Wildfire at Dawn by M. L. Buchman Read Free Book Online Page B

but he also smelled a woman like none he ever had before. Like snow and sunshine on the trees. He’d never smelled another woman like her…never expected to again.
    “He’s pretty vocal,” Laura spoke as if wholly unaffected by how close they were; that knocked down his ego a few pegs. All part of the game. “He kept chattering at me in horse the whole time I was trying to decide whether or not I could afford him. He was so chatty, that I bought him even though I couldn’t afford to. Called him Mister Ed and the name stuck.”
    “You my competition, mate?” Akbar addressed the horse and did his best to make it sound funny. To his ear, it sounded right. Inside, it felt a little too serious. When had he ever worried about the competition?
    He wished she weren’t wearing the shades so that he had some chance to see what she was thinking.
    # # #
    Laura considered Akbar for a long moment. She could hear the slightly false ring of his question, but couldn’t pin down what it was. He’d made it sound gruff and macho, as if he was ready to battle a horse for her affections. It was actually one of the nicer compliments she’d ever received. “Hey babe, you’re hot,” was far more common. It was hard to believe guys actually thought that was charming.
    “Mister Ed,” she answered him, “is my protector. So don’t mess with me or—”
    “The horse will pull out his Jetson’s ray gun and fry my behind. Got it.” He turned back to Mister Ed. “You must be one dangerous horse.”
    She could feel her guard weakening around the man. Actually, she poked around a bit, she didn’t feel her guard was up much at all.
    “What if…” Akbar trailed out the question and paid Mister Ed a bit more attention. Her horse was loving the strength of Akbar’s bare-handed rub down. It made her a little intrigued at what that might feel like. “What if I win your horse over to my side? Then you’re in trouble, right?”
    Yeah, she was. If she was picturing how it would feel to have this guy’s hands on her instead of her horse, she was in deep trouble. Time for a subject change.
    “Let’s run. I have a group to lead in two hours.”
    As they set off, Mister Ed nickered at them; he wanted to come along. But which of them was it that he wanted to follow? She wanted to shout traitor over her shoulder.
    When they reached the trail and it narrowed too much to run side by side, Akbar waved her ahead. Instead, she dropped back and gave him the lead. She wasn’t used to running with anyone else other than her mom, and didn’t like the idea of him staring at her from a pace behind. Of course now she was doing the same thing.
    He might not have her height or length of leg, but she could see he was a powerful runner. A long, solid stride, very self-assured on the smooth trail. Used to running over untracked terrain among burning trees, this must be a cakewalk for him. But he wasn’t just a runner. From his trim waist up, he had a powerful build from hour upon hour of backbreaking labor.
    They crossed a fast-rushing stream. He didn’t bother making the small detour up to the split-log footbridge, but trotted agilely over the protruding rocks with a quick set of almost dance-like steps and hit the far side in a clean stride.
    “What’s it like?”
    He didn’t ask for clarification as he slowed enough that conversation would be easier. “Fighting fire is like nothing else in the world. It has all of the intensity of an avalanche, with more safety and controls than you probably have when you guide tourists on a ride.”
    Laura couldn’t believe that he was translating it into her terms. Nobody was that thoughtful, unless they were making it up. He didn’t feel false. Actually, he’d probably learned this trick so long ago that it was automatic: figure out the woman’s metaphors and use those to charm her. He was good at it. That it was planned didn’t make it any less thoughtful. She let her silence prompt him for more.
    “If