Read Burns So Bad (Smoke Jumpers) for Free Online Page A

had been.
    Nothing more.
    Mack danced Gia down the line. Rio
    hadn’t planned on letting go, but his fingers slipping away from her hips and
    maybe—although he wouldn’t admit it—brushing her ass. He didn’t
    want to dance, but he did want to get his hands on Gia. Since dancing was the
    only way to do that right now, he tucked his thumbs in his belt and let his
    feet find the rhythm of the country song.
    Rio was a good dancer. He’d always
    excelled at anything physical.
    Gia was—enthusiastic.
    She sashayed back up the line, not
    quite to the beat, laughing and calling something over her shoulder to Mack.
    Rio was fairly certain her parting shot had included at least one obscenity.
    His partner had a potty mouth. Her eyes, though, were happy. He thought about
    that for a moment, but that was the right word. And Gia enjoying herself was a
    sight to see. He was used to seeing her tightly disciplined and focused, with
    eyes for nothing but her LZ and the waiting fire.
    Except when she had her arms around
    him. Of course, she’d been rescuing his ass—if he was being fair, which
    he wasn’t inclined to be, not right now—and her options had been hold on
    tight or let go. Since he still wasn’t a fan of freefalling sans chute, he was glad she’d decided to
    hold on.
    The problem was, that almost
    embrace had him imagining other scenarios where she held him wholeheartedly.
    The fundamental problem with line
    dancing was that no one needed a partner. There was also not much in the
    touching department. Trading Ma’s in for a Regency ballroom and a waltz had
    never seemed like a better idea.
    Snagging her wrist, he pulled her
    into line next to him.
    “Dance with me.”
    She shot him a look—as if
    he’d forgotten what they were doing—but she popped into the line beside
    him as Bob Segar belted out of the jukebox. He could have told her that he’d
    known where she was and what she was doing the entire summer. But that would
    have been creepy and the last thing he wanted to do was drive her away.
    Because he wanted to pull her
    close.
    “Tush push!” Mack bellowed. Joey
    sent up an answering whoop from his left and then the whole line exploded,
    boots stomping the floor as the team swung into action to the mellow tones of
    the sex and Segar’s voice rasping nostalgically.
    Heel toe heel heel. Right foot,
    left foot.
    Mimi had invested in bar stools,
    not dance floor, and thank God there was no space to spare. Each time Gia scooted,
    her hips brushed his. When her hands swung up, clapping enthusiastically, her
    fingertips brushed Rio’s chest. Thank God for small spaces.
    One and two and three and
    four—
    The tush push shoved her ass and hips
    forward and then back. Thanks to the limited dance floor her sweet curves
    brushed his front. His arms enveloped her as he clapped over her head. That was
    as close as he was getting to holding her tonight, unless his luck changed. He
    didn’t want to need her like this, to spend every minute plotting to get
    closer. That wasn’t how he rolled. Wasn’t who he was. He didn’t do need. Except when he was around Gia
    Jackson.
    She grooved, her body finally
    catching up with the music, swinging her hips in one sexy circle. He danced
    along, because, really, watching the faded denim pull tight over her hips and
    ass was no hardship at all.
    Cha-cha forward. Back. The blood in
    his dick thumped out a drumbeat all its own, reminding him that his sexual dry
    spell had gone on for far too long. Off-limits, he reminded his southern parts.
    He could dance with her—he just couldn’t sleep with her.
    One,
    two, three four .His thigh
    brushed hers as she missed the count and stepped early, hopping on one foot to
    rediscover her place in the line. Five,
    six . Her fingers bounced off his hip as she moved.
    The
    heel of her boot planted itself on his toes. He grinned and leaned in. “You’re
    a lethal weapon, Jackson,” he growled against her ear.
    Tipping
    her head back,