Free Hot Seduction by LISA CHILDS Page A

he was the boss—maybe it was just his personality—but he always assumed responsibility for everything.
    Cody had no doubt that Braden would stop the arsonist if it was the last thing he did.
    â€œBut we’re a team,” Cody reminded him. “You don’t have to do it alone.”
    â€œI know that,” Braden said. With a pointed stare, he added, “ I’m not the loner.”
    Cody was; he’d made no secret of that. But that didn’t mean he didn’t care about the team.
    â€œHave I done something you’re upset about?” he asked as his heart began to beat harder, like it had every time his social worker had showed up and he’d just known he was moving again. “The concussion wasn’t my fault.”
    He wasn’t sure whose fault it was, though. Maybe it had just been an accident. But he had a niggling feeling that wasn’t the case.
    Braden shook his head and sighed. “No, you didn’t do anything. You made your position clear when I hired you. You only wanted to do a couple of seasons as a Hotshot before becoming a smoke jumper.”
    That had been his plan; it seemed like so long ago now. “True.”
    â€œMack McRooney recommended I hire you,” Braden said.
    Two years ago Cody, who’d already been working as a firefighter with the US Forest Service, had trained to be a smoke jumper with a dozen other guys. McRooney had put them through rigorous physical training—which had weeded them down to just Cody and a couple of other guys. Cody had worked hard; he had gotten good at parachuting out of planes. But there had only been one position open at that time, and Mack had given it to a guy with Hotshot experience.
    Cody nodded. “He told me about the position on your team.” The job had sent him back to Michigan from Washington. Michigan was where he’d grown up after being dropped at a fire station in Detroit.
    â€œHe called me the other day to check on you,” Braden said.
    â€œHow’d he know about my accident? And why would he care?” Cody wondered aloud. He’d liked the older guy, but they hadn’t kept in touch.
    â€œHe wants to know if you’re ready to make the switch,” Braden replied, “if you have enough practical experience to become a smoke jumper.”
    Cody had wanted that job for so long that he expected another surge of excitement. But he felt only mild curiosity. “He has an open position?”
    Braden nodded. Then his brow furrowed with confusion. “You must not be completely recovered yet.”
    â€œWhy do you say that?”
    â€œI thought you’d jump at the chance to apply for that jumper position.”
    â€œHa-ha,” he said in response to his boss’s bad pun. “Of course I’ll apply.” He’d already stayed too long with the Huron Hotshots. He was in danger of getting attached not just to his team members, but to a certain black-haired beauty as well.
    * * *
    â€œT HANKS FOR MEETING me here,” Serena said when her friends slid into the booth across from her.
    Until they arrived, she’d felt out of place in the working-class bar. Not only had she been one of the only females, she’d also felt overdressed in the skirt and blouse she’d worn for her bank appointment. She was lucky she hadn’t tripped as she’d crossed the peanut-strewn wood floor in her heels.
    Fiona and Tammy had easily maneuvered across the room in their heels. But then they were more used to dressing up than Serena was.
    â€œWe’re thrilled you finally got out of that house,” Tammy said.
    Serena blinked, fighting off the tears that threatened. These weren’t tears of sadness like when she thought of her mother. These were tears of frustration.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Fiona asked, reaching across the table for Serena’s hands. The diamond on the redhead’s finger caught and refracted the light that