Slow Burn (Smoke Jumpers) Read Online Free PDF

hunting down outside funding sources for Strong’s new fire department, and Evan could easily imagine this magazine piece starring front and center in Jack’s efforts.
    “I’m already impressed by what you and your guys are doing.”
    “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He sank onto the bed’s edge to pull on his socks and steel-toes, because it was the bed or the floor, and his dignity had taken enough of a blow.
    “No, I mean it,” she said, and maybe she did. Her voice rang with sincerity, and she shifted closer, the mattress dipping beneath their combined weight. “The firefighter at that mountain brush fire yesterday was really spectacular. He was right there, pronto, before I could even phone it in. It’s like you guys pop out of the woodwork or something when there’s a fire.”
    Christ . According to the official reports, Evan had been first on the scene of yesterday’s only brush fire, pinch-hitting for one of Ben’s guys. He hadn’t seen any sign of another firefighter—or of Faye or her fancy car. “You saw a brush fire yesterday?”
    “Yeah.” She tucked the sheet beneath her arms and eyed him. “On my way into Strong. I came around a bend, and there it was. I drove right through it.”
    “You remember what time that was?” Had there been another fire he hadn’t known about?
    She shrugged. “Three or four o’clock. Exact time-stamp will be on the pictures.” She grinned at him. “Happy hour had already started at Ma’s when I got there about twenty minutes later.”
    Christ. Of course she’d taken pictures.
    Her next words were the final nail in the coffin. “I’m sure I can use some of them in the photo spread.”
    “You work for a magazine.” Shit just kept on coming, didn’t it? He needed to go, but he also needed to hear what she had to say. His fingers flew up the laces of his steel-toes, but no plan popped ready-made into his head.
    “Catalogs mostly, but I’m freelance now. This piece on Strong’s volunteer fire department is for a magazine. Show the firefighters doing their thing in a historic firehouse that’s being restored.”
    Jack was definitely going to kill him for getting involved with her.
    “We need to talk about that brush fire.” He stood up, considering his options. He’d ask Ben to double-check with his team and verify that Evan really had been the first responder. Maybe someone else had put in an unofficial appearance, but something was off here and, until he figured out what, he needed her to stay put, so they could have that conversation. “When I get back.”
    “Really.” Her eyes narrowed.
    He’d seen that look of feminine outrage on Lily Cortez’s face. His brother’s fiancée didn’t take orders well, either. He knew he’d stepped in it. Again.
    “Look, I appreciate the bed for a night, but now I’m out of here. I need to do my thing. I got some good quotes last night. I’ll talk to one or two of the firefighters down at your firehouse. Take a few more pictures. Then I’m hitting the road. All I need is the name of a good mechanic. My car was acting up on the way into town.”
    “Wait for me,” he repeated. “I’ll hook you up with a mechanic, if that’s what you need, but first you have to talk to Ben Cortez, the local fire chief, and my brothers. Tell them about this brush fire you saw.”
    “I can’t afford a motel,” she admitted.
    He wanted to pull her toward him, stroke away the pink flush on her cheeks. He’d done things to be ashamed of. He doubted that this woman had.
    “You saw my car?” she continued.
    “I saw it.” It would have been damned hard to miss the cherry-red Corvette, and they both knew it. “It’s a real nice car. Fast, too, I’ll bet.”
    “That car,” she said simply, “represents the sum total of my life savings. Beyond the change rolling around in the bottom of my purse, that car is all I’ve got. Whatever your fire chief needs to discuss, I need it to be quick.”
    This he could fix.