Read Online Flaming Desire - Part 4 (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) by Helen Grey - Free Book Online
Authors: Helen Grey
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have to give you a piggyback ride the rest of the way.”
She looked up at him with what I could only defined as googly-eyes.
“You mean you can’t carry me?” she asked, her voice a plaintive whine.
I resisted the urge to laugh, but then, I couldn’t really blame her. Matt was one handsome dude. I watched as Matt shook his head, keeping his expression blank. “One of the adults can carry you. I have to keep my hands free to use my tools if necessary.”
With no further ado, Matt and I placed one of the girl’s arms over each of our shoulders and got her back up the slope. To my not so much surprise, I caught her placing her foot down on the ground occasionally, and while it might have been slightly sprained, it wasn’t anything that was in any way dangerous.
At the top of the slope, I glanced at the Balding Guy and Skinny Dude. “Which one of you want to take the first turn giving Bethany here a piggyback ride?”
Skinny Dude frowned. “You can’t fix up a stretcher or anything for her?”
Matt was losing patience. “Bethany, your first piggyback ride is with that guy there,” he said, gesturing to the balding man.
The man nodded, turned around, and crouched down slightly so that Bethany could climb onto his back. Then Matt turned toward Skinny Dude. “In case you didn’t notice, Sir, there’s a big fire heading this way. We can’t waste time to make a stretcher. Besides, she doesn’t need one. If that fire catches up to us, we’re not going to get out of here. We’ve got three more campsites to check on our way down to the bottom of the valley. Now let’s go!”
Without another word, we set out again. The fire continued to shift downwind and down slope, and while it moved a little slower than it would have moving up slope, it was still moving fast.
Matt glanced at me as he pulled his walkie from his waistband. From where I stood, I couldn’t hear him, but he spoke fast. After a moment, he nodded, and then glanced back at me and gave me a thumbs up. I gathered that he had made contact with the base camp, notified them that we had campers, and that some sort of transport would be waiting for us along the way down the valley.
We approached the next campsite about a half-mile from the point where Bethany had slipped down the slope. As Matt and I quickly checked the area, I saw Balding Guy place Bethany gently on the ground. She stood on her own two feet while Skinny Dude moved forward to switch places with him.
It looked like Bethany didn’t really want to piggyback ride anymore, but she couldn’t very well admit that she had faked an injury. I still wasn’t sure that she had faked one, or why she would have done so in the first place—yes, I did. She wanted Matt to carry her. Still, I didn’t want to take any chances. Not because Skinny Dude had threatened to sue me, but because if the girl was injured, Matt nor I wanted to see her injury worsened.
Reluctantly, Bethany climbed onto Skinny Dude’s back, and he pitched slightly forward, mumbling under his breath. In a matter of moments, Matt and I determined that there was no one at this campsite, and hadn’t been for a while.
“Two more to go,” he said, and then set off once again.
He set a quick pace. I felt the breeze against our backs, continued to inhale smoke-filled air. Once in a while, I saw an ember floating on the breeze. Not good. I had no idea whether the Hotshot crew was still upon the slope trying to clear a break in the brush, but if this wind kept up and it swept down between the slopes into this valley, it was likely to push the fire right down the middle.
The next campsite was abandoned as well. We seemed to be making good time, but the complaints regarding our pace increased from not only the group of teens, but the adults as well.
One of the other kids slipped and fell. When the other teens rushed to help him up, I saw the fear in their faces. More than once, I caught each of them looking over their shoulders,
She looked up at him with what I could only defined as googly-eyes.
“You mean you can’t carry me?” she asked, her voice a plaintive whine.
I resisted the urge to laugh, but then, I couldn’t really blame her. Matt was one handsome dude. I watched as Matt shook his head, keeping his expression blank. “One of the adults can carry you. I have to keep my hands free to use my tools if necessary.”
With no further ado, Matt and I placed one of the girl’s arms over each of our shoulders and got her back up the slope. To my not so much surprise, I caught her placing her foot down on the ground occasionally, and while it might have been slightly sprained, it wasn’t anything that was in any way dangerous.
At the top of the slope, I glanced at the Balding Guy and Skinny Dude. “Which one of you want to take the first turn giving Bethany here a piggyback ride?”
Skinny Dude frowned. “You can’t fix up a stretcher or anything for her?”
Matt was losing patience. “Bethany, your first piggyback ride is with that guy there,” he said, gesturing to the balding man.
The man nodded, turned around, and crouched down slightly so that Bethany could climb onto his back. Then Matt turned toward Skinny Dude. “In case you didn’t notice, Sir, there’s a big fire heading this way. We can’t waste time to make a stretcher. Besides, she doesn’t need one. If that fire catches up to us, we’re not going to get out of here. We’ve got three more campsites to check on our way down to the bottom of the valley. Now let’s go!”
Without another word, we set out again. The fire continued to shift downwind and down slope, and while it moved a little slower than it would have moving up slope, it was still moving fast.
Matt glanced at me as he pulled his walkie from his waistband. From where I stood, I couldn’t hear him, but he spoke fast. After a moment, he nodded, and then glanced back at me and gave me a thumbs up. I gathered that he had made contact with the base camp, notified them that we had campers, and that some sort of transport would be waiting for us along the way down the valley.
We approached the next campsite about a half-mile from the point where Bethany had slipped down the slope. As Matt and I quickly checked the area, I saw Balding Guy place Bethany gently on the ground. She stood on her own two feet while Skinny Dude moved forward to switch places with him.
It looked like Bethany didn’t really want to piggyback ride anymore, but she couldn’t very well admit that she had faked an injury. I still wasn’t sure that she had faked one, or why she would have done so in the first place—yes, I did. She wanted Matt to carry her. Still, I didn’t want to take any chances. Not because Skinny Dude had threatened to sue me, but because if the girl was injured, Matt nor I wanted to see her injury worsened.
Reluctantly, Bethany climbed onto Skinny Dude’s back, and he pitched slightly forward, mumbling under his breath. In a matter of moments, Matt and I determined that there was no one at this campsite, and hadn’t been for a while.
“Two more to go,” he said, and then set off once again.
He set a quick pace. I felt the breeze against our backs, continued to inhale smoke-filled air. Once in a while, I saw an ember floating on the breeze. Not good. I had no idea whether the Hotshot crew was still upon the slope trying to clear a break in the brush, but if this wind kept up and it swept down between the slopes into this valley, it was likely to push the fire right down the middle.
The next campsite was abandoned as well. We seemed to be making good time, but the complaints regarding our pace increased from not only the group of teens, but the adults as well.
One of the other kids slipped and fell. When the other teens rushed to help him up, I saw the fear in their faces. More than once, I caught each of them looking over their shoulders,
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