Dakota Heat (Book 3 - Dakota Hearts) (6 page)

She laughed. “That’s because I didn’t want you to know what I was really feeling.”

“Oh? And what was that?”

Heat crept up her cheeks as she turned away. But Sam moved so he could look at her face straight on.

“Don’t do that. I love it when you blush. I love it when you smile. I love your amazing blue eyes. And I love hearing your voice when you talk to me over the radio.”

“What?”

“It’s sexy.”

“It is not! For Pete’s sake, I’m talking to the other fire fighters, too. Not just you.”

“I know but when you say my name it’s sexy.” Her cheeks flamed hotter as Sam bent his head brushed the tip of his nose against hers and whispered against her lips. “I love hearing you say my name.”

Her head was swimming, making her dizzy with emotion and desire for this incredible man. Her heart hammered in her chest as Sam held her close. He’d opened up his heart and shared with her some of his deepest personal pain. The man she’d come to know this past week didn’t jive with the stories she’d heard from the crew or from the talk down at the diner.

Sam was a gentle and loving family man. Not the womanizing loner destined to never settle down. Through his own admission, he wanted the kind of love and happiness his parents shared. It was hard to believe he was the same man people were talking about.

Summer wanted so much to open up to him. Adam was the only one who knew about what happened in Providence. She felt so safe here in Sam’s arms that she didn’t want the feeling to end.

“Sam?”

“Ssh,” he said, taking her hand and placing it against his chest. She felt his heart beating just as wildly as her own.

“This is what you do to me, Summer. I look at you and it takes my breath away. My heart starts beating right out of my chest. I know you don’t believe me, but your heart is safe with me.”

He was impossibly close and before she could think of anything else, his lips brushed against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and weaved her hands together, not wanting to break this connection they’d made. As his tongue darted out, parting her lips, she melted in his arms as he drew her closer still. The heat of his body enveloped her.

He pulled back just a little, just enough for them to catch their breath as he gazed directly into her eyes. The overhead sun cast a silhouette above him. Sam smiled down at her and then kissed her again, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist so her body was pressed firmly against the length of him.

Summer’s whole body was on fire and alive. She melted in his arms, feeling every stroke of his tongue and intake of breath as he kissed her. And when they parted, breathing raggely and their bodies trembling, she saw their kiss had affected Sam as much as it had her.

With a smile he whispered, “You were about to say something?”

“Forget it and kiss me again.”

And he did, leaving her as breathless and shaky as he had with the first kiss.

* * *

The next week was spent with most of the Hotshot crew out in the field while Summer stayed holed up at the basecamp office. The Smokejumpers and dedicated EMTs had arrived and she kept herself busy getting to know the new crew. She hadn’t received a call from Providence. That and having Sam gone for most of the week had put her on edge.

Summer worked dispatch, relaying information as needed to the fire crew out doing prescribed burns to clear the felled trees that the flood had left behind. Adam marked the maps and Summer quickly came up to speed on where the crew were at all times.

She got so she could tell the voices of the men apart when they talked over the radio. She followed it all and listened for Sam’s voice. And when she’d hear him, her heart smiled. She knew he was safe. It got so she hated going back to the motel alone, leaving her connection with Sam behind.

After having lunch at the Quonset hut that housed the exercise room and the cafeteria, Summer headed back to her desk in the dispatch office and checked her phone to see if her parents or Bobbi had called. They hadn’t, but there was a new voice message. When she dialed her voicemail, she couldn’t hear the message the caller left. However, she did recognize the telephone number. It was Matt Jorgensen.

Summer’s thoughts drifted back to Providence, to the time when she had been alone in her closet, listening to Elaine’s voice over the phone. And then to Matt’s office, looking at the picture taped to the newspaper and the red bullseye over her face. And all that fear that Sam McKinnon had managed to wash away came crashing down upon her.

Summer wanted nothing more than for someone to be with her so that she didn’t have to handle this alone, so someone could talk her down from the ledge she suddenly felt like she was dangling on again.

But that wasn’t true. She didn’t want someone. She wanted Sam. No matter how far away from Providence she was, she’d only truly felt safe when she was with Sam McKinnon. And he had no idea what was going on.

Summer grabbed her purse and hurried to Adam’s office, knocking on his door with a shaky hand.

“It’s open,” Adam said.

She pushed through the door and sat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk.

“Matt called me,” she said quickly. “I’m sure it’s nothing but I couldn’t make out the voice message. Did he call you?”

Adam shook his head. “I’ve been busy all day, but I haven’t received any messages.”

“I should probably call him back.”

“Say no more. If you want to take off for the day, go ahead. Things are pretty quiet here. The crew is scheduled to come back to base for a break and Derek has the radio covered for now.”

“Thank you.” Summer quickly got up and headed to the door.

“You will let me know if there’s been a change, won’t you?”

Summer turned back to Adam. “You’ll be the first to know.”

# # #

Sam was filthy, still covered in sweat, soot, and dirt from his work in the field when he walked into the main office. It had been four days since he’d last seen Summer and the first thing he wanted to do was see her smiling face light up the room for him. He’d already cleaned and put his equipment away in the cargo hold of the utility trucks. All that was left was a shower and shave, and that could wait until he caught a glimpse of Summer.

He walked into the dispatch room and found her office area empty. The other dispatcher in the room, Derek, lifted his head from his desk when he saw Sam approach.

“Looking for Summer? She went home,” Derek said.

“Was she sick?”

