Plain Jane and The Hotshot

“I—I can manage,” she repeated, her mouth firming in a frown. “Don’t you have a forest somewhere to save?”

She hadn’t meant to be so cutting. But he exhibited all the signs of a fast mover, and no doubt with his good looks he had a woman in every national park.

But not her.

She had no desire to join that convenient, far-flung sisterhood of harem partners.

“All right, suit yourself.” He stood back, still towering over her. “But you’re sure wasting a helluva lot of good water.”

She really was, too, for she was forced to let the container go lower and lower as it got too heavy, until most of the water was splashing onto the ground or onto her chest.

He just stood there waiting his turn, and she sent quick peeks his way, unsure if that odd contortion of his mouth was meant as a smile or a goad. The silence between them became painful, then excruciating.

She felt remorse for snapping at him.

“Well…thanks for your help,” she said, giving him a light, uninvolved smile.

She’d meant to be polite, but her wooden gratitude rang a false note, and he seemed to detect it. She was halfway across the bridge, the heavy container bumping into her legs, when he said, “Now I see why you’re the one fetching the water. It’s so you can baptize everybody, right?”

She turned to send him a cold stare.

“Just a tip,” he bit out. “When you decide to freeze out a man, make sure your shirt’s not wet, because you sure don’t look cold to me.”

Her gaze shot to her chest. Her nipples were like hard buds, completely outlined in the sheer white fabric of her clinging shirt.

In shock, she lost her grip on the heavy water jug. It bounced and poured over her feet while she crossed her arms over her chest in a lame attempt to cover herself.

He laughed out loud.

Furious, she picked up the half-empty jug and made to head for camp. She would just have to make two trips for water. And it would be worth it, because the next trip was definitely not going to include meeting him.

“Hey, come back,” he taunted. “I like a challenge.”

“Then stick to fighting fires because I’m not a challenge—I’m a zero possibility where you’re c-concerned,” she stammered, her teeth gnashing and chattering at the same time.

That goading twist of his mouth was back.

“Now that’s a sure-nuff challenge!” he volleyed.

“No,” she tossed right back, “it’s advance notice to try elsewhere.”

“I’m glad we had this friendly little chat,” he shouted at her retreating back. “And you know what? I still feel the challenge in spite of your generous peep show!”

She almost spit she was so mad.

She hadn’t spent five minutes with the man, and she couldn’t remember being this undone.

So much for controlled and dignified academics.

Three

Jo noticed little of the waning day’s beauty on her way back to the summit campground, for she was too preoccupied with angry resentment directed at Nick Kramer.

Big deal, so he was a smoke jumper—a “Hotshot,” at that. He figured women would be all over him, and perhaps they were.

Her brow furrowed. She didn’t need this. She was still licking her wounds over Ned. It rankled her that she’d even noticed Nick Kramer—and his incredibly piercing eyes and his big athletic body.

His sexy voice, too.

She frowned.

She might as well admit it: she was angrier at herself than at him. At least she was self-aware. Being brutally honest with oneself in the company of the opposite sex was the only way to stay sane, and most of all, safe. And more than anything, she was determined to stay safe.

Her thoughts unwillingly jogged back to Nick. He wasn’t vain but he sure was arrogant. Couldn’t he have faked just a little humility? She felt her own mouth twist cynically. No, he’d probably scored so often he didn’t need it. He struck her as the type who considered himself God’s gift to women.

Just like back there at the pump—he acted as though he was doing her a favor by hitting on her.

The water container was heavy, and the return to camp uphill. She arrived back at the cabins out of breath, wet and out of sorts.

“There’s our water girl,” called Dottie, who had gotten a fire started in the outdoor oven and grill at the center of the clearing. “We were starting to think maybe you skedaddled with that smoke jumper.”

Hazel, busy untangling a length of fishing line, glanced at Jo and immediately recognized the turmoil she was in.

“Here, let me wrangle that, hon,” Hazel offered, and the seventy-five-year-old startled Jo by carrying the water container easily with one strong arm.

“We were just kidding,” Hazel added for her ears only, “about you meeting up with Nick Kramer.”

“Meeting up? Huh! I think the creep followed me to the pump.”

“Creep?” Hazel repeated the word as if it was foreign to her. “Girl, either you need glasses or I do. If he was any better-looking, he’d be a traffic hazard. Here you go, chef.”

She plunked the water down near the fire.

“Where’s everybody else?” Jo asked, glancing quickly around.

As she spoke, Kayla emerged from the younger women’s cabin, carrying a shiny little vinyl shower kit and a fluffy pink towel. She crossed to the big water container and began filling an empty plastic milk bottle, slopping water all over the ground.

“Go easy on that,” Dottie snapped. “Jo didn’t haul it up here so you could pour it on the ground.”

“It’s only water,” Kayla pouted. “Jo, you don’t mind if I take a little, do you?”

“Knock yourself out,” Jo replied, totally uninterested in a clash with Kayla—the conflict with Nick Kramer had been enough for one day.

Dottie noticed Jo’s frown and sent her a sympathetic smile as Kayla walked away. “I know you must be wondering why I brought Kayla. It’s a crying shame, but she deliberately acts dumber than she is because she thinks men find it attractive.”

“She’s right—plenty do,” Hazel cut in. “Hell, I love cowboys, but most of mine care only about boobs, not brains. They get nervous real quick when a gal mentions a book she’s read.”

“Well, anyhow,” Dottie said, “Kayla doesn’t mean to come off as irritating. At heart she’s really a sweet and friendly girl. It’s just that she’s insecure. She works hard to keep all eyes on her. It didn’t sit well to see that gaze go your way.”