No matter how much a person trained, that first sixteen-hour day cutting line was a shock to the system. After three days, Finn’s back and shoulders felt like concrete. His eyes stung from the constant smoke. He had to keep chugging water to fend off dehydration. His feet ached in his steel-toed work boots.

Even so, he couldn’t stop grinning at random moments. He was back. This was what he’d fought so hard to return to. He loved the intensity of wildfire fighting, the tightness of the crew, the breathtaking surroundings. Battling a wildfire took everything he had, and more. He was constantly testing his limits, working to exhaustion and beyond. The fire didn’t stop because they were tired, so neither could the firefighters.

Damn, it was good to be back.

Within a few days, his body got used to the intense pace, and he and the rest of the crew had found the groove. As one of the greenest members, his role was “swamper.” He worked as one of a pair of firefighters called a saw team. Their job was to clear away obstructions from the fire line using a chainsaw. The “sawyer”—Tim Peavy—operated the saw while Finn got to clear away any large debris that might be in the sawyer’s path.

It was back-straining, muscle-taxing work, and Finn ate it up. He only knew a few of the guys from his days on the Fighting Scorpions—Sean, Baker, Hughie and Josh, who was still on leave with the baby. The rest of the team, he’d gotten to know during training. But nothing bonded a crew like an actual wildfire. By the end of the San Dimas fire, they all felt like brothers.

Which wasn’t always a good thing.

“Heard they started filming that movie about us,” Baker said as they chowed down on pork and beans near the catering truck at the I.C. “You going to get us tickets to the premiere?”

“Yeah, sure.” Finn hunched over his paper plate and forked pork into his mouth. “But you’ll have to trim that beard of yours. Take a shower, maybe a walk through the car wash.”

The other hotshots at the table laughed. The teasing camaraderie among the brotherhood of firemen was Finn’s favorite thing about being a hotshot.

“Anyway, it’s not just about Big Canyon anymore. They changed some of the story around, so it’s a combo of different fires.”

“That’s true. I sure don’t recall any gorgeous blonds hanging around the Fighting Scorpions. No one who looked like Annika Poole, for sure.”

Finn held his tongue, having no interest in discussing Annika.

“I saw something in the tabloids about her,” one of the younger guys piped up. “Said she was heartbroken and sobbing her eyes out over the ‘one who got away.’ They meant you, Finn. You’re the one who got away. The beast who broke the beauty’s heart.”

Finn swallowed a huge mouthful of smoky beans. He recognized the hand of Gemma at work, with that hokey beauty-and-the-beast thing. “Don’t read that trash. It’s all made up out of nothing. It’s for publicity, so people will go see the movie.”

“Whatever. I say we all show up at the premiere and parachute down from a chopper.”

Finn grinned at that image, which sparked more ridiculous ideas from the crew.

“Let’s take the crew buggy down the red carpet.”

“We could have, like, a chainsaw quartet.”

“Hell, let’s book a C-130 to do a fly-by.”

They were all laughing when Finn felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Sean, who gestured for him to follow. They walked a few steps away from the others, out of earshot.

Sean scrutinized him with smoke-green eyes in a tired face. “I haven’t had a chance to check in with you. How’s it going out there, man? Feeling good?”

“Feeling real good. Like I was never gone. I even have a new nickname.”

“Yeah?”

“Animal. As in, ‘that Finn, he trains like an animal.’”

Sean laughed. “I hadn’t heard that. Good one. How about the situation with your family? Anything new?”

Finn looked away, scanning the command post, which was a tent city filled with hundreds of people, vehicles, and canvas shelters. In a few days, this spot would be an empty fairgrounds again, home to tumbleweeds and some stray trash. Similar to a movie set, actually, which drew a small army of workers who dispersed when the job was done.

“Nope, nothing new. Just one false lead after another.”

“Sorry about that.”

Finn shrugged. “Haven’t been thinking about it that much lately.”

Sean’s rugged face creased in a smile. “I know how that goes. Once I started falling for Evie, it got a little hard to focus on anything else.”

“Oh, I’m focused,” Finn said hastily. “One hundred percent focused, no worries about that.” Was that what Sean had pulled him aside to talk about?

“Glad to hear it. Hope this doesn’t change that. I just got word from the movie people that your father is on his way to the base.”

“Our base? In Jupiter Point?”

