Henry was gone, and she had to protect his memory. More than that, she had to protect her heart. Another flame would reduce it to a gray, lifeless heap of ash.
And Landon's eyes were too hot on her already.
She knew one thing for certain: She wouldn't survive another burn.
Chapter 5
Landon
"Discharged?" Landon repeated incredulously. "I was just informed this morning that it would be at least another week before I got out of here!"
"I'm sorry, dear." Cherise patted his leg affectionately, and he could see real remorse in the sympathetic lines that crosshatched her face. "The boss man ordered it."
"What did Alex have to say about it?" he demanded.
"Scott is Alex's boss, too. Much as she has every reason to hate it." Cherise's comment struck Landon as odd, but before he could press for more information, she moved on. "Anyway, I don't think she knows about it just yet. She's volunteering in triage today."
"Volunteering?"
Cherise nodded. "Some more patients came in today. That's partly why they want to clear the rooms out."
Landon didn't mind the additional information, but that hadn't been what he was asking about. Why does a day nurse with a paying job have to volunteer to work for the hospital that employs her? Something wasn't adding up, but maybe the equation itself wasn't logical. He wanted to press Cherise more on this new track, but figured it probably wasn't his place. If his last encounter with Alex had taught him anything, it was that the nurses appreciated maintaining boundaries with their patients.
And if he was being honest, Landon was glad for the early release. The sooner he got the hell out of the hospital, the sooner he could get back to the action. Everyone who wasn't him wanted him to stay put, to rest up. He supposed he owed this Scott guy nothing but gratitude for seeing to his early release.
The doctor arrived to give him the down-low on his condition while Cherise changed his bandages. His recovery was pretty far along—his shoulder wouldn't require physical therapy, just the exercises on the sheet of paper the doc gave him in parting, something Alex had already mentioned in an earlier conversation, and his burns could be treated on an outpatient basis.
As soon as his arms were dressed, Landon got dressed himself. He thanked the doctor and Cherise, shook hands, and tried his best not to search for Alex on his way out the hospital doors.
His first breath of freedom stung his lungs with smoke from the distant wildfire, but he sucked it in happily as the red light of the low-hanging sun hit his face. He was a free man once again—a slightly burned, mangled man, but not beaten. Not by any stretch.
Now all he had to do was pass the firefighter medical exam.
* * *
"I failed the firefighter medical exam," Landon said, "and what's more, they're going to throw me out of the house."
"No!" Dyna, the proprietor of Dyna's Diner and Delicatessen, crowed with the exact amalgamation of horror and sympathy he had been looking for. "They threw you out?"
Landon shrugged one shoulder. "A crop of new volunteers came to town while I was down for the count. They already gave my bunk to somebody else. I can't exactly ask for it back, and I sure as shit don't plan to cuddle up with the new guy."
"I should have a word with Hank!" Dyna balled her dishrag and threw it down on the counter. "To think he dragged you all the way down here from Alaska and can't keep a roof over your head!"
"It isn't like that, ma'am. I promise." Though Landon couldn't deny it felt good to have someone on his side.
Hank had told him before he’d left for the diner that they would see to getting him new accommodations. Landon had to count on his chief's connections to his hometown, and hope that someone came to his rescue—preferably by tonight. Otherwise, he wasn't certain where he might wind up.
The diner door opened, and Landon turned, fully expecting to see Hank strolling in to deliver some good news.
What he saw instead was Alex. Her blonde hair hung free from her ponytail in wisps, and the dark outlines of sleepless circles were beginning to form underneath her eyes. Somehow, the tired look suited her, and it seemed to highlight her fragile beauty even more . . . either that, or Landon couldn't see the object of his admiration as anything less than gorgeous.
Her gaze locked with his. For a moment, she looked about to approach—he even noted the tip of her pink tongue dart out to wet her plump bottom lip, as if she was readying herself to say hello. At the last second, she turned to take a booth that was conspicuously located much further away from him.
Landon turned back to his coffee and tried not to feel too disappointed. One of the waitresses passed him to go take Alex's order.
"You know . . ." Dyna mentioned slowly.
"I don't," Landon grunted as he raised his coffee to his lips. "Am I about to?"
"Let's just say I happen to have heard that Alex has a free room," Dyna confided. Then, unable to withhold the full story, "She put my nephew up for a bit last year after his failed acting stint down in L.A."
"Sorry to hear it."
Dyna waved off his polite condolences. "You know, Landon, the more I think about it, the more I think it might be a great idea. Not only is Alex a nurse, but she's studying medicine on the side. She's going to be a doctor one day. Besides, you've already been her patient! She would know exactly what you need in the coming days. Living with her would speed your recovery. I know you must be dyin' to get back out there."
Landon couldn't deny that Dyna had made several good points. Alex knew all the physio techniques and probably had a cupboard already stocked with all the ointments he would need.
"You're a persuasive one, Dyna," he said finally. "I promise I'll look into it."
"Be a peach and see that you do," she replied, leaning her weight on the counter and fisting a hand on her expansive hip. Landon knew that particular pose meant Dyna was about to lay down some truth. "Hell, she'd kill me if she heard me tellin' you this, but Alex could use the company. The poor girl is becoming the town hermit, these days."
