Page 198 of Her Reluctant Hero
“Michaels can barely hold her shovel.” Kim’s tone was derisive.
“I can dig,” Peyton muttered, humiliation washing over her as Cooper turned those astute brown eyes to her. She wanted to crawl under the ashes.
Kim ignored her and continued, “I want to post her as a lookout.”
“I say she’s too green to know what she’s doing,” Mike interjected.
Cooper hadn’t turned away from her as the two Hot Shots voiced their opinions. He didn’t need to speak, so powerfully did he wield those eyes, daring her to look away. She didn’t, afraid to even swallow. He was assessing her and she couldn’t be found lacking. Not by him.
“Hmph,” he grunted finally. “You said you can cut line?”
“Yes, sir, I can cut,” she lied.
He studied her a moment longer. “Damn it, there’s nothing like a stubborn woman. Come with me, Peyton.”
She cast a glance at Kim and Mike, wondering what kind of trouble she was in, but their smug expressions told her nothing. With confidence she didn’t feel, she hefted her pack and followed Gabe. He stopped only long enough to pick up a chainsaw one-handed and sling it over his shoulder. The display of strength sent a very female thrill through her. She savored it only a moment before jerking back to the reality of what he was. A firefighter. A man married to his job. His dangerous job.
No, no. She’d admire his ability, but would not think about him as a man. She couldn’t.
“I can dig, Cooper,” she said, trotting beside him.
“Can you watch?”
She blinked some ash from her eye, lifted her gloved finger to wipe it away before stopping herself, winced when the irritating speck was joined by dirt. “What?”
“You’re a spotter. Yell if anything falls out of the tree while I cut it.” He stopped where another Hot Shot was waiting, swung his saw in front of him and checked the chain.
She stumbled to a halt a safe distance back and rubbed at her eye with her shoulder. “Like what?”
“Branches, snakes—”
“Snakes?” she squeaked, taking a step back.
He handed her a pair of goggles and earplugs. “They climb up to get away from the heat. The vibrations from the saw knock them out.”
“What kind of snakes?” she asked cautiously, standing where he directed her.
He winked at her before lowering his goggles. “All kinds.” He revved up the chainsaw and went to work.
Nerves jittering, she slid on her own goggles and watched him. He didn’t slash straight through the tree. Instead he made two shallow, angled cuts on the downhill side of the tree, then another on the back of it. The smell of sawdust seared through the smoke, burning her nose, but it wasn’t unpleasant. He shut off the saw and picked up a sledgehammer to knock out the wedge created by the cuts in the front of the tree. He took Peyton’s arm and drew her back with a firm grip.
The tree swayed in the drafts created by the fire before it fell with the whining sound of tearing wood. Ash, embers and pine needles whirled up in a cloud, mingling with the smoke before scattering over the ground. The vibration rattled her bones up to her knees.
Gabe released her arm, and he and another man with a saw approached the burning tree. Each braced a foot against the trunk and started cutting it into chunks to kill the fire. Two others joined them and started hacking at the burning branches with their Pulaskis. How could they stand having their feet against a log still aflame?
Only then did Peyton realize she hadn’t done what he’d asked her. She couldn’t allow herself the luxury of watching him as he worked, observing his grim face, his sure movements. His life depended on her vigilance.
She followed him to the next tree and craned her head back dutifully, holding her hard hat on.
After the cuts were made, Cooper showed her how to use the sledgehammer to dislodge the wedges. With her assistance, this tree fell faster than the last and his breathtaking grin curled right through her.
The job, not the man. The job, not the man, she chanted silently.
The audacity of his white teeth in his filthy face matched the audacity of his victory over the tree, and Peyton felt dizzy for reasons that had nothing to do with the smoke or the altitude. Creases at the corner of his eyes told her those smiles weren’t as few and far between as he wanted her to think. She hoped he’d wield such a powerful weapon with the utmost care. Especially around her. She didn’t have the resources to counter it.
Suddenly her earlier aches disappeared, and she followed him to the next tree.
A yawn caught her off guard, and she opened her eyes in time to see a flaming branch as big around as her waist hurtling end first, right toward Cooper. She screamed and grabbed his arm, pulling at him. He calmly shut off the saw and ducked out of the way. The branch landed right where he’d been standing. Peyton stared at it while Cooper picked up his saw again, as if he hadn’t almost been incinerated.
