Page 41 of Burning Escape

“Let’s see your range of motion.” Tori indicated for Orion to stand. She took his arm and had him test his range, push and pull against her hand, trying to ignore how good it felt to be close to him, how different it was to work with him compared to anyone else.

“Tori! I thought you were gone.” Damian, one of her regulars, came over, a white gym towel hanging from his neck. “Does this mean I can sign up for some sessions with you?” His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Orion for a beat.

“Oh, I’m not back. At least, not for good. Just helping out a friend here.”

“That’s too bad.” Damian smiled at her.

It didn’t do anything for her. Not like Orion’s smiles that made her feel like dancing and twirling to music.

Stop comparing him to everyone else! You can stand on your own two feet, Mitchell.

She made introductions and answered another question for Damian. Since she was there, she gave him a few pointers with his workout routine and then went back to Orion.

“Be honest. What’s your pain level with the exercises?”

He wrinkled his nose. “About a three. Which is nothing a little ibuprofen won’t fix. And I doubt a doctor will say anything different.”

If they could even get to an orthopedic doctor. He’d probably have to go to Anchorage for that. “Are you sure?”

“It feels sore, but the exercising and stretching were fine. I’ll keep working on it.”

“And you’ll tell Jade if you don’t think you can do the job?”

“I can do the job.”

“Good.” But could she trust herself working with him? Now that she didn’t have the rivalry driving her, she was falling for him way too fast.

And he might be hero material. But that only meant that he deserved more than what she could offer.

NINE

It tooka week to get called out again. A week for Orion to repair his shoulder. A week of working with Tori at the gym. A week where he told himself not to fall in love with her.

Everyone was ready for a callout. Everyone except Orion. His coworkers, all used to running on caffeine and adrenaline, were growing restless with training exercises and equipment inspections, while he was thankful for the downtime. Because as hard as he was working on that shoulder, it wasn’t nearly where it should be.

But he wasn’t going to complain when a small fire sprouted up. Without a plane, Orion and the other smokejumpers bused in with the hotshots and quickly had things under control. He made sure he was on ground crew, digging into the soil to remove fuel for the fire rather than being on the chain saw line. His right shoulder was strong and able to compensate for his sore left side while chipping away at the ground, but he didn’t want to risk trying to hold a chain saw and pulling down huge trunks and limbs.

The pain level hadn’t changed, but he was getting stronger, right? And it wasn’t any worse after working the fire line, so that was good. Maybe he was worried about nothing.

According to Deputy Mills, there were no leads on Tori’s stalker, and the militia was still out there, which kept him on high alert. After a day breaking a fire line, they bused back to base camp.

“Anyone wanna head into town and hit the Midnight Sun Saloon?” JoJo asked. “I could really go for some hot wings and live music.”

“I’m in!” Tori gave her a fist bump as she walked into the hangar to help unload gear.

If Tori was going, Orion should be there to watch her back. There was still no word on Razor. “I’ll come too.”

Skye Parker dropped her pack. “Not me. I’m going home. My husband has dinner waiting.”

“Aw, well, that’s adorable, but not all of us have FBI-agent husbands who can cook, so count me in.” Raine Josephs, one of the locals on the hotshot crew, hung her helmet on the hook in her cubby and shook out her short dark hair. “I’m not driving, but I call shotgun.”

Most of the crew decided to stay at camp or had other plans, so Orion squeezed in the back of Tori’s Civic with JoJo while Raine and Tori sat up front. The forty-five-minute drive through the forest into Copper Mountain was easy. Orion let the girls chat and kept an eye on their surroundings. The workday was done, but the sun wouldn’t set for hours. Hopefully, that would make it easier to keep Tori safe. He’d already studied the one picture Tori could find of Razor—real name Randal Mason. With average height and build, medium-brown hair, he could probably hide in a crowd with ease if not for the hardened look in his eyes and the tattoo of a tarantula crawling out of his shirt collar.

Walking into the Midnight Sun Saloon brought back memories of dancing with Tori. Same smell of buffalo sauce and smoked meat hung in the air. A different band played outside on the patio—someone doing Carrie Underwood covers by the sound of it. But Orion couldn’t afford to let down his guard.

The girls chose to eat on the patio, which was fine by him. The hostess led them through the crowded restaurant past the bar.

“Look.” Tori nodded toward the far side of the bar. “That group is here again. The camo guys.”

---