Landon turned his head to gaze across the diner at the unsuspecting subject of their conversation. He had the distinct feeling that, a moment previous, Alex had been looking over at him, but there was no way of confirming his theory. At the moment, she was staring raptly at her spoon, stirring it around and around in her soup bowl and losing herself in whatever she saw there.
He knew Dyna was right. Moving in with Alex would be the perfect solution for him—but even if the pretty nurse were to ask him, he wasn't sure he could accept the invitation. He didn't want to impose on her. And shit, how long did he really plan to be out of commission, anyway? If it were up to him, he'd be back out there tomorrow, sweating shoulder-to-shoulder with the other volunteers. He was going to bounce back, and he was going to do it sooner than Alex liked. She seemed to have an aversion to his line of work—if it was left up to her, or so it appeared to him, she would likely keep him off his feet and out of his uniform for the rest of his days.
And there lay the other problem. Landon liked the idea of Alex stripping his gear off him a little too much. It was more than just a passing attraction, and distance from her had only made it worse. When he wasn't lucky enough to have her in his immediate vicinity, he was consumed by thoughts of her. He had it bad, and Alex was unavailable. He was sure that any sort of arrangement between them would only cause trouble . . . that, or a lot of frustration that he wasn't certain he was prepared to deal with.
Living together was a solution that came with its own set of problems.
Alex glanced up, caught his eye, and glanced down again.
Dyna sighed. "Well, I can see this is getting nowhere fast." She rapped the table with her knuckles and started for Alex's booth. "You want somethin' to get done around here, Dyna better do it herself."
Chapter 6
Alex
"Find something interestin' in your soup there, Alex?"
Alex's hand froze mid-stir. She’d have to ha
ve been blind to not see Dyna headed her way, but a part of her had hoped the woman would walk on past her. Now she felt confirmed in her suspicion that Dyna had been talking with Landon—about her.
"It's delicious. I'm savoring it," she tried.
"Don't try to sweet talk me, sugar pea. I'm here to talk business." Dyna dropped down into the booth across from her and folded her hands on the table. Clearly, she was settling in for more than just a casual hello.
"I'm sorry . . . business?" Alex repeated stupidly. "I'm not sure what you mean."
"You're in the business of healin' people, right?" Dyna nodded her head back toward Landon, loose gray curls bouncing around her weathered face. "That man over there is itching to get back out in the world. That might not be something you can relate to right now, darlin', but it seems to me you're the only one that can help him."
"Me?" Alex asked incredulously. "How can I help him? Dyna, I—I tended to Landon as best I could when he was a patient. I'm afraid there's not much more I can do for him."
"Landon's in the market for a place to stay," Dyna stated. "Seems like the bunks back at his old place have all been filled by fellow volunteers. For as long as he's out of commission, he's out of a complimentary bed . . . unless you want him sleeping out in the volunteer tent city?"
"No!" Alex was aghast at the idea and wound up objecting a little too forcefully as a result. She felt nothing but admiration for the volunteer firefighters willing to rough it out beneath the stars, but that was far from the right solution for Landon, considering his injuries. "I mean . . . that's the last thing he needs." It worried her to think it might have already been necessary for him to cozy up on a couch in the rental while working out a more permanent bed. What piece of living room furniture—or camping cot, for that matter—could comfortably fit a guy as huge as Landon? His burns were healing, but it was his shoulder that presented the real trouble and was the whole reason the man was still ineligible to go back to work. Of course, she couldn’t say that much outright, so she contented herself with saying, “I don't care how comfy it is, sleeping on the ground or even a cot is completely out of the question."
"So what's the holdup?" Dyna demanded. "Why haven't you invited him over to stay with you, yet?"
Alex's panicked eyes sought Landon's back. "I didn't know the situation was that dire."
"Well, now you know!" Dyna said gleefully. "Question is, what are you going to do about it?"
Why is it up to me all of a sudden? Alex wanted to cry. Just because I nursed the wounded bird doesn't mean I want to help him build his nest! But Dyna knew her too well. Of course she couldn't, in good conscience, resist extending an invitation to Landon—but she had to! She had to fight those nurturing instincts with all her might. Landon might seem more reserved than some of the other hotheads he fought fires beside, but Alex trusted what history told her.
She knew better. He couldn't help his own reckless streak, and he was exactly the sort of man she should be staying away from!
"All right. I'll leave you to it." Dyna rapped the table and rose. "Just don't go looking for the answers in your soup. I promise you, I didn't include them in the recipe."
"Thanks, Dyna," Alex muttered. She hung her head, ashamed that she hadn't been able to come up with anything satisfactory on the spot. She knew she shouldn't let Landon in—but what other alternative was there? He needed time to recover. Could she live with herself, knowing he had nowhere restful to sleep, no real way to heal, when he might rush back out to the fire any day and get himself killed as a result? God should know there were enough hasty doctors at the hospital signing off on discharges and okaying firefighters to head back out there when, in truth, those men could use many more days—if not weeks—of R&R.
