The Eleventh Hour

“Mmm…well, I wouldn’t say that. Did you know he’d moved?” She brought Denise up to date on Steve’s switch to hometown guy, who fought fires started by arsonists, rather than jumping from planes on a daily basis.

“All that danger and excitement sounds fun to me.”

“Not when you’re the one left at home wondering if you’ll ever see him again.”

“Good point.” She angled her head, her bright red curls brushing her cheek. “I hadn’t heard he left Fairfax, but then I’d left for graduate school, and I didn’t ask a lot of questions about him after you guys broke up.” She glanced across the bar at the man in question. “He certainly hasn’t lost his touch.”

Laine followed her friend’s stare and noted that Vivian was leaning close enough to the man to breast-feed him. A surprising pang of envy hit her.

“Vivian was always obvious,” Denise said, shaking her head. “In fact, at Honors Choir tryouts—”

“Let’s stay in this decade, please.”

“Yeah, sure. I still don’t see how you’re going to follow him around taking pictures and not be tempted.”

“I’ll manage. Why do you think he’s always surrounded?”

“He’s drop-dead gorgeous, Laine. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“I was just hoping it was me. He’s aged, after all.”

“He has?”

He had. And somehow looked even better. Men!

“He might be worth the risk—heartbreakwise,” Denise added. “I’d go for the direct approach. Invite him to your place, see where things go.”

“Invite him—” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. My place is Aunt Jen’s.”

“So go to his place.”

“The only place I’m going with him is professionally related.”

“Speaking of your job…how are you going to cover this fire and not actually, you know, be there?”

“Remember how I told you I’d hoped to convince my editor this was a human-interest piece?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s interested in humans all right. As long as a big, raging wildfire is in the background.”

“Yikes.”

Laine sighed. “Tell me about it.” Recording action on film was great, but participating wasn’t her strong point. Up until a few months ago, her biggest challenge had been figuring out the difference between a hybrid tea rose and a floribunda.

Now, no matter how terrified she was, she had to face the fire. Literally. How Steve did so on a daily basis—in the forest or in his hometown—she’d never understand. So, it was time to earn her precious paycheck, stop talking and start snapping. “I’m going to take some aerial shots in the morning.”

“If you say so…”

She rolled her shoulders. “Okay. I’m going.”

“Aerial shots now? It’s dark.”

“Not now. I’ve got to get my camera out of hock first.”

Her stomach fluttered like crazy, no matter how many times she told herself to calm down. Thanks to Denise, images of Steve in various states of nakedness kept dancing across her mind. Memories she’d long forgotten. Or so she thought.

Distracted, she didn’t notice a different woman stood by Steve until she was a few feet away. She had shoulder-length dark hair and striking turquoise eyes and a shoulder holster peaking from beneath her jacket. She looked extremely annoyed.

“Come on, lover boy,” she was saying to Steve. “We were supposed to meet an hour ago, and I don’t have much time.”

Laine cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest. These chicks are amazing. She glanced at Steve. “You need a better appointment calendar.”

“No, she’s not—She’s my sister-in-law.”

Laine widened her eyes.

Rising, Steve rubbed his temples. “Cara, would you please explain what you’re doing here?”

“We had a consult on the arson aspect of the wildfire,” she said in a clipped, no-nonsense tone Laine admired. “I’ve worked on several suspiciously started forest fires over the years, and my boss, the governor of Georgia, went to school with your commanding officer, so he sent me. I talked to the guys at the site when Steve didn’t show up. They said to try here.” Her gaze slid over Laine, as well as the half-finished drinks on the bar. “Where you don’t seem to be thinking about the fire. Sorry about that.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Steve said. “I forgot you came in yesterday. Laine, this is Cara Kimball. Cara, Laine Sheehan.”

Laine shook the other woman’s hand, finally realizing what her presence meant. “So, which brother did you marry?”

“Wes.”