“Yeah. He’s visiting the set of the movie.”

Finn’s mouth fell open. “What the fuck? Why? He runs the studio, he doesn’t show up at location shoots anywhere outside of Beverly Hills.”

“Can’t answer that. Maybe he wants to see you.”

“He doesn’t. He knows I’ll be after him with more questions. Besides, I’m not even there.”

“Then maybe he wants to see the hot nurse you personally recommended.”

Finn laced his hands behind his neck and tilted his head back, feeling the stretch of his sore muscles. “Oh man. I bet you’re right. Lisa is going to fucking kill me. Or leave town.”

“From what I’ve seen, Lisa Peretti can handle herself.”

* * *

“I’m going to do bad things to that Finn Abrams,” Lisa muttered to herself as she hurried across the Fire and Rescue compound toward the set. Her walkie-talkie was crackling with an urgent command for her presence. She reached down and muted it, since she was already on her way. “Bad, uncomfortable things that he’ll never forget.”

One of the grips passed her, heading in the opposite direction. “Lisa, you’d better get there in a hurry. We have two hours until we lose the light and Annika won’t come out of her trailer.”

“I know, I know.” she said. “Might be easier for everyone if she stayed in there,” she added under her breath.

The grip laughed and headed for the catering table. Movie crews lived well, Lisa had discovered. She didn’t ever have to worry about going hungry. She’d been working on the set for a week now, and had eaten more bagels and muffins than she usually ate in a year.

The Miracle in Big Canyon production had landed in the Fire and Rescue compound like an Army invasion. Production and crew vehicles packed the parking lot, along with individual trailers for the “talent.” Equipment filled every corner of the empty wing—lighting gear, racks of costumes, wooden crates filled with props. Since they were shooting a movie about real firefighters, they were using a lot of the spare gear from the fire cache. Extras dressed in real hotshot gear—“greens and yellows”—wandered around the base.

The sight always made her pulse race because she’d seen Finn wearing his gear and, oh my God, it was sexy beyond belief.

Lisa had even met the actor playing Finn. Talk about a mind blower. He was a Spanish actor who had the smoldering romantic look down. All the makeup artists kept gushing over him, but Lisa privately knew that he couldn’t hold a candle to the real Finn.

Annika Poole was playing a climatologist who kept warning the U.S. Forest Service, the BLM, and anyone who would listen that wildfires were going to keep getting worse. Apparently, her character was based on a real person—but that person happened to not be blond or a dead ringer for Gwyneth.

Lisa’s first task as the on-set nurse was helping Annika treat an infected tattoo. She’d found the star in her trailer drinking diet Mountain Dew and moaning from the pain on her hip.

Of course it had to be her hip, a body part Lisa had never expected—or wanted—to see up close and personal.

Annika had recognized her right away.

“You’re the girl from the wedding,” she said, looking perplexed, as if she were a movie extra who had ended up in the wrong movie. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, Finn found her, isn’t she fabulous?” Jill poked her head into the trailer to deliver Lisa’s ID and walkie-talkie.

Annika waved her away. “Go, Jill, Jesus, does the whole crew need to see my infection?”

Jill disappeared, leaving Lisa alone with a cranky movie star. She crouched down next to her, and assessed the red swelling around the new tattoo. “I’m going to clean this a bit, then put some antiseptic on it. It might sting.”

“Ugh, whatever. Just bandage it up so I can shoot my fucking scene. Where is Finn, anyway?”

“He’s out with the crew.”

The perfect skin of Annika’s forehead creased in a frown. “The crew?”

“The hotshot crew. You know, fighting a wildfire,” Lisa explained.

“You mean a real one?”

Was she speaking a different language here? “Yes. A real one. He got a spot on the Jupiter Point Hotshots. They’re down in Southern California right now.”

“And you know this because…?”

Oops. Lisa realized her mistake too late. She didn’t want to get on Annika’s bad side. “It’s pretty common knowledge around here. Jupiter Point’s a small town.”

“Yes, but Jill said Finn got you this job.”

“He did.” And right now, she was cursing him for that. “He’s a nice person.”

“Wait, are you boning Finn?”

Lisa didn’t answer that, but she didn’t have to. The Blush did that for her. An intense wave of heat traveled across her face like some kind of fever. She ducked her head, pretending to devote all her attention to the infected Chinese symbol on Annika’s hip.

