Burns So Bad (Smoke Jumpers) (9 page)

“Besides,”
she shrugged. “Being the last virgin on the jump team seemed like overkill to
me. Unless you think Joey is still holding out?”

He wasn’t
debating whether or not Joey had done the deed. He’d rather bleach his
brain—and he recognized a distraction when he heard one.

She’d
always been one of the boys.

She’d told
erotic stories right alongside them.

“I
thought,” he shoved a hand through his hair. “Hell, I don’t know what I thought.”

“That I
wasn’t really a woman, Rio? Or that maybe I just preferred girls like the rest
of you?” She shrugged. “Men tell stories, Rio. You should listen to yourselves
sometimes. So I told stories, too. I thought it was time to get some hands-on
practice.”

“Really
good stories.” He grinned up at her. So, okay. She didn’t want to make a big
deal out of this. They’d had sex and they’d leave it at that.

That was
okay with him.

It really,
really was.

He ran a
hand down her back. Gia had a really, really nice back. Her breath caught in a
sexy little hitch as he touched her, which was even nicer. So he did it again.
Maybe he could convince her to stay longer.

She raised
a brow. “If you ask nicely, I’ll give you a ride back to camp.”

Or not.

“You’d
leave me stranded out here?”

She sat up
and reached for her bra. “Jack wouldn’t be surprised.”

He didn’t
want to talk about his brothers. Clearly, their moment was over though, so he
carefully shifted her off his lap and reached for his own clothes.

Driving
back was damned awkward. The mood in the truck’s cab was all morning after,
except that it was afternoon and neither of them had gotten any sleep.

Nope.

That
had been no siesta they’d taken.

Instead,
she’d taken Rio. Or he’d taken her. Both ways worked.

She
could feel his eyes watching her and it was too bad he hadn’t come with an
instruction manual, because she had no idea what he was thinking. He sprawled
there like they hadn’t just been naked together in the back of her truck, his
hands on her. In her. And his tongue…

The
truck jerked right and she corrected her course. Getting them both killed would
definitely spoil the afterglow.

“Problem?”

He
had no idea. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but this awkward drive home
wasn’t it. The bubble of anger was welcome. Something that
was finally familiar. Rio had entertained women before. Surely, he could
come up with some kind of conversational chitchat to fill in the silence. She’d
take anything. A compliment. Next steps. The fucking weather.

Weather
she could do.

“There’s
a high pressure front moving in. That will force the winds through the canyons
and raise the fire danger. We’ll be jumping by the weekend.”

Her
analysis met with dead silence. Clearly, the wrong thing to
say right now.
Jesus.
No
wonder the guys called her the weatherman.

“Do
I make you nervous?” Now he sounded interested—and pleased. He was
definitely a guy.

“Do
I look nervous?” she countered, fixing her gaze drilling into the asphalt. Waves
of heat shimmered, cooking the summer air over the highway until the light bent
and tempted her with illusion.

“You
look beautiful,” he said and there she had it. Her compliment.

She
snorted. “Pull the other one.”

“Did
anything I said or did back there make you think otherwise?”

“Sex goggles?”

“That’s
tequila.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “And trust me, I find
everything about you desirable.”

Alrighty
then.

Time for a change of subject. “Do you think we’ve fixed our chemistry problem?”

He
smiled, a slow, lazy curl of his lips that definitely should have been illegal.
She knew, because she looked. She considered pulling the truck over and having
her way with him again but that smacked of desperation.

“Are
you asking me if I’m going to stop looking at you when we’re out in the field?”

Was
she? She stared at the ribbon of highway like the answer was painted there
between the neat yellow lines.

“Sure,”
she said finally.

He
laughed. “I doubt it. I like looking at you.”

That
was definitely heat flushing her face. Damn it, she didn’t blush. Of course,
she also didn’t flirt or have hot sexual flings either. Apparently, it was her
summer for new experiences. She hadn’t thought much beyond getting Rio in her
truck and then getting this itch she had for him out of her system. He leaned
towards her and her body hadn’t got the memo that Rio was a one-time treat to
herself.

Her
body definitely wanted more.

