White Heat Read Online Free PDF Page B

up.” He unhooked the strap across his lap, as the shoulder part of the seat belt had long ago disintegrated. “It’s been a whole week since I’ve had me a good bar fight.”
    Lyndie rolled her eyes. “Try to keep all your teeth this time.”
    “Hey, I haven’t lost a tooth in a fight in years.” Tom got out.
    Griffin remained quiet, but his grim expression said it all. He was no more thrilled at being left alone with Lyndie than she was.
    “I’ll walk back,” Tom said. “You get our hero here where he needs to go.”
    Griffin stirred at that, shifted in his seat, which Lyndie found interesting. A reluctant hero? Not many men would fit that bill, and damn if that didn’t pique her interest where she didn’t want to be piqued.
    “It’s half a mile,” she pointed out to Tom, who wasn’t exactly known for his interest in exercise. “You always say the walk from your desk to your filing cabinet is too long.”
    “Yeah, but it’ll give them a good chance to beat the shit out of each other. By the time I get there, they’ll be too tired to resist arrest.”
    “And you’ll be in time to get your afternoon nap in.”
    “Not today.” His smile faded as he gestured to the smoke. “I’m coming back. Stay safe, you hear?” With a fond pat on her head, he nodded to Griffin. “See you soon. You stay safe, too.” And he began walking.
    “How are you going to get out to the fire?” she called after him.
    Tom stopped on the dusty road.
    “Do you have a tractor?”
    Lyndie turned in surprise to Griffin, who kept his eyes on Tom. “Do you?” he asked.
    “I could probably get my hands on one.”
    “A tractor can get anywhere and clear a path,” Griffin said, using more words than he had all day. “That’ll work for fire lines, or even an emergency road exit, if we need it.”
    “Consider it done, then.” Tom saluted, then he was gone.
    Lyndie climbed over the stick shift and into the driver’s seat, grumbling at the condition of the seat belt. While she clipped herself in, Griffin put a big, tanned hand down on the console between the seats and hopped from the back to the passenger seat she’d just vacated. He slid his long legs in first, then rested his broad shoulders back, tilting his face up to look at the marred sky before glancing at her. “Better,” he said.
    She jammed the shifter into first gear and hit the gas. She had to give him credit, he didn’t react, not other than reaching for the seat belt as the acceleration pressed them both back. He settled in, one elbow resting on the passenger door, his face inscrutable. In charge of his world.
    She liked to be in charge, too, so she supposed she could appreciate that. She certainly appreciated having the view of his nicely built, long, leanly muscled body to look at. Not that she’d ever do more than look. Unlike her boss, Sam, she rarely mixed business and pleasure.
    The road took a sharp turn and arched up toward a series of ranches, and then beyond them the sharp, ragged peaks. The road was narrow, pitted, and frankly, quite dangerous. With the sheer cliff on one side, the drop-off on the other, it was impossible to tell yet how far the fire had raged.
    The smoke around them thickened along with the choking, clinging scent of the fire. The hills above them, between the village and the alpine mountains beyond, were nearly invisible, and what wasn’t invisible glowed with flame. Lyndie squinted into the smoke as she drove, desperately wishing she could reach out and shove it all aside. Her lungs grew tight, an unfortunately familiar feeling. She patted the inhaler in her pocket, knowing she’d need it before this was through.
    “What’s the problem?”
    Griffin Moore had a way of looking at her that made her feel as if he could read her mind. Too bad she never allowed a man close enough to do such a thing. “No problem.”
    He knew that wasn’t the truth, she could tell, he just wasn’t going to pursue it right now. “We’re