explain my shit to other people, since we are all living together, they are going to ask.”
    He speared another forkful of pancake and chewed it before bothering to answer her question. Damn it, she was right and he knew it. What the fuck was he supposed to say, ‘yeah, I am having issues with you. Your father was one of the best pilots out there but he fucked up, and even though I seriously want to know what kind of pilot you are, I want in your pants even more. So yeah, I glared at you, and I will keep glaring at you until I can feel that sweet little body beneath me so I can fuck you out of my system.’ Instead, he said.
    “It’s not that I don’t like you, Jez, and yes I know who your father was.” He sat back and downed the last swallow of coffee in the mug. He forced himself to smile, “I like you just fine.” His smile disappeared, and his jaw felt tight, but she’d asked for his reasons and he wouldn’t skirt the issue, well,