Drawing a parallel to his relationship with his brother, he said, “If anyone ever threatened Connor, I’d do whatever it took to hunt that person down and make him pay. I know you feel the same way about April.”
She looked wary about working together and, truthfully, he didn’t know if he could make it through even one night in close quarters without ripping her clothes off. His balls were going to be bright blue by the time they found her sister.
“No,” Dianna insisted, but he could tell she was wavering when she added, “This isn’t your problem. I’ll figure it out.”
He had one last shot to convince her. One last shot to keep her safe.
“Look, I’ve got the wilderness skills you need to get through the Rockies in one piece. If you want to find April fast, you’re going to need me around.”
Grasping at straws, she said, “I can hire someone.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you really think you’ll be able to convince a stranger to head out on a wild-goose chase at a moment’s notice?” Even with all of her money, he was one hundred percent sure she couldn’t buy that kind of help.
“Fine,” she finally agreed, “You can help me.”
Okay, so he’d won this first battle with Dianna. Now he needed to win one with himself by getting one very important thing straight: Regardless of how he used to feel about her, from here on out he needed to treat her like a stranger in need, like any one of the thousands of people he’d helped as a hotshot. The key to success was to approach their mission methodically, rather than emotionally.
But even as he vowed to resist her, he was hit with the buzz of knowing their reunion didn’t have to end yet. It was impossible to push away the powerful anticipation of being with her again.
“We need to find the commune.”
It took him far longer than it should have to tune in to what she’d just said. So much for staying grounded and treating her like a random fire victim. He’d have to work a hell of a lot harder than this if he was going to keep himself from veering off the tracks.
“I agree,” he said. “The commune is the last place she was living and I think it’s our best shot at finding clues as to where she went and who she’s with.”
Dianna scooted halfway off the bed. “I’ll pack up my things so we can get going right away.”
Sam shot toward her and put his hands on her shoulders, immediately getting aroused by her nearness, her scent.
“Stay right there.”
Jesus, he thought as he took his hands away, if he’d gotten that hard with her sweater as a barrier between his hand and her skin, what would happen to his self-control if he accidentally touched a bare patch?
“I’ve got a friend on the Rocky Mountain hotshot crew who knows these mountains like the back of his hand,” he said, working like hell to get back on task. “It’s possible he’ll know the locations of any communes in the more remote areas like the one April described to you.”
The unabashed hope in Dianna’s eyes nearly did him in. Those weeks after her miscarriage, he’d wanted so desperately for her to look at him like that.
She never had.
Already heading to the door, he said, “I want you to rest while I go call my friend Will.”
He stepped outside before her green eyes saw too much. Before she could guess how much he still cared.
CHAPTER EIGHT
AS SOON as Sam closed the door, Dianna lay back against the pillows and closed her eyes. The room was spinning and she felt nauseous.
Knowing her sister was in trouble made her heart race and her skin feel clammy all over. But she wouldn’t be able to help April if she lost it. She had to keep it together, had to remember that her sister was a tough little cookie with more street smarts in her pinkie than Dianna had in her whole body.
And then, simmering beneath everything else, there was Sam.
He was the strongest man she knew, just as comfortable climbing a sheer rock face and jumping out of an airplane as he was putting out a raging wildfire.
On top of that, he was breathtakingly beautiful … and utterly dangerous.
When he’d read her the riot act about cutting him and everyone else in Lake Tahoe out of her life, she’d wanted to come back at him with all the ways he’d hurt her, wanted to hold a mirror and show him that he’d deserted her first, wanted to remind him that instead of being there for her after her miscarriage, he’d signed up to fight every goddamned wildfire in the western hemisphere.
And yet, she couldn’t deny that, right now, he was the very best person to help her find April.
But despite her immense gratitude for his help, Dianna was incredibly wary of working as a team. She’d been in charge of her life for ten years, calling the shots on her own TV show for four. Now, she was about to put herself in a position where she knew nothing, where she had to rely on someone else—a man, no less—for everything.
No. Not for everything. Just to help her find April and bring her home. That was it. Nothing more.
At the end of this journey, she’d shake Sam’s hand and thank him sincerely for his help. They would never again be friends—how could they be?—but she would be forever grateful for his willingness to forget about their past and help her find her sister.
As long as he stayed on his side and she stayed on hers, everything would be fine, she thought as exhaustion hit her and she fell into an uneasy sleep on top of the covers.
She woke at the creaking sound of the door opening and looked up to see Sam stepping back inside her room. One look at his tanned skin, his broad shoulders, his flexing biceps as he moved toward her was all it took for her to know she was full-on lying to herself about keeping her distance: She was powerless against Sam’s charms.
How long could she possibly hold out?
“I spoke to Will,” he said. “Evidently there is one main commune around here that is commonly referred to as the Farm by its residents. Given its proximity to Vail, he’s pretty sure it’s the same one April’s been living in.”
When he didn’t say anything else, didn’t tell her if it was a “good” or “bad” commune, her heart rate sped up. Just like always, he was afraid she couldn’t handle the truth and was keeping the full details from her.
No way. She was a big girl now. Whether or not she could handle the truth was beside the point. She had to not only handle it, she had to face it head-on. For April.