She couldn't have any more deaths weighing on her conscience. She just couldn't.
"Thanks, Dyna." Alex heard her own gratitude echoed in a much deeper voice, and looked up just in time to see Landon handing back his check. He didn't look at her on his way out of the diner. The bell above his head jingled as he departed.
Damn it, she thought as she hurried out after him. Always a total sucker for the heroes, aren't you, Lex?
"Landon! Wait up!"
Landon turned as she caught up to him, his expression one of surprise. His hands were buried in the front pockets of his jeans, and his department T-shirt showed off the bandages that still wrapped his arms.
Seeing him at his full height winded her a bit. She was so used to sitting by his bedside, conversing at eye level, or gazing down at him while he slept, that she had forgotten how tall he was. The closer she brought herself, the less she felt in control of the situation . . .
But of course that was ridiculous. Nothing needed to happen now unless she wanted it to. She was completely in charge.
So why was it that every time she looked at him, she felt her carefully-ordered world crumble just a little more?
"Let's get one thing clear," she said. "I know you're not in on Dyna's scheme, but that doesn't make it any less of a scheme."
"I beg your pardon?" he asked. His brows furrowed over his eyes as if she spoke a foreign language he had never encountered before.
Alex resisted rolling her eyes. She couldn't tell if his confusion was feigned or not. "Come on, Landon. You and I both know she already talked to you about my spare bedroom. I would have offered it sooner, but I didn't—I wasn't aware of your situation."
He shifted uncomfortably. "There's no situation I can't handle."
"I'm sure there isn't anything in the world you think you can't handle," Alex assured him. "I just wanted to say . . . I mean, invite you to, if you wanted—this is coming out all jumbled." She touched her hair, remembering belatedly to breathe. "I had it all laid out before. There would have to be some ground rules, of course. Things we both agreed to."
"Are you asking me to come and stay with you?" Landon inquired.
Alex nodded.
"It would never work," he said.
She hadn't expected to be met with resistance. She fastened her hands on her hips and gave him a hard look. "Why wouldn't it work?" she demanded. "I think it would be the ideal arrangement. You can't expect to make a full recovery on your own. I know the tendencies of my patients. What's more, I know you, Landon Brenner. After a few days of routine care, you're going to strip those bandages off and completely ignore any advice the doctor gave you."
"You certainly do think you know me," Landon said. "Hell, I've been of the impression you thought you knew me, head to tail, from the moment we first met."
"I've seen you naked," Alex pointed out. At his surprised look, her face flamed, and she realized that maybe the admission was a weapon she should have kept in her arsenal and never brought to bear. "Well, partially. I was your nurse, Landon."
"And it sounds like you still intend to be," he said. "Not that I would mind it." He pretended to consider her offer then. Alex knew he was pretending, because less than ten seconds later, he pronounced his decision for all the parking lot to hear. "All right, Alex. I'll come stay with you. If you insist."
"You can stay with me temporarily," she said with finality. "But we have to establish boundaries."
"Boundaries," he repeated. He wasn't asking a question. Judging by the thinly-veiled look he gave her, he already knew what she was referring to.
"And I get the final call on when you go back to work," she said. "And no trying to get around me. I know everyone on the medical team down at the firelines."
"Yeah? You didn't happen to say something to them about me already, did you?"
Alex refused to answer that. The truth of the matter was that yes, she had mentioned her concern about his early discharge to a paramedic at the Springs Well the other night when she dropped in for her usual Friday takeout dinner.
But she refused to fall into Landon's trap. The mere fact that he suspected her of anything meant that he had already tried to petition the team to let him back on the job—something the doctor had decidedly n
ot cleared him for.
"It's a small town," she settled on saying.
Landon crossed his arms and raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
Alex avoided his gaze, which meant her eyes wound up falling to his prominently-displayed biceps instead. Was it her imagination, or, aware of her sudden scrutiny, did he flex a little for her now? She remembered the way he used to find every excuse to firm his arms up for her in the hospital. She had blushed in front of him already today and didn't think she could afford another lapse now.
He might start to suspect that his tactics were actually working.
"Gonna feel smaller with us living together," he mentioned.
"I won't mind it. As long as you respect my boundaries."
"Boundaries," he repeated. He extended his hand to shake, and Alex took it without thinking.
The way Landon said the word boundaries almost made it sound like he viewed their new arrangement as a challenge . . . and she'd be damned if she let him get away with anything but temporary tenancy.
She was here to help him heal, nothing more.
He was here to put the fire out—nothing more.
There were certainly no fires that needed stoking between them.
Chapter 7
Landon
"So?" Dyna prodded, days later. "How are things goin' with you and Nursie?"
Landon had prepared for this line of questioning. He had concocted a hundred and one lies on his walk over, all of them featuring a pristine-perfect image of the domestic bliss he now shared with Alex. He had even come up with a few filthy remixes just to amuse himself . . . and had to put the brakes on those pretty quickly. Turns out that cohabitating with the little nurse hadn't cooled his desire for her.
If anything, it only made matters worse.
And speaking of matters that were worse . . .
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