Wild Fire

by Tiffinie Helmer

  The brakes were off.

  This wasn’t like the exploratory meeting of mouths when he’d kissed her overlooking the accident site. This one demanded she engage in a tango of tongues, a dance that mimicked what his body wanted to do with hers.

  Heat pooled in her center, and her limbs went weak. She found herself draping her good arm around his neck, either to pull him closer or to keep herself from melting into a puddle at his feet, she didn’t know which, probably both.

  He broke the kiss, breathing hard, and leaned his forehead against hers, his voice rough, “God, Kennadee, what I wouldn’t give to lay you down and have my way with you.”

  She wanted to demand he do just that, but physically there was no way he was up for sex, even though the part of him pressed hard and thick against her nether region seemed to say otherwise.

  “That would definitely be frowned upon by your doctor,” she said. “Plus, I’ve only slept with one man on the first date, and I never repeat myself.”

  “Aren’t I lucky then that I’m counting this as our second date.”

  “If you’re counting this one as our second, that only gives you one more.”

  He cocked a brow. “Do you hold to the urban myth that the third date results in sex?”

  She moved out of his arms and put the table between them. “I think we need to lay down some ground rules.”

  “Such as?” He narrowed his eyes and watched her closely. Too closely. She felt like one of his patients and he was trying to diagnose her.

  “Listen, I only sleep with men I don’t care about,” she blurted out.

  “Excuse me?” He shook his head as though that would help him understand what she’d just said.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I don’t have a clue what you mean.”

  “When I have sex with a man, it’s just sex. No hearts involved.”

  He frowned, looking concerned. “What has turned you against falling love?”

  She sucked in her breath. “This is getting too deep. I prefer to keep things light and easy. I should go.”

  He grabbed her good arm before she could beat a retreat. “Not until you answer me. Why are you afraid to open your heart?”

  “I’m not afraid.” The statement didn’t come out as strong as she wished. “My life is complicated. It’s not conducive to relationships.”

  “That’s bullshit. This is me, Kennadee, not some schmuck. I know you. I know what you’ve been through, losing your mother, watching your father fall apart. Seeing Sorene push Ash away so that he didn’t feel obligated to give up on his dreams and stay with her as she stepped in to help raise your siblings. I’ve been away for ten years, but I’ve kept track of what’s happened in Heartbreak. And I know of your reputation.”

  “What reputation?” That threw her almost as much as his little speech.

  “You are known to burn through men.”

  “So what if I do? No one gets hurt.”

  “That might be what you tell yourself, but you’re hurting yourself with this three date rule of yours.”

  “What I do or who I date is my business, not yours.”

  “Think again. I’m making you my business, Kennadee Wilde. You’re going to fall in love with me.”

  “The hell I will.”

  He gave her that crooked smile. “You’re already halfway there and it won’t be long before you fall all the way in love with me.”

  “You’re full of shit.”

  “The more you object just tells me how close to the truth I am.”

  “I suggest you let go of my arm before you need to seek medical attention again.” She held her breath, watching him struggle with the act of releasing her.

  He didn’t want to. He wanted to pull her back into his arms, kiss her again, but she couldn’t allow that to happen.

  Something changed within her when he had his hands and mouth on her. She caved, gave in, demanded more of his touch. She couldn’t help herself when she was around him, never could, which told her she needed to get the hell away from him and stay away.

  Slowly he released her. “We aren’t finished with this conversation.”

  “Yes, we are. Finished.” She stressed the last word.

  “I do love your fighting spirit, even though it’s annoying the hell out of me right now. I’ll give you a few days to digest what I’ve said, then I’ll call you for that third date.”

  “Don’t count on it. It might take another ten years for me to agree to go out with you again.”

  His laughter followed her out of the camping department. She stomped to the door, so angry that tears suddenly threatened. Grabbing the handle, she swung open the door, and embraced the chilly night air.

  It wasn’t until she was in her truck halfway home that she realized she’d left her coat. Crap, her phone was in the pocket. She’d have to see Gideon again in order to get it back.

  The hell with that.

  She’d buy a new phone before that would happen.

  Chapter 14

  “We have to do something,” Pete said, joining Jack at what he’d started considering their corner booth at the Pump House. “Gideon is beside himself. He finally broke down and asked for my advice. My advice. He hasn’t done that since he was a kid.”

  “What did you tell him to do?” Jack asked, taking a sip of his beer.

  “All the classics, send flowers, chocolates, call her. Hell, I told him to write her a stupid love letter, but none of it’s working. She still refuses to see him. Your daughter is a tough nut to crack.”

  “You don’t have to tell me that. Whatever your son told her on their date three weeks ago spooked her, which tells me she’s smitten but doesn’t want to admit it.” Watching his daughter flush at the mention of Gideon’s name made him all sorts of happy and cemented his plan to get her together with Gideon.

  They nursed their beers in silence, thinking, and then Pete asked, “How’s Kennadee’s shoulder?”

  “Healing, but not as fast as she’d like. She still isn’t approved to go back to work, and if any of my kids needs to work, it’s Kennadee. She’s driving everyone crazy. She’s cleaned the whole house and now moved on to Wilde Log Homes. I can’t find a damn thing. How’s Gideon’s recovery?”