“I’m
going to stare right back,” she warned, because if he got to look, so did she.

“Deal,”
he said and settled back in his corner. That was too bad, because she’d been
enjoying his proximity. That little smile played over his lips again and she
had a feeling she’d just agreed to something dangerous.

Eyes on
the road, Jackson.

“You
think no one’s going to notice?” Her voice sounded throaty. Maybe she had an
inner sex kitten after all.

“Honey,
of course they’re going to notice. They already have.” Rio didn’t sound
concerned.

“That’s why I told you to stop
staring,” she pointed out. Outside the window, a billboard flashed by
advertising U-pick fruit, the sheriff’s car parked behind the faded boards.
Welcome to Strong, California. Orchard-fresh apples
and
a speeding ticket.

“I
tried.”

“Not
very hard.”

“And
you dragged me into your truck and had your way with me,” he said happily. “Now
I’ve got your permission to look all I want.”

She
tightened her fingers on the wheel and slid him a quick sideways glance. He was
looking at her right now, a hot, knowing stare that made her feel like she was
bouncing up and down on the front seat of her truck. Naked. Surprisingly, that
wasn’t a bad feeling at all.

“You
don’t mind if the others find out?” She felt like she should add more words to
the question, but what?
About
us?
Were they an
us
? Not thinking about anything more than getting her hands on
Rio’s hot body had been shortsighted.

“You’re
not my dirty little secret,” he said dryly. “Although Jack’s definitely going
to make a case that I’m not acting professional.”

“Is
that what you think?”

He
shrugged. “It’s true. Technically, I’m your boss. We’re on the same team and
we’re working together. Sex is usually a recipe for disaster in the office.”

She
took her eyes off the road and looked at him. “I didn’t hear you complaining.
Are you going to fire me?”

Peek
snuck, she turned her attention back to the road. There was something about a
man in steel-toes that revved her engine. Rio was a delicious package all
wrapped up in faded denim and those boots were just the icing on the Rio cake. She
loved the way he’d let her turn him inside out. He hadn’t wanted to give into this
thing
they felt for each other, but
he had. Having that kind of power over a guy like him was a heady rush.

He
shook his head. “Hell, I should give you a raise.”

“I’m
not stopping you.”

“You’d
kick my ass, Gia.” He laughed. He was right, too.

She
eyed the speedometer. Two miles until Strong. Too bad
their afternoon was almost over. She had a sudden urge to take the back roads
and spend the rest of the afternoon just driving around with Rio.

“I
don’t need presents,” she agreed. “I pull my own weight.”

“It
was a joke.” She could feel his eyes on her. “But that’s part of the problem,
isn’t it? I know the jump team matters to you and, God knows, I don’t want to
fuck that up for you. I don’t know how the rest of the guys would feel if they
knew for certain we were…”

He
trailed off. Yeah, Rio. Finish that sentence. Because,
honestly, she had no idea what they were either. Teammates, absolutely, but
she’d also like to think they were friends. Maybe not besties, but they’d had
each other’s back and that counted for a lot. Were they lovers? Friends with benefits? Picking a label was hard and he was
right anyhow. She didn’t want to jeopardize the camaraderie and acceptance
she’d earned on the jump team. Not for sex, no matter how great.

She
took a deep breath.

Take what you want.

Don’t wait for anyone to
give
it to you.

“I
want to see you again,” she said. “You can be my dirty little secret.”

Strong appeared and disappeared
outside the truck, all three streets-worth. Ma’s bar and the
general store flashing by in seconds. The hangar was no more than a few
miles away.

Would
he?

Or
wouldn’t he?

He
didn’t say anything right away and, since she was new at this, chances were
she’d misread him. Maybe one afternoon was enough for him. Just because he’d
been happy to let her have her way with him today didn’t mean he wanted a
repeat. She’d heard the campfire stories and, even dismissing ninety percent of
what she’d heard, the other ten percent said Rio didn’t stick. He loved. He
left. Mimi might count as a relationship, but she wasn’t sure.

And
did she really want a
relationship
with Rio?

“I’ve
never been anyone’s dirty little secret before.” She couldn’t tell whether he
was amused or simply thinking about it.