Derek shrugged. “I saw her at lunch and when I came back Adam told me she’d taken the rest of the day off.”

Sam thought about their last conversation. Money was tight for her staying at the motel. Maybe she’d found a rental somewhere in town and needed to move in.

Disappointed, he decided to get in that shower and clean up before heading over to the motel. If she had gotten a rental, he might be able to catch her before she left.

He thought back to the last few days, hearing her voice over the radio as they worked. Although she shared responsibilities with the other dispatchers, Summer had been on the radio a lot, keeping the team co-ordinated as they moved on the ground and through the area where’d they’d been doing prescribed burns all week.

She was a natural at her job and Sam knew she’d be an asset to the crew this season. She had remembered every single Hotshot’s name, managing to recognize them by voice even over the radio and relay what they needed exactly when they’d needed it. Every time her voice came over the radio, he could picture her face as she said the words he was hearing. He could picture her lips moving, the raising of her eyebrows, the clicking of her nails on the table—a habit that surfaced every time she attempted to curtail her anxiety—the narrowing of her eyes as she enunciated the names of the locations that they needed to move towards, and every little nuance that he’d noticed every time he saw her.

But more than that, Sam just liked listening to her smooth as silk voice. Even after a long day of work, he lay awake in the cot in the Crew Haul they used for the fire fighters while out in the field, he thought of her voice and how it soothed him.

He finished his shower quickly. Seeing Summer was the very thing that he had been waiting for the entire day. He wanted to look into her bright blue eyes as they twinkled when she smiled. He wanted to hear her soft voice as she told him about her day. He wanted to discover every little thing about her and then he wanted to hold her in his arms and feel her against him as she’d been when he’d kissed her on the trail over the canyon.

That kiss had kept him going this week when his legs and arms were tired from work. He wanted more of it. More of her. He wanted to see the intensity of her stare as she looked at him. He felt himself grow hard just thinking about it. And he suddenly couldn’t get to the motel fast enough.

Twenty minutes later he was driving through town and spotted Ethan’s police cruiser parked in the space next to Summer’s car in the motel parking lot. Sam’s stomach dropped as he pulled into the parking lot and found an empty parking spot on the other end of the lot.

As he rushed to Summer’s room, Ethan was just coming out the door and spotted him.

Relief washed over Ethan’s face. “Good. I’m glad you’re here.”

“What is it? Is Summer okay?”

Sam took in the official look on Ethan’s face and knew it meant his brother wasn’t going to disclose anything he couldn’t. He knew Ethan well and knew what drove him to be a great police officer, and an even greater Navy Seal.

“She’s fine.”

But nothing about the sound of Ethan’s voice made Sam believe his words. Fear struck the core of him, leaving him cold. He tried to move past Ethan, but his brother held him back.

“I think it’s best if we find her a place to stay that’s safe. I’m going to talk to Mom and Dad about Wade’s room. I think even Mom will understand.”

“Safe from what?”

“She’ll tell you. Let me talk to Mom and Dad first. I’ll call later when I know more.”

* * *

Summer sat on the floor, squeezed inside a gap between the wall and the bed. She was hugging her knees to her chest as she wrapped her arms around her legs trying not to hyperventilate. Her breathing was ragged and her eyes were heavy with unshed tears. But she knew they’d come eventually. Right now she was in shock.

The door to the motel room opened and she saw the silhouette of a man. She blinked her eyes fast to focus, to squash down the panic filling her.

“Summer?”

The familiar voice filled her with relief and was all she needed to let go of her fear. The tears fell heavy along with sobs she couldn’t hold back. “Sam?”

The look on Sam’s face when he ran to her was one of pure terror. He rushed inside and fell to his knees by her side. “It’s okay, baby. It’s all going to be okay,” he said, keeping his voice calm as he raised his hand to cup her cheek.

Summer looked at him for a long, silent moment before throwing her arms around him. “Sam,” she whispered, burying her head in his chest as she began to shiver in spite of the heat. “He’s coming after me, Sam.”

“Who?” Sam asked. He sat down on the floor and leaned his back against the bed. Picking Summer up as if she were a feather, he settled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, encasing her with his warmth.

Her warrior protector.

“Tell me who’s coming after you?”

“He’s going to find me,” Summer whispered against his cheek, as tears of fear spilled from her eyes again.

“No one is going to find you, Summer. I’m here. I have you,” he said, his tone soothing, as he gently stroked her hair. “You’re safe here. I promise no one will hurt you.”

A long moment passed as Summer stayed quiet. She was no longer crying. Slowly, with every passing second, her shivers subsided. She turned, laying her head against Sam’s chest as she took a deep breath.

“I didn’t leave Providence because I wanted to be a fire dispatcher,” she finally said, her tone defeated. “I was forced to leave.”

“What are you talking about? Who forced you?”

“The chief of police in the precinct where I worked as a dispatcher. Matt Jorgensen.”

She took a deep breath, wanting so much to release this burden that she’d carried for so long, wanting to share it with Sam.

“About two months ago, the police found the body of a murdered woman. At that time, they treated it as a random act of violence and investigated it as an individual homicide. But then a second woman’s body was found. The MO matched the first murder.”

Summer pulled back and raised her head to look at Sam. “I got involved when the third woman called into 911. She’d called and then hung up before I could get her information. I put through the information like any other call because the address comes up automatically when someone calls the 911 line. I tried to call back while the officers were on their way, hoping to get the woman on the phone so I could tell her that help was on the way.” She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. “But
he
answered the phone. He threatened to come after me.”