Risk the Burn

by Marnee Blake

“Well, not exactly. I can wait for you to finish.”

  She could only stare at him. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head while we were bungee jumping?”

  He laughed, and the sound of it struck her low in her belly. God, this man. Why did she have to find everything about him so goddamned attractive? In front of her, he was a solid wall of muscle. Not only muscle, but wonderful-smelling muscle. His scent was warm and spicy, with cologne or something. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but she suspected it was something uniquely his.

  As if unaware of what his proximity was doing to her, he continued. “It’s much easier and more fun to go with someone else.”

  Even though she ran through the million ways this was illogical, excitement trickled through her. She could see it, tucking her hand in his, the wild and wonderful sensation of heading off to do something unadvised. Something just a little crazy.

  But she couldn’t ignore all the ways it didn’t make sense for him to be there.

  “Come on, Hunter. You can’t tell me that there aren’t a dozen other people you know who would be more than happy to go jump out of a plane with you.” Unwittingly, images of the kinds of girls she’d seen staring at him—women of every age, shape, and size—burst into her head. She shook them away. “I mean, your friends. Lance, Dak. They would go. Why aren’t you somewhere asking them to do death-defying things with you?”

  “Because you’re who I want to do death-defying things with.” He attempted to make it sound casual, teasing even, but she caught the seriousness underneath. Looking up into his eyes, she recognized that this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision to come and convince her to go. There was something else there.

  “Me?”

  “Yeah.” His gaze fell away from her, drifting over her shoulder. “And I can’t ask them.” His words were low, quiet and tortured. “They don’t get it.”

  “Your friends?” she whispered. “They don’t get what?”

  “They feel bad for me.” He smirked. “The parachute that failed me had been sabotaged, but it had been meant for Lance. I picked it up. It could have been anyone else who could have picked it up. They’re all supposed to be packed exactly the same. We’d set our stuff out, prepared it for our jump. It had been a mistake for me to get the bag.” He narrowed his eyes. “Imagine how they must feel? Lance, who was supposed to have been the one with the messed-up bag. Dak, who was on that plane, too.”

  “They pity you. And they feel guilty.” Of course they did. How wouldn’t they? She’d read that Lance had tried to save Hunter, that he was the only reason Hunter was still alive. Yet, Hunter had still been horribly injured. There had been talk back then that he might not walk again. It must be hard for Lance to watch his friend struggle to recover. He would always wonder if there was something else he could have done, something that might have changed the outcome for the better.

  “I try not to let on how hard things have been.” Hunter turned, paced away. She got the impression he wanted to put some distance between them, too. That this was difficult for him to talk about. “I don’t want them to feel like this is, well, their fault.”

  “It’s not their fault. But it isn’t your fault either.” It was important that he remember that, that he hadn’t chosen this path either.

  As she watched him, her admiration grew. This man had been through hell. She’d seen the aftermath of injuries like his. She’d witnessed the pain and stiffness, the frustration when one’s limbs didn’t behave how their owner wanted them to. It was humbling and angering; she’d seen it. For him to go from where he’d been a year ago to where he was now, it must have taken a huge amount of determination.

  He had a quiet strength about him, a solid core. Watching him struggle with vulnerability, to be struck down by fear, was hard for her.

  But could she do what he was asking her to do? She’d bungee-jumped, but this? She’d need to get into a plane, wear a parachute on her back. She’d need to jump out of the plane and put her faith in that pack to save her life.

  Looking into Hunter’s eyes, she realized she didn’t have nearly the fear to overcome that he did. And if he could entertain the thought of going up there and jumping, then she could, too.

  “After I’m done here.” She motioned toward Mr. Underwood and his wife. “This client is finished in fifteen or so, and I have one more after that.”

  His exhale was full of relief. “Of course.” He grinned. “That would be great.”

  While she finished up, she was acutely aware of his eyes on her. When her last patient left, she checked in with Leslie who was working a client through some exercises. “See you later, Leslie. I’ve got to go parachuting.”

  Leslie glanced behind her to where Hunter was standing. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Parachuting.”

  Her boss blinked. “Huh.”

  That was all she said. Charlie scowled at her. “What does that mean?” Last time she checked, “huh” wasn’t a real statement.

  “He’s a good fit for you.”

  She stilled. “Oh, no. It’s not like that. He needs someone to go with him. To jump out of a plane.”

  “Right. Of course. That makes complete sense.” Leslie rolled her eyes.

  The client Leslie was helping to stretch clicked her tongue. “Honey, no one jumps out of a plane for someone unless they like them.”

  “I agree, Janice.” Leslie barely contained her chuckle.

  “He’s my friend’s brother.” It was the last logical argument, and it still wasn’t that much of one. As her gaze strayed to Hunter, standing near the door, she could see how this might give her boss the wrong idea. Hunter had other people to ask. He’d come to her. Was there more there than she was willing to admit?

  Maybe. She didn’t know. But there was no way she was going to let that man down. He’d already come too far. If having her come along made him get over whatever last hang-ups he had, then so be it. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Charlie waved as she backed away. “Have a good day, Ms. Lloyd.”

