Ignite (Firefighters of Montana Book 3) by Nicole Helm Read Free Book Online Page A

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    But he wanted to. He wanted to forget where she came from and focus on the fascinating woman walking back to him without an ounce of sway to her hips, without one, sexy feminine glance. Just a cool, bullet-to-its-mark efficiency in every movement.
    He was still getting uncomfortably aroused. She wasn’t…an act. Even though he was—his every day was an act of being someone else—he craved a kind of truth with the last woman he could give it to.
    No one had ever claimed he was smart.
    She came to a stop in front of him, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth…the little play of nerves somehow endearing.
    Endearing? Seriously, that blow to the head has messed with your brain.
    “So, um…” Her eyebrows drew together and she frowned down at him. She wasn’t tall, which was surprising. In the exam room he’d had this impression of her being…bigger. Such was the effect of her personality, he supposed.
    Why did he have to be inexplicably drawn to women with big personality? Why did he have to admire a kind of ruthless efficiency, a straightforward snark? Those were exactly the kind of women who would cut through all of his bullshit in seconds flat.
    But that was exactly what he wanted. “Ready to head out then?” he asked, sliding from the stool.
    She nodded, clasping her hands together in front of her, turning toward the door as he fell into stride next to her. His hands itched to do something crazy like touch the silky strands of her hair that swung in the ponytail. Or maybe drag his fingertip down the delicate curve of her neck, just as he’d done to her cheek.
    He should probably keep his hands to himself, but he couldn’t quite manage it. The graze of her cheek under his fingertip wasn’t enough. Nothing about Lina was quite…enough.
    So, he placed a hand to the small of her back, smiling too easily when she jumped at the contact. But she didn’t jump away and she didn’t stop walking for the door. She did slant him a sideways glance.
    Something lurked in that all too shrewd expression, something he wanted to know more about. Something he wanted to unravel.
    As they stepped outside, he tried to take a breath of the clean, warm, night air and find some kind of clarity in it. Some kind of sanity. He was really going to risk years of keeping Jess as far away from the poison that was him just because this woman intrigued him?
    Jess is miles away. Miles and miles. He’d made it this far and this long, what threat would this really pose? It wasn’t as though he had time to foster some kind of relationship during fire season. He’d given up trying that long ago. So, at most, this was a roll in the hay, at least, a night of flirtation.
    What was he risking?
    “Here we are,” he said, gesturing to his truck. He’d finally saved up enough to buy a new one last year and it wasn’t the fanciest truck on the lot, but it was the first big purchase he’d ever made. He’d earned this thing in front of him with sheer determination and hard work. A “screw you” to the father who told him he’d amount to nothing.
    The surprising thing had been the sense of accomplishment, not just in thumbing his nose at dear, old dad, but in working hard for something and earning a reward. He had an apartment, a truck, a job he loved. He’d built a life.
    It felt good, even if he wasn’t who he told people he was.
    Lina turned to face him, and she had to tip her head back to meet his gaze. He didn’t mind she had to do that, considering he figured this woman he barely knew already had more power over him than she ought to.
    “How’s your head, really?” she asked, something of that cool doctor tone seeping into her voice.
    He raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t even wilt. She raised her own to match it when he didn’t answer.
    “I’m a doctor. I have a sixth sense about these things.”
    “Bullshit,” he returned.
    He was rewarded by her laughing. “Tell me,” she said, and there was a soft note to her voice he