Grady was helpless at the pleasure surging through his veins and the hot, fiery woman taking him into her hands.

What the heck was he doing? More like she was doing him, and he hadn’t gotten a single, cotton-picking answer from her.

When she’d asked if he wanted to talk, he’d said no. She, not he, was the one who should be begging to talk. She was the one who’d level those false accusations on him—tried to get him fired and ruin his reputation. He should be the one demanding answers.

But then again, she’d only lie. No, much better to get her while she was vulnerable, and then she’d admit she’d lied and maybe beg for forgiveness. Not that he had any to offer.

“Is this all you want?” he asked, gritting his teeth to keep from falling apart—way too soon.

“Does it matter?” She bore down on him, gripping him tight.

“No, guess not.”

He wasn’t going to admit any need to her. No way. If all she wanted was his body, then he’d give it to her. He’d had other women, but the only one who left him raw and disturbed was this brown-haired, brown-eyed hellcat occupying every nook and cranny of his mind and sucking the oxygen out like a river of flames devouring the wilderness.

Problem was, after meeting her again last Christmas, he hadn’t wanted any other woman—actually wanted nothing to do with the entire female sex.

What the heck was he doing here?

She was lovely. Lovely and forbidding like a vengeful goddess. Bent on seeking her own pleasure first. Selfish and so freaking spiteful, but he wouldn’t have her any other way.

This pillar of womanhood, this inferno of feminine guile was right where he wanted her.

If he could break through to her—break her stubborn will—if only to admit her feelings and faults …

“Grady, oh, Grady, why? Why?” she cried out as she neared completion, carrying him over the top with her.

He wasn’t done with her, so he flipped her onto her back and stared into her gorgeous, but usually shielded eyes.

For a split second, he thought he glimpsed a crack in her face—a small shadow of regret or was it sorrow?

And then it was gone.

She shoved him from the bed. “Time’s up.”

What the eff? She was harder than nails and just as mean.

What had he expected? A cuddle and a warm shower with an ice cold glass of sweet tea after?

“Don’t worry, I’m out of here,” he grumbled, grabbing his boxers, but not before tying off the used condom and putting it into his pocket.

He’d learned long ago to be careful with his DNA, and the minx who was pushing him out of bed was one of the worst offenders when it came to false pregnancy scares.

“How about we do this again next week? That is, if you want another dog.” She pulled the sheets primly over her body, the one he’d thoroughly mounted only a few moments ago.

“There are other rescue centers,” Grady said, zipping up his jeans. “You’re not the only one.”

He wasn’t about to let Linx put a spell on him, especially after what had just gone down.

“Your loss.” She leaned back on the motel’s plush pillows, looking as if she was having a smoke without a cigarette.

Sure, he’d put that smug, satisfied expression on her face.

He had to be careful with her, as he was with all women. They couldn’t be trusted as far as he could shoot his wad. He’d had his fair share of fake paternity suits before, all because he was a traveling smokejumper, fighting forest fires worldwide, and too busy to show up in court—an easy mark.

Thank goodness for DNA testing.

Grady gave Linx a middle-fingered salute and grabbed his shirt and shoes. “The dog?”

He’d heard him scratching the bathroom door while they had been engaged in their bout of sin.

“He’s all yours. Paperwork’s in order.” Her face hardened into a frown. “Better treat him right.”

“Better than you locking him in the bathroom while you get your jollies.” He shot a glare back at her still tempting body.

Gritting his teeth, he slipped on his shirt and shoes, took the large dog by the collar, and sauntered out the motel door without looking back. He should go and keep on going. Forget about her.

The problem was all him, and he couldn’t even blame his misbehaving body part—although Mr. Perfect was only too happy to play along.

Nope, the effing thing was his brain and the endless erotic movie it played in his mind, over and over, again and again—a twenty-four hour nonstop channel of the Linx Colson Peep Show. Then there was the Linx Colson News Hour where her voice would loop over everything she told him about her business, her likes and her dislikes, her opinions and her peeves—she had a lot of them. Followed by the Linx Colson Weather Channel, as she went from angry gust, to howling tornado, to torrential downpour in a blink of an eye. No Linx Colson Comedy Hour, though. That woman had no funny bone anywhere in her body. Not anymore.

Her scent hung heavy on his body, and he briefly closed his eyes as he stepped into the heat of the afternoon.

When had she become so hard?

She no longer smiled or joked around, and definitely didn’t want after-sex cuddling and teasing like she did seven long years ago.

That was when she still liked him.

That was when he still trusted her.

Grady marched to his truck, taking care not to glance back over his shoulder at her window.

* * *

Linx slid into the cabin of her dog rescue center through the back door, hoping to sneak up to the loft and take a shower.

No such luck. Cedar ran to greet her while Tami turned around from the kitchen table which was directly across from the back door.

Her dog sniffed curiously all over her clothes, and Tami opened her yap, giving Linx a sidelong glance and a barely suppressed smirk. “Well, well, well. Cedar, honey, tell me what smells so delicious and sexy. Might there be more special deliveries?”