Mmm. That made sense. Though she’d only met Wes once when he’d visited Steve, she remembered him being tough and temperamental. Not a man for a meek woman. “Congratulations,” she said to Cara.

“Cara is a captain in the arson division,” Steve put in. “She and Wes met during a case last fall.”

“So arson or careless campers with this wildfire?” Laine asked.

“Careless campers started it, but there’s a possibility arsonists are egging the blaze on,” Cara said.

Laine shook her head. “That doesn’t exactly restore your faith in humanity.”

“Hang out with me for a few days and my cases would completely destroy your faith in humanity.”

Steve frowned, and Laine wondered whether he was disturbed by the content of their conversation or the chumminess between her and Cara. As Steve pulled out the stool on the other side of him, Laine waggled her finger, indicating that he should move down so she and Cara could sit next to one another.

“Join us,” she said to her new friend.

Dropping onto the stool, Cara shrugged. “For a few minutes. I have to get back to work.” She leaned forward and directed her attention to Steve. “And so does he.”

“How could I forget?” He raised his hand to the bartender, then asked Cara what she wanted.

“Diet Coke,” she said.

“One for me, too,” Laine added, pushing her martini glass aside.

“Ben got married recently, too,” Cara said.

“Really?” Ever since the death of Steve’s father, Ben had been the leader of the Kimball clan. Laine had never met him, but she’d gotten the impression that Ben was both reserved and revered. A longtime role model for Steve.

“Steve’s the last bachelor in the family,” Cara said, cutting her gaze toward her brother-in-law. “And likely to stay that way.”

“Certainly not from a lack of available candidates.”

“None of them seem to hold his interest for more than a couple of months, though.”

Laine nodded. “Been there.”

“No kidding? You and Steve?”

“Yep. About seven years ago. For a couple of months during the summer.”

Cara shook her head. “The story of his life.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Steve said, sounding annoyed.

Without looking at him, Laine patted his hand. “And we’re glad to have you.”

“Why do you think he never hangs around very long?” she asked Cara.

“You know men. They can never turn down a buffet.” She glanced at Steve. “Not that it’s any of my business.”

“Oh, right. Not mine either.” She slid off her stool and scooped her camera bag off the floor. Though she’d gotten caught up in her rapport with Cara, she didn’t have any interest in or right to Steve’s personal life. “I’d like to take some pictures of you both in action this week, if you don’t mind.”

“Laine is a photographer for Century magazine,” Steve said to Cara as he rose.

“I’d rather not have most of what I’m doing recorded,” Cara said, scowling. “Except by me. Sorry.”

Laine liked the idea of a female arson investigator in the middle of the disaster. And she thought Cara’s intense personality would come across dramatically in the pictures. “I’ll let you see any photos I’m considering for publication. You’ll have the opportunity to sign—or not sign—a release.”

“I’ll consider it,” Cara said.

“Great.” She looked up at Steve, ignoring the warmth flooding her body. “I’d like to shoot you and Josh and the others, too. When’s your next day on-site?”

“The day after tomorrow—Tuesday.”

Laine shook Steve’s hand. “I’ll see you then, I guess.”

3

STEVE RESISTED THE URGE to pound his head against the bar. Handshakes? I’ll see you then, I guess?

Could he be losing his touch?

As Laine strode away, Steve held up his finger and said to Cara, “I’ll be right back.”

He caught up with Laine just outside the bar. Had he said something to himself about liking the challenge she presented? He must have gone temporarily insane.

Yes, he had. Insane with need for Laine.

The memory of her. The reality of her. The reminder of the man he’d once been. Strong. Brave. Fearless.

“How about dinner tomorrow?” he asked again when she looked up at him as if wondering why he was following her down the sidewalk.

“No.”

“I’m not a smoke jumper anymore.”

“Really?” She stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. “And how did you get to the site of that ridge fire two days ago? Stroll leisurely into the forest with Bambi and the rest of the gentle woodland creatures?”