  “You too, dear,” the woman offered from her deep quad stretch on the table.

  “See you tomorrow, Char.” Leslie grinned, winking. “And have fun.”

  As Charlie waved goodbye, she met Hunter’s eyes and nodded.

  The smile that split his lips was brighter than the sun.

  Chapter Eight

  As the plane reached jumping altitude, Charlie’s skin looked pale and her eyes were wide. Though most of the time she didn’t stop talking, now she was completely silent.

  She looked like she might throw up.

  Not for the first time, Hunter regretted dragging her into this. He should have never convinced her to do this. He should have let her off the hook, told her that she was right, that it was okay, that he could do this on his own. That he didn’t need her there for moral support.

  He’d have been lying, but that’s what he should have done.

  “You don’t have to jump,” he offered for the third time. “The pilot is going right back to the airport. You don’t have to do this.”

  She looked him over. Her eyes scanned his face, quick, assessing. He had no idea what she saw there, but she shook her head. “No. I’m going.”

  “Seriously. I’m good. I’m going.”

  “I know.” She nodded. “You’re good because you’re worrying about me. You’re not freaking out because you’re too busy worrying about my freaking out.”

  He could only stare at her. Was that what was happening here? Had he dragged her up here to take his place in the panic? “That’s not it at all.”

  “Are you sure?” She grinned, but she still looked a little sick. “Because that’s how it feels to me.”

  “I’m sure. I brought you here because you make me happy.” He was yelling over the motor, but he didn’t care. “I brought you because when you look at me, I feel l
ike I’m as strong as you think I am.”

  Maybe he should have been embarrassed by the words. They were super sappy for a guy who wasn’t into talking about his feelings. But when she smiled—a real smile, not the sick one from before—he decided he didn’t care. The words had been worth it.

  “Then you can jump first, big guy. Show me how it’s done.” She pointed to the window and wiggled her eyebrows. Something about the ridiculousness of it made him laugh.

  “Fine. I’ll go first. As long as you promise to meet me down there.” He shouldn’t be daring her, but with her dark curls wild around her face and the color returning to her cheeks, she was delicious.

  She stuck her hand out to him. “Deal.”

  Encasing her fingers in his, he held them too long. God, he wanted to touch her, to taste her. And that he was thinking about that here, at twelve thousand feet, instead of worrying about losing his lunch, well, it was pretty amazing.

  The parachuting instructor motioned to him. As they moved through the pre-jump procedure, he couldn’t keep his eyes from straying toward her. She believed he could do this. He could see it on her face. She was afraid, probably even understood how terrified he was, but she had faith in him.

  He wasn’t going to let her down.

  As he stepped into the doorway, he stared out into the open air in front of him. He sat down, his feet dangling. His stomach lurched, but it wasn’t much worse than he remembered from past jumps. His gaze found the horizon, and he marveled again at the beauty here. This was what had drawn him to parachuting, the thing he’d kept coming back to all those years.

  He could do this. He might have told her that to calm her, to keep her from worrying. But it was true. He was here, in front of the sky, and he could definitely do this.

  Turning, he offered her a salute. She tilted her head in acknowledgment. With that, he threw himself out the door.

  The first five seconds as he waited for his parachute to engage were torturous. He wondered if he’d told his mother, his sister, his friends that he loved them. If they would know if he didn’t make it back to them alive. Maybe some people would find that morbid, but he’d been too close to death before to take such things for granted.

  The familiar tug of the parachute opening lifted his stomach, and he was floating. Only then did he allow himself to look around, to breathe in the silence and joy that came when a man floated alone in the atmosphere.

  Except he wasn’t alone. Charlie was coming down with him.

  Had she made it? He craned his head, adjusting to see if he could find her parachute in the sky above him. When he couldn’t find her, the familiar sensation hit him—the increased heart rate, the sweaty palms.

  Oh, God, please let her be safe.

  There, though. To the east, he caught sight of another chute. He laughed then, letting out the pent-up energy that had been flowing inside him. They’d done it, jumped out of the plane. After all these months, wondering if he could, if he should, he’d finally done it.

  And it was glorious.

  As he maneuvered the landing, cushioning himself from hurting his knees, he was laughing and swiping at the moisture on his cheeks.

  He’d done it. There was nothing holding him back now. He would go to training next week, become a smokejumper like he’d always planned.

  As Charlie landed a few hundred yards away, he watched her lift her fists in triumph.

  Damned if he didn’t know exactly what that felt like.

  * * * *

  “So do you think you’re going to want to go parachuting with me again?” Next to her, Hunter buried his hands in his pockets. With his backpack on, his sun-bleached hair, and his tan, he looked more like a frat boy than a man about to begin training to be an elite firefighter.

  He was full of those kinds of contradictions, it seemed.

  “I don’t think so.” She chuckled. “I’ll leave the high-altitude theatrics to you guys.”

  He laughed as they reached her Honda and she pulled her keys from her bag, unlocking it.