She
parked next to his truck and shook her head. “You don’t know that.”

He
opened his mouth. Closed it. Clearly, she had him there.

She
jabbed a finger towards his truck. “And here you are, delivered safe and
sound.”

“Are
you kicking me out?” Now he definitely sounded amused.

She
took the keys out of the ignition, although she had no idea where she intended
to go. Away. That worked for her. “I brought you back,” she repeated.

“Gia.”
His husky voice saying her name made her shiver. Damn it. Reaching out, he trailed
a finger down her bare arm. “I’d love to be your dirty little secret.”

###

Having
Rio as her secret was fun.

Sexy as hell.

And
yet… something was missing. She wasn’t sure what it was, but maybe dirty
secrets took more than two nights to mature. Whatever. Rio came to her or she
went to him—she wanted to keep their relationship even—and the sex
was great. Keeping her hands off him when they were at work was a challenge,
but she figured she’d get used to it. Or they’d burn themselves out and go back
to being just jump partners. Option B was far more likely than that first one.

The
third morning, when she opened her cabin door, she discovered Rio had been
playing Secret Santa.He bought her
a prickly cactus with a fleshy red flower smack on top of the spiny barrel.
Jesus. She didn’t want to know why he thought of her when he saw that thing,
but not only had he, but he’d transplanted the poor thing from the florist’s
shop to her front porch. The small card announced
Made me think of you
in a dark, slashing stroke. He had beautiful
handwriting.

If
he wanted to swap bouquets, she’d play. She’d whacked down armloads of
goldenrod with her machete and dumped them between the sheets of his bed.
For my golden boy
she’d scrawled in
magic marker on his pillow.

Her
handwriting was nowhere near as precise as his.

He
got the message, though, or maybe he just believed
thank yous
should be said in person, because she woke up and she
definitely wasn’t alone. Rio’s weight pressed her deep into the mattress.
Shifting, she curled her legs around his hips.
Hello.
Something soft stroked over her skin. He’d brought flowers
to share. How very nice.

“Gia,”
he crooned, drawing the spray of goldenrod down her throat. Jesus. That
shouldn’t have felt so good. Maybe it was because she was still half asleep.

“I
did
not
give you a key,” she
protested sleepily.

He
smiled. “You gave me flowers. And you sleep with your window open.”

She
bent her head to the side—which was about all she could manage with one
big ass smoke jumper lying on top of her—and
examined the bedroom window. “The air cools down at night. I wanted to take
advantage.”

He
made another slow pass with the flower, pulling back some so he could explore
her body. “I put the screen back. Maybe you could focus here, Jackson?”

The
flower teased a lazy circle around her left nipple.

“My
bed’s occupied,” he continued, “so I came over here to thank you.”

The
flower moved right and her breath caught. God, he was good.

“All
my fault,” she agreed happily. “Take your clothes off and I’ll make it up to
you.”

“Promises,”
he growled. His mouth followed the flower, tracing a hot, damp path over her
collarbone. His hair was damp from recent shower and he smelled like some kind
of cologne too. All put together, while she was her usual messy self. Her tank-top had ridden up over her stomach and the pair of striped
boy shorts she’d pulled on before falling into bed weren’t Victoria’s Secret.

He’d
have to make do.

She shoved the sheet down with her foot.

“You
bet,” she said and proceeded to show him how very,
very good she could be.

They needed to work on Rio’s
definition of
secret
. The man had
dirty
down pat, but the keeping his
silence thing wasn’t working for him. He kept looking at her. In public. Despite the current heat wave, no new fires had
been reported and that meant no jumps. Instead, the jump team was busy with training
routines and equipment checks.

After a week, she was probably
fortunate he hadn’t taken out a billboard to announce the change in their
relationship. She’d already checked Facebook, just to make sure, but the man’s
status stubbornly read
single
. There
were no incriminating photos of him and her, nor did he write on her
timeline.
That
would have had the whole team talking. As it was, she
suspected that everyone knew. Jack definitely did, and what he knew, Evan knew.
Evan had driven back to Strong when his R&R was up and then
he’d
started shooting her looks.