She had a point there. “Okay, so I’m temporarily a smoke jumper. But only until this fire is out.”

“Then you go back to Georgia, and I go back to Texas.”

He slid his thumb along her jawline. “But while we’re here…”

“I’ll be working. You’ll be working.”

“Not all the time.”

She stepped back, away from his touch. A light of determination appeared in her eyes that he’d never seen before—at least not until the day she’d dumped him. “I’m not doing this again, Steve. Smoke jumper or not, nothing has changed.”

“We were great together before. What’s wrong with trying to find that again?”

“You asked me to move in with you while you were in the hospital recovering from smoke inhalation.”

When he’d been selfish and caught up in the adventure of his job, she’d been there, staring at him with her big brown eyes, offering her quiet devotion. Now, when he realized that he’d lost—her gentleness, her ability to be quiet and still, and not always running from one adventure to another, she wanted nothing to do with him. “Not exactly my best timing.”

“You’ve got my agreement there. I also recall a fire down South. You were supposed to meet me for dinner and showed up three hours late. And for two of those hours, I couldn’t find anyone who could tell me whether you were dead or alive.”

Steve winced. “I know. Josh—”

“Dragged you off to a celebratory drink at a local bar. I remember.”

He dragged his hand through his hair. “This isn’t going at all like I planned.”

“I imagine not. But you’re still a firefighter, and I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

Was that what their relationship had been? A mistake? Is that how she remembered him?

The idea rankled his pride, and landed a powerful blow on the wonderful past with her that he cherished. And while he couldn’t deny that he didn’t want to go back to smoke jumping, and this trip to California brought up bad memories of wildfires, he’d kicked down many doors of burning houses and buildings in his life. He couldn’t see that ever changing.

“You have a line of women who want you,” she continued. “You don’t want me.”

“I do.”

“Maybe you just want the memory of me. I’m not the same quiet girl I was seven years ago.”

He clenched his fists by his sides. “No, that’s not it. We’re not just a memory.”

Or a mistake.

He tugged her hand, pulling her down the sidewalk and around the corner of the building. Wide-eyed, she stared at him as if she understood something inside him had just shifted. When he moved closer to her, she backed up. “And knowing all that, you still want me,” he said.

She laid her hands against his chest. “Maybe we still have some physical chemistry, but—”

He pressed his hips against hers, trapping her against the brick building. “You’re really beautiful. Have I told you that?”

“Earlier, I seem to recall—”

He kissed her jaw, just below her ear, where—at least in the past—he’d made her shiver and moan. “I think we should pick up where we left off…”

She sighed, leaning her head to the side, giving him better access.

He’d forgotten how silky and delicious her skin was. As he cupped the back of her head, he closed his eyes, inhaling the fruity scent clinging to her that was somehow sweet and exotic.

Suddenly, she pushed him back. “Where we left off, huh? We left off at a big fight, where you told me you had adventures and challenges to tackle and had no plans to give up your certain-death job.”

“I’ve changed my mind about that, you know.” He pulled her into his arms, nuzzling her neck.

“It doesn’t look that way to me.”

He dragged his lips across her cheek. “Give me a chance to show you.”

“I shouldn’t.”

“But you will.” Sensing her will weakening, he captured her mouth with his own, sighing into the warmth and curves of her body. He slid his tongue past her lips, hungering for more of her, desperate for her response.

And, not sure how telling that revelation was, he angled his head, seeking to draw more from her, to absorb her need with his own.

Heat from her body infused his. Desire crashed over him as if it had only been lying dormant over the years, just waiting to pounce and grab him by the throat.

With just the edge of the floodlights illuminating them, Laine’s body was part flesh, part shadow. Crushed against his chest, her nipples hardened, and he envisioned her lying back, her arms outstretched, him on top of her, yanking her clothes from her body.