“I’m going upstairs,” Linx said lamely.

“Good idea.” Tami pointed to her own head to signal how messed up Linx’s hair was from her mid-afternoon tryst. “Maybe you should have taken a shower with him while you were at it.”

“Maybe I didn’t see him at all,” Linx lied to deflect her nosy friend.

“You were always a bad liar.”

“None of your business.” Linx snarled and made a mean face to cover up the warm and gooey feeling swarming her lower body.

“Oh, but you’re always my business, and there’s only one reason you have that glow on your face.” Tami thrust her index finger in and out of a tunnel made with her other hand. “Did I tell you he shares office space with me, and he not so coincidentally told me he’d be away at the same time you left?”

“He shares an office with you?” Linx sputtered, while finger-combing her mussed up hair.

“Oh, yeah, I keep him in my closet and let him out for phone and internet.” Tami licked her lips exaggeratedly. “Since you won’t ‘call him,’ there’s no bestie code I have to honor.”

“You’re not … doing him, are you?” Linx’s jaw slammed to the floor, but she quickly recovered. “I mean, fine, enjoy yourself. But a man like Grady needs to come with warnings. Large, red warning signs.”

“Warning heeded.” Tami primped her fluffy mop of hair while snorting like she thought the entire deal too funny.

Cedar stuck her nose over Linx’s crotch, sniffing with interest, causing Tami to lose the battle against laughter.

“Girl, get your nose out of my privates.” Linx put Cedar out the backdoor and watched her join the other dogs in their free playtime.

When she returned to the den where she and Tami had their desks, Tami was still chuckling. “You’re going to get caught. His sister Cait’s not going to like you toying with him.”

“I bet you’ll want front row seats when the crap hits the fan, don’t you?”

“Definitely, with popcorn, hot and bothered, er, I mean buttered.” Tami pantomimed stuffing popcorn in her mouth.

Linx couldn’t help smiling as she mock swatted her bestie. They’d gone to school together, from Brownies to high school. Always the smart one, Tami went away for college, while Linx joined the fire crew.

“You keep being entertained,” Linx said as she headed for the shower.

“Wait, I hear the mailman,” Tami shouted. “Can you dump the mail on my desk? I ordered something for Ginger.”

“Urgh!” Linx heaved a sigh. “You need to get up more. You know sitting is the new smoking?”

“My feet hurt.” Tami tapped the keyboard and stared at the monitor intently.

She always had a dozen excuses why she couldn’t walk the dogs or lift a finger, and then she wondered why she couldn’t lose weight.

Linx grabbed the mail and sorted through them, handing Tami her package. A crumpled postcard slipped onto the floor, and Tami picked it up.

She flipped it over and her eyes grew wide. “I don’t believe this.”

“What is it?” Linx stared at a past due bill and added it to the growing pile on her desk. “Does it say I won money?”

“No.” Tami handed the card to Linx. “It’s for you.”

It was a generic picture postcard showing a snowcapped mountain peak above a forest.

The other side, however, was the shocker.

Dear Linx,

I hope you’re doing good with your dogs.

Guess who my jump partner is?

Grady Hart!

I’m a lucky girl.

Your friend, Salem

Linx blinked and gaped at the words. “I don’t believe this.”

“When’s it postmarked?” Tami peered over her shoulder.

“There is no postmark,” Linx said. “See? The stamp’s clean.”

“Sometimes the post office forgets to postmark stuff,” Tami said. “I’m always peeling off stamps and reusing them.”

“It must have been sent early last season,” Linx said. Her gut clenched and a weight pressed down on her shoulders as she sank onto the couch. “She sounded so happy, and now she’s gone.”

“I’m sorry.” Tami sat beside her and rubbed her shoulder. “Were you two close?”

“She took care of me when I was pregnant. I would have lost the baby if she hadn’t checked up on me.”

“Oh, Linx.” Tami hugged her. “I wish I could have been here for you, but I’m glad she was.”

“Me too,” Linx said. “I feel bad that we lost touch.”

Linx stared at the words on the card and shook her head. Salem had decorated the card with hearts, as if she’d been in love.

Salem had always had a crush on Grady—but then, what woman hadn’t? She used to tag along with them that first summer until she got injured and had to drop out. But she’d kept in touch with both Grady and Linx, and after Grady took off for Australia, Salem had been able to track him down.

Maybe they had always been closer than Linx had imagined. Just like that, her post-Grady bliss shattered, and rivulets of cold poured over her.

Linx pointed to the hearts next to Grady’s name. “You think they dated?”

“Hey, don’t go buying trouble,” Tami said. “She’s dead now. What does it matter if she and Grady dated?”

“It shouldn’t matter, except if they were involved, and she died on a jump, and he was her jump partner—”

“Are you saying he caused her death?” Tami’s eyes widened.

“No, but if Grady was her jump partner, why didn’t he show her the way? What really happened up there?”

“There’s only one person who knows,” Tami said. “And you’ll have to ask him.”