Read Online Where There's Smoke: inspirational romantic suspense (Montana Fire Book 1) by Susan May Warren - Free Book Online Page A

softened, his expression almost desperate. “Kate. You were so...happy that night. And I saw you dancing, and I knew the other guys were seeing the same thing.”
    She frowned. “What are you saying?”
    “I just knew that Jock would kill me if anything happened to you—”
    Oh, this was just getting worse. “So...you danced with me as a favor to my dad ?”
    “No! Yes. I mean, I—I wanted to be there. I was dying to dance with you. And then, you smelled so good and fit so well in my arms, and I’d sort of been dreaming of kissing you since the day I met you, but you were always off limits and...” His expression turned earnest. “I just stopped thinking, okay?”
    “We kissed, Jed. And it wasn’t some little peck on the cheek but—well, I don’t remember ever being kissed like that. In fact, you danced me right outside and pressed me against the building. And—oh...That’s why you stopped. Why you drove me home. Why you practically stiff-armed me the rest of the season.”
    Until, of course, the Porcupine fire.
    Pain edged his eyes.
    Jed’s voice was soft, apologetic. “I’m sorry I kissed you, Kate.” He made another face then shrugged, his voice dropping. “I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t resist you.”
    She blinked at him, his words a flame inside her, burning away the romance to the truth. Her voice turned flat. Hard. “So, what you’re saying is that I made you, what, lose control of that legendary Jed Ransom composure?”
    He gave another shrug and she wanted to lunge at him.
    “You...jerk. Here all these years, I thought we had a—well, if not a romance, a moment. That you—I don’t know—came after me that day in the fire because you, call it crazy, had feelings for me—”
    “I did have feelings for you. But I was also your jump partner.”
    “And babysitter, apparently. Nice job, Jed. Do you kiss all the girls you’re supposed to be watching out for?”
    A muscle twitched in his jaw.
    “So let me get this perfectly straight. Dad sent you to Alaska to make sure I failed. And when I didn’t, or rather, when you didn’t fail me, which I have yet to figure out—”
    “Because you deserved it,” he said quietly.
    “Isn’t that sweet. Except you lied to get me in, which makes no sense whatsoever—and then, after I get my patch, which I didn’t deserve, you decide that I’m too wanton to be left alone on the dance floor, rescue me by muscling away every other guy—and by the way, I have this suddenly horrifying picture of you threatening every guy on the team should they even harbor a hint of interest in me—oh my gosh, you did!” Her mouth opened, and she shook her head, stepped back, her hand up. “Wow. That I didn’t see coming—”
    “Kate, what did you expect? You were the only girl on a team of sixteen men—”
    “Woman. The only woman, who could take care of herself, thank you. And my teammates weren’t cavemen.”
    His dark expression suggested otherwise.
    “Perfect. Well, fear not, they kept far away from me the rest of the summer. But let’s get back to the point, which is—your superman powers were suddenly weakened by my kryptonite powers of seduction, so you kissed me only to go into a full-out panic over the idea that you’d made a mortal mistake in letting me pass, so you decided to follow me into a wildfire instead of trusting me to get out of trouble on my own. Did I sum that up correctly?”
    He swallowed. “You left out the part where you saved my life?”
    “Whatever. You wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for me. And not just because I couldn’t control my chute and get back on course, but for my wanting to be a smokejumper in the first place. And putting you in a position where you had to choose between me and Jock Burns, your hero. No wonder you blamed me. Now it all makes crystal-clear sense. I can’t wait to find out what else you are going to”—she finger quoted—“‘protect me from.’”
    “Kate—”
    “You