Page 3 of High Seduction
“Neither was...” She shook her head. This wasn’t the time or place for the discussion, especially since she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to bring up their disastrous past. “Forget it. What are you doing here?”
He raised a brow. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Erin opened her mouth to lambast him for being an obnoxious jerk when it hit. Hard. “You’ve come to apply for the position on Lifeline.”
“Right in one, love.” He tilted his head toward the chopper. “Don’t think you can scare me off with your circus tricks, either.”
Dammit if he wasn’t right. What’s more, Lifeline was important to her, and the skills Tim possessed were exactly what the team needed. She wasn’t going to chase off the best candidate out of some egotistical revenge. The knot in her stomach didn’t make it any easier to deal with the potential issues involved in having the man around again, though. “You have an interview?”
He shook his head. “Figured I’d do a cold drop-in. Unless you want to put in a good word for me?”
Jeez. Bossy bastard had her over the coals, and he knew it. Was gloating over it.
She directed a warning glare in his direction. “Push me too far, and I swear I’ll find a way to fix you. As in how they fix animals. Got it?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, but simply twirled on her heel and returned to HQ. The candidate she’d shaken up earlier dodged aside and all but ran for his car as she passed. One solid tug jerked the main door open, and she was back in the staff area, the familiar displays on the walls and the relaxed and yet efficient setting calming her nerves even as Tim’s body only half a pace behind set her off balance.
Marcus glanced up from where he was working behind his desk, his gaze leaping off her to the man stepping into sight on her right. “What’s up, Erin?”
She took a deep breath. “Marcus, this is Tim Dextor. He’s a SAR-trained paramedic. The best I’ve ever been with.” She didn’t wait for Marcus to respond, just turned to Tim and poked him in the chest, staring him down, longing for a reason to smack him a good one. “Don’t fuck with me again.”
She ignored the question in Marcus’s eyes. Avoided looking into Tim’s face for fear of what she might see there.
Most of all, though, she ignored the ache in her belly that said far too strongly that working with the man was going to be incredible and horrid for all sorts of reasons.
The best I’ve ever been with.
As her words echoed in her brain she had to admit the comment applied to far more than his skills as a SAR.
CHAPTER2
Erin left the room, her footsteps echoing off the walls. She didn’t exactly stomp, but there was no doubt in Tim’s mind that she was staking out her territory. Showing that this was where she belonged, and no matter that she’d vouched for him, he had a lot of work to do.
Fine by him. It was only what he’d expected. She was out the front door and vanished from sight before he faced Marcus.
He held out his hand. “Good to meet you.”
Marcus rose to accept his greeting, his gaze traveling quickly over Tim. Assessing. Judging. “That’s quite the compliment Erin gave you.”
“And a fine verbal kick in the ass, as well,” Tim admitted readily. “I suppose you’d like to hear a little more about both?”
He was gestured toward a chair as Marcus resumed his position behind the desk. “If you’re here for more than a tour, yes. Background résumé would be a great starting point.”
Tim pulled out the information he’d prepped, placing the envelope on the desk. “Fifteen years’ experience as a paramedic. I’ve been in Newfoundland and Labrador for most of it, the last five doing time on the Hibernia oil platform.”
“Ah, the connection to Erin becomes clearer.” Marcus laid the papers in front of him, glancing through them quickly. “She flew transport there for a few years, didn’t she?”
“We worked together, yes.” Tim laughed. “Her skills as a pilot seem to have gotten stronger since I was a regular passenger, but she’s still playing the same tricks.”
Marcus made a rude noise. “You caught her spinning-top imitation, did you?”
Tim shrugged. “Not a bad way to eliminate weaker candidates, actually. If they can’t take a bit of a whirl in a controlled setting, they’ll never deal with it during an emergency.”
“You saying you wouldn’t have an issue with Erin shaking you up?” Marcus raised a brow. “You got nerves of steel?”
“Plus a stomach of iron,” Tim quipped, smiling as Marcus laughed. “Seriously, after the time I’ve spent on the platform in all kinds of weather conditions, a spinout is a kid’s ride at the fair. If you don’t have to lash yourself in place while doing a rescue, it’s not enough to get the blood pumping.”
“Can you do more than lash yourself down?” Marcus asked. “We use winch and cable in a lot of situations, but with the territory we patrol, we get call-outs with a lot of variety. We’ve got some of the best climbers around on the team, and we use them when we can, but all the team members are versatile. Skiing, snowshoeing—if you’ve been on a platform for five years, how up to date are you with winter rescues and avalanche situations?”