“What does this tattoo mean?” she asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

“It means ‘watch your back.’”

Lisa’s head shot up. Annika laughed merrily. “You should see your face. Never play poker, Lisa Peretti. I’m just joking. I like you. And Finn—he used to be such a catch. So beautiful. Mmm, mmmm. Those scars are a crime against humanity. But they make for good publicity, so I guess it’s not all bad.”

Lisa dabbed antiseptic onto Annika’s hip, possibly a little more roughly than she ought to. “Sorry, I’ll be done in a second here.”

Annika nodded, bracing herself against the countertop. “I can’t believe Finn’s actually firefighting again. I told him, why don’t you just play a firefighter? I know the executive producer of Chicago Fire. They would have cast him in a snap.”

“There’s a big difference between being a fireman and playing one,” Lisa pointed out as she unpeeled a bandage.

“Yeah, playing one pays better.”

Lisa carefully placed the bandage over the wound and pressed the sides into place. “There you go. Let me know if you have any pain or tenderness while you’re shooting. I’ll change the bandage again before I go home.”

“Where’s home?”

The question caught Lisa by surprise. She looked at the actress blankly.

Annika smiled at her innocently “Maybe we should be friends. Finn and I go way back. I was devastated when he was caught in that fire.”

“Yes, I read about that.” She’d practically memorized that article in the tabloid she’d taken from the salon. “It was really tough on you, I’m sure. Um, I should get going. There’s a, um, possible sprained ankle I should look at. One of the grips.”

Annika waved her away, the same gesture she’d used with Jill.

Lisa hurried out of the trailer, deciding to avoid Annika at all costs.

But it wasn’t so easy. After that first introduction, Annika acted either very friendly or cold as a glacier. In private, when Lisa was changing her bandage, she was sweet and friendly. She kept asking questions about Lisa’s life. In public, she either ignored her or snapped at her. Lisa had no idea what she was up to, but “watch your back” seemed like wise words.

The most terrifying moment came when Stu Abrams visited the set. That day, the entire crew walked around on tiptoe and performed like a perfectly honed machine. Jill brought him to meet Lisa at her makeshift nurse’s station.

Even potbellied and bald as a doorknob, Stu Abrams radiated charisma. He shook Lisa’s hand warmly. “Nice of you to join our crew. It’s a treat to have a nurse with your qualifications onboard.”

“Thank you,” she answered in some confusion. Had he actually checked into her background?

“How’s that kid of mine? Still playing with matches?”

His dismissive tone rubbed her all wrong. “Finn’s at the San Dimas fire. You’ve probably seen it on the news. The fire came within half a mile of ten thousand residents. They saved an entire ranch town. You must be really proud of him.”

Stu’s eye twitched. “I must, especially if a pretty girl tells me to.”

Lisa’s spine stiffened automatically. She despised empty compliments. But before she could answer, he spoke again.

“Tell you what, since you’re a friend of Finn’s, let’s all have dinner. I’ll fly you to LA. You and Finn can stay at the beach house in Malibu. A little ‘thank you’ for patching up this motley crew here.”

“Oh, I don’t think…Finn and I aren’t…it’s not like that.” Whatever she and Finn were or weren’t, she didn’t want his father in the middle of it.

Satisfaction flashed across his bold features. He gave a booming laugh that made her jump.

“Glad to hear it. He’s meant for better things. Best you understand that now. Good to meet you, Lisa.”

Between that disturbing encounter and Annika’s confusing behavior, Lisa found working on the movie almost as stressful as her nights at the ER.

“Finn Abrams, this is on you,” she muttered out loud as she hurried across the compound. “Damn you.”

“Not exactly the greeting I fantasized about.”

Finn’s voice resonated in her ear, and at first she thought she’d imagined it. Then she turned around and there he was. Looking amazing, from the tips of his rugged work boots to the bandanna tied around his head, holding back his dark curls. With his bronzed skin and half-inch growth of stubble, he looked like a pirate. A wide grin split his face, making his white teeth flash.

He looked so good she could barely stand it. She swatted his shoulder, where his hard muscles flexed in response. “Just so you know, I’ve been waiting days to do that.”

“Oh yeah? I’ve been waiting days to do this.” He swept her into his strong arms and spun her around. Everything else—the hotshot crew, the movie crew, anything that wasn’t Finn Abrams—vanished in a rush of giddy delight.