  “His recovery is going great. I’ve never known anyone who bounces back from injuries like he does. He’s back seeing patients but acts like a bear with a thorn in his paw. That thorn is Kennadee. He’s fallen hard for her, Jack. Actually, I believe he fell back when they were teenagers and has carried a torch for her ever since. Her not agreeing to see him is breaking my boy’s heart.”

  “We have to find a way to get them together. I’m sure Kennadee thinks time away from him will squash the feelings she has that she doesn’t want to admit having.”

  “What we need is a way to appeal to her need to help people that forces her to be with Gideon,” Pete said, tapping the table.

  Jack suddenly straightened, a twinkle in his eye. “I’ve got it. It would require filling Gideon in on our plan.”

  Pete leaned forward, not wanting to miss a word. “He’d be up for anything that gets Kennadee to talk to him.”

  “Kennadee needs to feel productive, and she loves helping people. She’s a trained EMT. Couldn’t she help out at Mercy Heartbreak Medical Clinic with Gideon until she’s approved to go back to work?”

  “I like it!” Pete slammed his fist down on the table in his excitement, causing a few heads to turn their direction. “But we need to coach Gideon on the best way to approach her.”

  “Good,” Jack said. “I suggest he keeps it all business. Any talk of feelings and she’ll bolt.”

  Avery showed up with two refills. “How goes the meddling?”

  “Meddling?” Jack asked. “We’re not meddling. Are we Pete?”

  “Hell no. Just two friends sharing a beer.”

  “These are on the house,” Avery said. “Whatever you two are up to, it had better be about unraveling this mess
with Kennadee and Gideon. She’s driving Cat insane, and I want my girl happy and not worried about her sister, which means you two need to fix what you started.” Avery set the beers on the table as though he was a judge laying down a gavel. “Got it?”

  “Got it,” Pete and Jack echoed.

  Chapter 15

  Kennadee continued her one-arm pushups, thoughts coursing through her head.

  How dare Gideon say those things to her? Tell her she was halfway in love with him.

  What a crock.

  She wasn’t in love with anyone and never would be if she had anything to say about it.

  And damn it, she had everything to say about it. This was her life.

  She chose who she went out with—slept with—and who she didn’t.

  And by God, she wouldn’t be sleeping with Gideon Rasmussen again.

  Her thoughts added fuel to her workout, she’d give them that, but she sure as hell would like to get them to stop running on a continuous loop. In order for that to happen, she’d have to get over her mad first. It had been over three weeks, almost four, and her temper still sizzled. At least it was no longer at a blaze. The house looked great—downright sparkled—with all the anger-fueled cleaning it had been assaulted with.

  If she didn’t get the okay to return back to work soon, she’d go insane. Just that morning her dad had kicked her out of Wilde Log Homes, leaving her with no outlet except working out. She wished the physical activity would exhaust her mind as much as it did her body.

  The doorbell rang, interrupting her pushups.

  Well, crap. She was the only one home. Zoe was off doing Lord who knew what. Kennadee had been tempted to enter Sorene and Cat’s old rooms to see what Zoe was up to, but she valued her privacy and didn’t want to take that away from Zoe just because she was curious.

  She got to her feet and grabbed her towel, wiping the sweat from her face and chest, and headed for the door. She wondered briefly if she shouldn’t grab a hoodie and cover up so she didn’t give whoever was on the other side of the door—most likely the postman—an eyeful in her workout gear. Deciding not to, mainly because she was too hot to care, she opened the door.

  It was not the mailman.

  “What the hell do you want?” she demanded.

  “Still mad, I see,” Gideon said, his eyes taking her in, heating as they traveled over her tight shorts, bare midriff, and skimpy sports bra. He swallowed hard, and she had to admit she enjoyed watching him struggle to gather himself.

  “Go away.” She tried to shut the door, but he stuck his foot in the way.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “This isn’t about us. I need your help. Could we please have an adult conversation?”

  “Are you calling me childish?” How dare he!

  Gideon just stood there, regarding her with that perceptive gaze of his.

  Damn it, she was being childish. “Fine, you have five minutes.” She turned, leaving him to make his way into the house, or not. She walked over to where she left her water bottle and tipped it back, drinking greedily.

  “Been working out?” Gideon asked.

  “No, I’m having a tea party,” she replied, sarcastically then felt ashamed. “Sorry, I’m not in the best of moods.”

  She thought he muttered, “So, I’ve heard,” but he clammed up when she sharply glanced his direction.

  “Feeling well enough to workout is what I meant to ask,” he said.

  “I’m being careful with the shoulder and doing my physical therapy. Believe me, I can’t wait to return to work, and I don’t plan to do anything that will push that back. How’s your recovery?” She’d kept tabs on him through the Heart to Heart Network and heard he was back seeing patients at the clinic. She thought it was too soon, but then if she could be back at work, she would be.

  “I’m fine. Almost a hundred percent.”

