Page 14 of High Seduction
The order came from Anders, a breathless, relieved tone clear in his voice. “You’re good. Stop rising. Holyshit, that was close. You okay, Tim?”
“I might need to change my underwear, but other than that, no worries.”
His dry comment dragged a moment of laughter from Anders. “Okay, then. Let’s head to the emergency base.”
Erin wasn’t sure exactly what had happened. “What the heck was that?”
Tim came back on the line. “A loose end, but it’s all tied up now. You did good, pilot lady. Lifted us sweetly out of trouble. My thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She’d get the full details when they weren’t still in the middle of an op. “Alisha, what about you?” Erin asked.
“We’re good. There’s another group of Ski-Doos approaching. The patrol will take us down, and I’ll meet you at base.”
“Tim, how is your party doing?” Anders asked. “We’ll have you at ground level in under five minutes.”
“We’re good, but ready to get acquainted with the ground again.”
“Roger that.” A very calm response for hanging under the chopper, but she didn’t expect anything else from Tim.
Erin focused on her task, following Anders’s verbal cues as he helped guide her toward the landing pad. He winched up two lines simultaneously, and in the end he had their passengers in the perfect position as she hovered and allowed time for the ski hill SAR team members on the ground to unhook the civilians and clear her path.
The quiet in her ears as she shut down the rotors seemed too loud.
She stepped from the cockpit, cursing herself as she instantly looked around for Tim.
A red-coated SAR ran up. “You good to transport a couple people back to Banff who need to hit the hospital ASAP?”
“Anytime. Let me check in with the rest of my team, and we’ll be good to go.”
Erin flipped open her mic and put out a call for information. “What’s your location, and who’s ready to come home with me?”
“Alisha here. Devon and I are staying to help with some ground recovery. Don’t worry about us—we’ll get a ride back with some locals.”
“Tripp is with a couple of the people you need to transport,” Anders shared. “We’ll take his group plus the paramedic and his heart-condition patient with us. Can we leave in five?”
“No problem.” Erin headed back to get ready. “Everyone else okay?”
“No worries.”
The return flight to Banff was quiet. Erin turned down her headset as the guys in the back were busy looking after the five passengers they’d brought with them for the hospital.
Now that the rescue was over, the rush of all the other emotions she wanted to avoid loomed far too large. Already she was dreading having to talk to Tim.
It was crazy, the knots she’d been tangled in. He was only a man. One she had a past with, yes, but that didn’t make any difference now.
She was a professional and so was he, and if he got assigned to the team, they could work together. They’d just proved that.
An inkling of an idea struck. Maybe she needed a dose of him to get him out of her system. It had been so long ago, and they’d been young. Perhaps all the nervous energy growing from lingering over her memories was more from her imagination than reality. She’d built up their issues in her head until they’d become a disaster, and a dose of real life would knock some sense into her.
Or maybe she was deceiving herself and getting together with him was a really bad idea.
Tempting beyond belief, though.
The hospital staff met them at the helipad, taking charge of the people needing medical attention. Tim handed over his patient, then returned to the chopper to flash his deadly smile her way.
“Very nice, Erin. Fine bit of flying.”
Erin smiled grudgingly. “Thanks. What I want to know is how you managed to end up in the middle of trouble.”
