"Discharged?" Landon repeated incredulously. "I was just informed this morning that it would be at least another week before I got out of here!"

"I'm sorry, dear." Cherise patted his leg affectionately, and he could see real remorse in the sympathetic lines that crosshatched her face. "The boss man ordered it."

"What did Alex have to say about it?" he demanded.

"Scott is Alex's boss, too. Much as she has every reason to hate it." Cherise's comment struck Landon as odd, but before he could press for more information, she moved on. "Anyway, I don't think she knows about it just yet. She's volunteering in triage today."

"Volunteering?"

Cherise nodded. "Some more patients came in today. That's partly why they want to clear the rooms out."

Landon didn't mind the additional information, but that hadn't been what he was asking about. Why does a day nurse with a paying job have to volunteer to work for the hospital that employs her? Something wasn't adding up, but maybe the equation itself wasn't logical. He wanted to press Cherise more on this new track, but figured it probably wasn't his place. If his last encounter with Alex had taught him anything, it was that the nurses appreciated maintaining boundaries with their patients.

And if he was being honest, Landon was glad for the early release. The sooner he got the hell out of the hospital, the sooner he could get back to the action. Everyone who wasn't him wanted him to stay put, to rest up. He supposed he owed this Scott guy nothing but gratitude for seeing to his early release.

The doctor arrived to give him the down-low on his condition while Cherise changed his bandages. His recovery was pretty far along—his shoulder wouldn't require physical therapy, just the exercises on the sheet of paper the doc gave him in parting, something Alex had already mentioned in an earlier conversation, and his burns could be treated on an outpatient basis.

As soon as his arms were dressed, Landon got dressed himself. He thanked the doctor and Cherise, shook hands, and tried his best not to search for Alex on his way out the hospital doors.

His first breath of freedom stung his lungs with smoke from the distant wildfire, but he sucked it in happily as the red light of the low-hanging sun hit his face. He was a free man once again—a slightly burned, mangled man, but not beaten. Not by any stretch.

Now all he had to do was pass the firefighter medical exam.

"I failed the firefighter medical exam," Landon said, "and what's more, they're going to throw me out of the house."

"No!" Dyna, the proprietor of Dyna's Diner and Delicatessen, crowed with the exact amalgamation of horror and sympathy he had been looking for. "They threw you out?"

Landon shrugged one shoulder. "A crop of new volunteers came to town while I was down for the count. They already gave my bunk to somebody else. I can't exactly ask for it back, and I sure as shit don't plan to cuddle up with the new guy."

"I should have a word with Hank!" Dyna balled her dishrag and threw it down on the counter. "To think he dragged you all the way down here from Alaska and can't keep a roof over your head!"

"It isn't like that, ma'am. I promise." Though Landon couldn't deny it felt good to have someone on his side.

Hank had told him before he’d left for the diner that they would see to getting him new accommodations. Landon had to count on his chief's connections to his hometown, and hope that someone came to his rescue—preferably by tonight. Otherwise, he wasn't certain where he might wind up.

The diner door opened, and Landon turned, fully expecting to see Hank strolling in to deliver some good news.

What he saw instead was Alex. Her blonde hair hung free from her ponytail in wisps, and the dark outlines of sleepless circles were beginning to form underneath her eyes. Somehow, the tired look suited her, and it seemed to highlight her fragile beauty even more . . . either that, or Landon couldn't see the object of his admiration as anything less than gorgeous.

Her gaze locked with his. For a moment, she looked about to approach—he even noted the tip of her pink tongue dart out to wet her plump bottom lip, as if she was readying herself to say hello. At the last second, she turned to take a booth that was conspicuously located much further away from him.

Landon turned back to his coffee and tried not to feel too disappointed. One of the waitresses passed him to go take Alex's order.

"You know . . ." Dyna mentioned slowly.

"I don't," Landon grunted as he raised his coffee to his lips. "Am I about to?"

"Let's just say I happen to have heard that Alex has a free room," Dyna confided. Then, unable to withhold the full story, "She put my nephew up for a bit last year after his failed acting stint down in L.A."

"Sorry to hear it."

Dyna waved off his polite condolences. "You know, Landon, the more I think about it, the more I think it might be a great idea. Not only is Alex a nurse, but she's studying medicine on the side. She's going to be a doctor one day. Besides, you've already been her patient! She would know exactly what you need in the coming days. Living with her would speed your recovery. I know you must be dyin' to get back out there."

Landon couldn't deny that Dyna had made several good points. Alex knew all the physio techniques and probably had a cupboard already stocked with all the ointments he would need.

"You're a persuasive one, Dyna," he said finally. "I promise I'll look into it."

"Be a peach and see that you do," she replied, leaning her weight on the counter and fisting a hand on her expansive hip. Landon knew that particular pose meant Dyna was about to lay down some truth. "Hell, she'd kill me if she heard me tellin' you this, but Alex could use the company. The poor girl is becoming the town hermit, these days."

Landon turned his head to gaze across the diner at the unsuspecting subject of their conversation. He had the distinct feeling that, a moment previous, Alex had been looking over at him, but there was no way of confirming his theory. At the moment, she was staring raptly at her spoon, stirring it around and around in her soup bowl and losing herself in whatever she saw there.

He knew Dyna was right. Moving in with Alex would be the perfect solution for him—but even if the pretty nurse were to ask him, he wasn't sure he could accept the invitation. He didn't want to impose on her. And shit, how long did he really plan to be out of commission, anyway? If it were up to him, he'd be back out there tomorrow, sweating shoulder-to-shoulder with the other volunteers. He was going to bounce back, and he was going to do it sooner than Alex liked. She seemed to have an aversion to his line of work—if it was left up to her, or so it appeared to him, she would likely keep him off his feet and out of his uniform for the rest of his days.

And there lay the other problem. Landon liked the idea of Alex stripping his gear off him a little too much. It was more than just a passing attraction, and distance from her had only made it worse. When he wasn't lucky enough to have her in his immediate vicinity, he was consumed by thoughts of her. He had it bad, and Alex was unavailable. He was sure that any sort of arrangement between them would only cause trouble . . . that, or a lot of frustration that he wasn't certain he was prepared to deal with.

Living together was a solution that came with its own set of problems.

Alex glanced up, caught his eye, and glanced down again.

Dyna sighed. "Well, I can see this is getting nowhere fast." She rapped the table with her knuckles and started for Alex's booth. "You want somethin' to get done around here, Dyna better do it herself."