She lifted her gaze from what I was doing, nodding. “I will.”
Still grumbling, I finished what I was doing, ignoring her trying to pull from my grasp.
“I don’t need bandages,” she insisted.
“Yes, you do. Don’t fight me.” Maybe my grip on her face and chin was too harsh, but I’d already begun to face the fact I couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to her. She’d been brought into my life for some crazy reason and I would do my best to keep her safe.
I also wasn’t about to tell her that I’d seen a vehicle for maybe a split second before it had taken a sharp right turn onto the main road. If I did, she’d be all over it, acting as if she was impervious to both pain and danger.
As her long eyelashes skimmed across her rosy cheeks, I could tell behind her luminous eyes a predator lurked in the shadows. She wasn’t willing to let this go any more than I’d been when Aimee had been in trouble. I had a terrible feeling that she was eager to get herself into trouble. I was very concerned that in doing so, she could poke the bear. If she was right that someone was watching her, which I suspected she was, the last thing she should do was stick her head in the middle of the investigation.
That would push him into a corner.
“Fine. Just…”
“Just what?” I yanked an oversized bandage from the first aid kit, peeling back the adhesive and gingerly placing it on her knee.
“Nothing. Just remember your job comes first.”
She didn’t need to remind me I was on probation as all rookies were. However, after spending time with her, in sharing her space and her life, my priorities were all fucked up. Her laugh was the reason. Her smile. The fact that as soon as she’d found out I loved Mountain Dew and Corona, she filled the refrigeratorwith both. The way she cared for Sailor. Just the way she looked at me had me all fucked up in the head.
No, I sure as shit didn’t need any complications, but I’d not only believed but wanted my life to be over. Then she’d come along. Had Landen known she was the only person capable of bringing me back from the dead? Maybe so. Whatever the case, I was lost in some crazy minefield that felt as if with any move I made, explosives were ready to kill me.
There was also still some thought that’s all I deserved.
“Thank you for taking care of me.”
Damn if her voice wasn’t inviting.
“Grace, you need to know?—”
The sharp sound on my cellphone jarred us both.
“What the hell is that?”
I yanked my phone from my pocket, eyeing the screen. “An alarm.” I’d been told that if there was what the Zullies affectionately called a five-alarm fire, the alarm activation system would send a text to everyone.
That was immediately followed up by a call.
“Hello?”
Of course the voice on the other end was AI generated, instructions to head to the base without providing any details about the fire itself.
“What’s wrong?” she pressed.
“A fire. I need to go.”
I’d been through the drill already. While I doubted I was being pulled into the field, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t use me in an auxiliary function at the base.
“What do you mean a fire?” She clung to my shirt, keeping me in place.
I shoved my phone away, planting both hands on the counter. “Everything will be fine. I’m sure it’s just a requirement of the trainees. Just remember what I said.”
“Do you want me to make dinner when you get back?”
She’d grown up in Missoula. She knew exactly what to expect when it came to smokejumpers dealing with a fire. It wasn’t like having a couple of engines of firefighters swarming a house fire and hopefully managing to put it out within an hour maximum.
The look of fear in her eyes was real, raw, and it clawed at me.