  The black eyes were gone and the scar over his brow lived up to what she’d claimed. He looked rakish, sexier with it. His broken nose looked to have healed without any deformities, leaving him more handsome than she could bear. Part of her wanted to grab that face in her hands and kiss that mouth until he couldn’t stand up straight. She could do neither and was mad that the thought had even entered her head.

  Her libido needed an overhaul. That was all.

  Trying to reset it personally hadn’t worked. The only way she could release the tension was to think of Gideon, imagine him, which pissed her off even more.

  “Why are you here?” she asked.

  He seemed to struggle with what to say. “Rea is pregnant,” he blurted out.

  “Rea?”

  “My nurse practitioner that I just hired. Quinn Bleu is the father.”

  Sorene’s future father-in-law? “No way. How did I not hear about this? Ash is finally going to have a sibling?” One twenty-eight years his junior. Holy crap. “Sorene hasn’t said anything.”

  “The news isn’t for public consumption yet. As far as I’m aware, only Quinn knows. He hasn’t told Ash yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s not my business to know, but please don’t share the news until Quinn or Rea do. This is why I need you. I’m down a nurse, an important nurse. Due to her age, and previous history, she’s headed to Fairbanks for tests, and I know that she’ll be limited on the hours she can work. There isn’t anyone in town who has your knowledge, and I need the help. Since I opened the clinic, people are coming from all over the borough. I’m swamped. You’re grounded until your shoulder is a hundred percent, and I hoped you would be willing to fill in at the clinic.”

  It would get her out of the house and using her skills, even adding to her skillset. She could learn a lot from Gideon, working under a doctor—any doctor—in general. And she wouldn’t be cleaning the house obsessively. She’d be productive.

  “What would the job entail?” she asked.

  The crooked smile that appeared should have had her pushing him out the door, but she was too intrigued by the opportunity to see it as a red flag.

  “Taking vitals, drawing blood, assisting me when needed.”

  She could do that. The idea was tempting. It would further her knowledge, and she’d be helping people, instead of stuck home trying to find things to fill her days.

  “Okay, I’ll help out.”

  Gideon smiled. A smile that seemed a little too satisfied. She disregarded the prick of warning. “Can you start this afternoon? I need to head back. I took a break to drive over here to talk with you since you refuse to answer your phone.”

  “That’s because I don’t have my phone. You do.” She’d thought of purchasing a new one but decided to enjoy the freedom of not being tied to a phone for a while. Turns out life still goes on without a cell constantly in your hands. In fact, she’d gotten more things done without its constant inference.

  “What do you mean, I have it?” he asked, frowning.

  “When we had dinner, I left my coat at Heart Bait and Tackle. My phone was in the coat pocket.”

  “Why didn’t you let me know? I would’ve returned it to you.”

  She just looked at him without answering.

  “You’re one stubborn woman, Kennadee Wilde.”

  “I’ve been called worse.”

  “You’re also sexy as sin in that outfit and it’s taking everything I’ve got not to drag you into my arms and shut you up.”

  She sucked in her breath, not expecting him to say anything like that as he’d been all business since he’d arrived. “Uh, since I’m now working for you, that could be considered sexual harassment.”

  A warning growl escaped him, and he took two fast, long strides toward her until he stood next to her.

  She didn’t move, didn’t breathe, somehow couldn’t. Her body refused to obey her mind. His hand snaked around her back, lying flat against her bare skin, and lightning pleasure arced inside her at his touch. He yanked her flush against him, seeming to be giving h
er time to object or attempt to push him away. She did nothing, too shocked by the emotions and sensations wreaking havoc at his nearness.

  She felt alive, like when she laid her life on the line not knowing if she’d survive the experience. And she somehow knew that the one experience she would not survive fully intact would be Gideon Rasmussen.

  He stared down into her eyes, searching for something. Finding it, his other hand slowly slid around the back of her neck, holding her like they might have a proper dance. “You aren’t on the clock…yet, and therefore not under my employ just now.” He waited a beat for her response. When she didn’t give one, he smiled—a knowing and satisfying smile—and then lowering his head, he took her mouth, his tongue sliding right past her lips.

  A welcoming whimper escaped her as his tongue mated with hers. She trembled with suppressed need, her knees weakening, and clutching his suit jacket in her fist to stay upright.

  He groaned, licked and bit, and deepened the kiss, pulling her closer to him until there was no mistaking how much he wanted her. The realization sent an electrical charge through her, powering her limbs. She pushed him against the wall and took over the kiss. He let her for a brief few seconds before swiveling their positions and taking the helm.

  Her head was spinning, actually spinning. She’d never been this out of control to where thought and reason disappeared and were replaced by baser, animalistic urges. That’s all this was, she decided. Physical urges, an itch that needed scratching, that’s all.

  Her heart was not involved.

  It wasn’t.

  He tore his mouth from hers and trailed kisses and love bites down her neck to her breasts. There he paused, breathing heavy.

  Yes, touch me, she wanted to scream.

  She waited, hoped, but he planted his hands on the wall beside her head, his eyes rising to meet hers. What she saw in their swirling depths had heat flaring inside her chest. Her heart pounded so loud and fast she heard her own pulse in her ears. She fought for air, for balance, and found neither.