  As awkwardness settled over them, she gazed toward the sunset. Staring into the sun was easier than looking directly at him.

  “Thanks for convincing me to try this.” She waved toward the airport. “I would have never attempted that without you.”

  His smile slipped away, replaced by the seriousness that always seemed to be right below his surface. “No, thank you for coming with me. You don’t know how much it means to me.” His gaze held hers, his blue eyes so intense that she resisted the urge to look away, to hide from him. Except she couldn’t. She never seemed to be able to keep things light with this man. She needed to try harder.

  “You’re welcome.” She cleared her throat, motioning to her car but still unable to look away. “You don’t need me for training, do you?”

  He shook his head. “No, not anymore.”

  Nodding, she swallowed. “Your smokejumper training starts soon, right?”

  “I am supposed to be there next Sunday.” He stepped closer, forcing her to look up at him.

  “Then I guess I’ll see you around.” She tried to give him a bright smile, to keep things friendly and professional, but it was hard with him standing next to her. “This was a lot of fun.”

  “Charlie?” he whispered, her name sounding entirely too good on his lips.

  “Yeah?” Was that her voice, all breathy like that? Had she meant it to sound so sexy?

  “You said our training is over, right?”

  “I did.” God, he was so close. Everything in her vibrated.

  He ran his hand along her shoulders. He didn’t exert any pressure, but she leaned closer as if he had. “So if I wanted to kiss you, it wouldn’t be unprofessional now, would it?”

  Her breathing hitched, and it was impossible to speak. Instead, she shook her head.

  “Would it be okay, then? To kiss you?”

  “Yes.” The word escaped her on the breath she’d been holding. He held her gaze, lowered his head, and covered her mouth with his. Her eyes fluttered closed.

  It wasn’t until his lips moved against hers that she recognized how much she’d wanted this. The past week or so, awareness had zinged between them, some connection she’d been unable to ignore. Now, as he pulled her closer and her body folded into his, fitting perfectly, she couldn’t deny how that connection wasn’t only a syncing of their emotions but something better. Hotter.

  Her fingers trailed up his back, pressing into the muscles there as her stomach dropped and her entire existence seemed to center on the places their bodies met. Their mouths, their thighs, her chest against his. She gripped his T-shirt, pulling it as she tilted her head. His lips were warm, his tongue gentle but consuming. She sighed, allowing herself to bend into him, to feel him with as much of herself as she could.

  One of his hands trailed across her neck and into the hair at the back of her head. He used that big palm to angle her, to gain better access to her mouth, and she let him. Hell, she didn’t only allow it; she craved it.

  When he lifted his mouth from hers, he didn’t step back, only held her against him, his hand brushing her hair out of her face as he stared into her eyes. What she saw there was so intense and full of meaning that she couldn’t keep looking at him. Dropping her gaze and her hands, she stepped away from him. But he gripped her wrists, as if he didn’t want her to go far.

  “Charlie—”

  “Hunter, please. Let me.” She shook her head. “That was amazing.” That didn’t seem to cover it, but it was the best word she could find with her head still scrambled. “But I probably shouldn’t have kissed you. I don’t know that this, whatever is here between us, is a good idea.”

  “What do you mean?” His voice was clipped and his brow crinkled.

  Didn’t he get it? “Your sister is my best friend. You don’t just go around kissing your bes
t friend’s brother.”

  “Well, I think we already proved that we do.” The corner of his mouth tilted up.

  She scowled at him. “I don’t think you’re getting the full scope of this.”

  “And I think you’re blowing it way out of proportion.”

  She couldn’t help it; she flinched. Though she tried to hide it, to remain still, she could tell he noticed because he hurried to add, “I mean—”

  “No, I know what you mean.” He meant that it was a kiss, not a marriage proposal. And she got that, she did. She wasn’t some naïve teenager. She’d had relationships, even important ones. Except what he said was right. She always took things too seriously, too fast. Sure this was just one kiss with the brother of her friend. But she could see how this could become something much bigger and more important.

  At least to her. Which was the real problem, wasn’t it? She wasn’t the sort to shield her heart. She should have learned this lesson after Joshua.

  Apparently she hadn’t.

  She tried for a casual smile, something that said she wasn’t that affected. She hoped she succeeded. “You’re about to start an important phase of your career. Smokejumper training is about a month, right?”

  His glare didn’t change as he nodded.

  “You don’t have time for anything right now, do you? And you need to be focused on your career. Not on other things.” Her argument made sense. He had to see that this wouldn’t be a good idea. Not for either of them.

  Especially not for her.

  His hands fell away, dropping to his sides, as the scowl remained on his face. “I see what you mean.”

  The words pierced through her, laced with relief. How could she be upset and relieved at the same time? And that was the exact sort of mixed-up crazy that explained why she couldn’t take a chance with him.

  She squeezed his hand. “Truly, you should think about yourself right now.” She dropped her fingers, even as she wanted to keep holding his. “I’ll see you around, though, right?”

  “Yeah, Charlie.” He nodded, his jaw tight. “Sure. See you around.”