She tasted familiar, but seemed different. She met his hunger with confidence, not shying away an inch from his intense desire. He took his time relearning her lips, the best angle for their heads, the curve at the small of her back, the swell of her backside.

A piercing whistle broke through the quiet of the night.

Then he heard Cara’s voice. “I’ve cooled my heels long enough, Steve. Get your ass back in here.”

Laine froze. “What have I—” Smoothing her hair back into place and clutching her camera bag to her side, she ducked beneath his arm. “I have to go.”

Steve’s chest was still heaving, his body still throbbing.

It’s the pursuit. It has to be the pursuit.

Laine was the only woman within three blocks who hadn’t come on to him. That’s the only reason he wanted her so much. Pretty stupid. And childish.

He had work to do here. He needed to put all his effort and concentration in jumping out of planes, rappelling from helicopters and plunging headlong into flames and smoke every day. He didn’t have time to be distracted by women, especially Laine.

But he still wanted her so much. The sense that he’d screwed up big by letting her go seven years ago washed over him, stronger than ever.

Her face flushed, and waggling her fingers, she scooted back. “See you around, Steve.”

“Count on it,” he muttered as he watched her walk away.

HER STOMACH IN KNOTS, Laine climbed into the helicopter’s passenger seat.

Remember, this is your job…

With his aviator sunglasses in place, the pilot gave her a reassuring smile. She hoped she didn’t throw up on his shoes.

A forestry official gave her a headset and strapped her in, then he closed the door. Laine shut her eyes as the helicopter began to lift from the ground.

Are you crazy? You’re a photographer, not Lara Croft.

She’d reluctantly been up in helicopters before, photographing the grounds at the Biltmore Estate and the progress of the Rose Bowl Parade. Once she got over the initial takeoff, she’d always been able to manage her fear if she focused on the view through her lens.

She liked the solitude and silence of photography. She liked the ability to change what she saw and how she saw it. She liked capturing moments in time, reflecting on them hours, days and years later.

She gripped the sides of her seat to steady her rolling stomach as the chopper banked.

“I have a one-hundred-percent success rate,” said a disembodied voice through her headset.

She glanced over at the pilot and gave him a weak thumbs-up. She tried not to focus on the height, the noise of the whirring blades, the fact that she was thousands of feet in the air and supported by a bit of glass and metal and a five-point safety harness.

And after taking a deep breath, she managed to look out the windshield.

They were high over the forest and mountains now, turning trees into twigs and cars into model toys.

The scorched blackness of much of the area made her throat tighten. From the research she’d done on wildfires, she knew smaller ones that didn’t threaten civilization were allowed a controlled burn. This cleansing of the land was actually good for the environment and encouraged new growth.

But destruction of this magnitude was disastrous. The fire was now ripping through a stretch of land where a developer had built a collection of cabins he rented out to companies for management retreats. Small, “hot spot” fires sparked by the larger blaze were popping up all over the area. Wildlife homes were reduced to ashes. A small park and series of hiking trails that were owned and managed by the forestry service had been destroyed.

And Fairfax was next on the list.

Spurred by that threat, she pulled out her digital camera, with its high-powered zoom lens, to record the scene. As the pilot swung as low as was safe over the blaze, she realized the fire was beautiful, in its way. The colors, the power and the heat were mesmerizing, as well as deadly.

The pilot set them down once near a small hot spot, where Laine was able to get out and take some close-ups of the crew.

She forgot about her own fears as she watched them dig trenches and clear trees and brush to rob the fire of fuel, then aid that effort with extinguishing chemicals. They sweated and strained. Through her fireproof jumpsuit and without the heavy supply pack most of the crew carried, Laine could hardly stay coherent in the heat. Still, she had to stifle the urge to grab a shovel and help.

They were an amazing breed, these men and women who challenged a force of nature that only God himself could really battle and win. It was an alliance Steve was an integral part of, and one she didn’t think she’d ever fully understand.

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