Page 1 of Line of Fire
CHAPTER ONE
Aaron Steele sat up in his bed, sweat running down his bare chest. It was almost Christmas, but you wouldn’t know it from the weather in California. He missed Colorado winters, especially during the holidays. He missed the friends that he left behind in Harvest Ridge, but mostly, he missed Sunny. God, he missed Sunshine Francis.
She was one of the reasons why he left Colorado to train forest firefighters in California. She got too close, and that was something that he couldn’t let happen. They spent one perfect night together back in April, and she still possessed a piece of his heart. He tried to move on, hoping to find a new normal, and he was doing just fine until he got a message from his best friend, Taggart Harrison. Tag all but demanded that Aaron high-tail his ass back to Harvest Ridge because Piper and Sunny were in some sort of trouble. This morning, Aaron talked to his supervisor about taking a leave of absence. He promised that he would finish the week, but then he was heading back to Harvest Ridge. He needed to go home to make sure that Sunny was safe, even knowing how painful it would be to walk away from her again. He tried to settle down in his uncomfortable, tiny bunk,hoping that sleep would find him again. But that meant that the nightmares would probably catch up to him, too. He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since that night he spent in Sunny’s arms, and he would give just about anything to be snuggled in her bed now. His cock was hard just thinking about her sexy body curled up next to his. But that wasn’t going to happen. He was too messed up to even consider dragging her into his life—it wouldn’t be fair to her.
He closed his eyes, and the faces of the men that he lost from his company slowly played through his mind, as they did every night for the past five years. Aaron was a new firefighter when his company was called in on the Wolf Creek Pass fire, since they had forest fire training. It was the second-largest forest fire in Colorado’s history, burning over 110,000 acres. The entire cluster fuck was considered a natural disaster since it started from a lightning strike. Three forest fires merged to create one of the worst natural disasters the state of Colorado has ever seen. It also took the lives of fifteen of his closest friends—men that he considered his brothers. Three men from his company made it home from that fire, and he was one of them. To this day, he felt a pang of guilt that he was still around, fighting fires and enjoying life while so many families lost husbands, fathers, and brothers.
Honestly, no one was at home waiting for him when he returned from that disaster with a few scrapes and a broken arm. He took some time off to heal physically, but the invisible wounds—the demons that he fought every night when he shut his eyes, never healed. For the short time that he and Sunny were hanging out, he thought that he might be able to get past the guilt of surviving. But then they took it too far, sleeping together, and the feelings that she brought to the surface scared the crap out of him. He acted like a first-class heel, avoiding her after their one night together, but that only made herangry. When Sunshine Francis got angry, there was no stopping that woman. She made sure that he never had a moment’s peace. At Tag and Piper’s wedding, she mean-mugged him while whispering to the bride all night. He knew that she was talking about him, the way they both kept looking in his direction. Tag and Torren gave him some shit about just going after her and taking what he wanted, but they didn’t understand the constant turmoil he was in. Guilt does that to a man—turns him inside out and upside down until he doesn’t know which way is up. Aaron couldn’t drag Sunny into his already fucked up life, no matter how much he wanted to. She was better off without him.
Sunny was gorgeous with her sexy little body and short brown hair; she drove him crazy with lust. That’s why going back to Harvest Ridge even for a few days scared the shit out of him. He just didn’t know if he would be able to handle seeing Sunny again. Even if he got through spending the holidays with her, would he want to leave her again? Could he just walk away from her and not look back? He never had a problem with leaving women before. Hell, he was even pretty good at it. He had his time in the Air Force to thank for that since the military didn’t leave him much choice about where he was sent. He was good at loving and leaving the ladies whenever duty called, and he needed to move on. He spent most of his career in the Middle East securing flights for military personnel. He would process the soldiers as they went from the field to go back home on leave. He would never forget the faces of the men and women who passed through the base; their ghostlike expressions from the devastation that they witnessed still haunted him.
He enlisted in the Air Force when he was just eighteen, fresh out of high school. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to go to college, so his guidance counselor handed him a pamphlet for each of the military branches. He picked one, and the rest was history. Aaron served his mandatory eight years and got outwhen he was twenty-six. He took some time to travel, not having a home base. His mom died the year before he graduated high school, and his dad remarried. His stepmom wasn’t his biggest fan, and he never wanted to cause his dad any trouble, so he stayed away. He got an occasional birthday or Christmas card, but never much more. He drifted from state to state, working odd jobs, not sure what he wanted to do or where he wanted to end up.
One day, he stumbled across Harvest Ridge when he blew a tire on his pickup truck. He stayed the night in town waiting for his new tire to be delivered, and he never left. Aaron met Tag and Torren Harrison, and the three of them became instant friends, bonding over their shared love of the outdoors. He helped them with their adventure business, leading groups out on hikes, and even went on a few white-water rafting trips to lend a hand. Tag introduced him to the chief at the local fire station, and Aaron signed up and trained to be a firefighter.
He loved his job right up until that fateful day, five years ago. Every man in his company knew what they were getting into that day. They knew how dangerous the fire was, and they all agreed that saving Harvest Ridge was too important not to try. Each person in that group either lived in town or had family that did. They couldn’t sit back and hope that the fire would spare their small town. They went up the mountain, right into the belly of the beast, and dug trenches to stop the fire from spreading any further. Their efforts were met with a backdraft caused by shifting winds. Before the group even knew what hit them, they were surrounded by flames. When Aaron closed his eyes at night, he could still see the terror in his buddies’ eyes and hear their screams of agony as he had no choice but to retreat down the mountain. Those sounds and images haunt him for the rest of his life, no matter how many mandatory therapy sessions his station forced him to attend. Now, he was about to turn thirty-four, and he had nothing to show for it except regret, guilt, and a crazy longing for a woman that he knew was better off without him. Still, he was willing to put himself through a little hell to make sure that Sunny was safe. She came to mean something to him, although he had no idea what that meant or what to do with those feelings. When he talked to Tag, every protective instinct came to life within him. All he could think about was getting back to Harvest Ridge and keeping Sunny safe. Once he knew that she was all right, he could head back out of town and out of her life. Because keeping Sunny safe from him was also part of the deal.
Aaron finished out his work week as he promised and packed his belongings into the small duffel bag that he practically lived out of. He kept his loft in Colorado, only taking what was necessary to California. Aaron didn’t plan on returning to Harvest Ridge so soon, but he had no choice. He threw his bag in his pickup truck and started the drive back home. If he was lucky and the weather held, he would be home in two days. He knew that once he hit the mountains, the weather would be the wild card factor in his driving time. He needed some news from Tag, but his friend hadn’t called or texted in days. The last thing he heard was that some asshole was trying to get to Piper by using her aunt, Lorna.
Sawyer had Torren guarding Sunny, and that felt like a kick in the gut. Aaron knew that Torren and Sunny had had a fling a while back—what if they hooked up again? Sometimes, danger could throw two people together. He shook his head, trying to clear the image of Torren and Sunny in bed together. Aaron wanted Sunny to move on and find someone to be with. Hell,he wanted her to fall in love and have a family—kids, a dog, the whole nine yards. If he was being completely honest with himself, he wanted her to find those things with him, but he was smart enough to know that wasn’t a possibility. He needed to make sure that nothing happened to Tag, Piper, or Sunny. The thought of someone hurting Sunny made him madder than hell.
He decided to give Sawyer a call—not knowing what the hell was going on wasn’t working for him. He pulled out his cell and dialed Sawyer’s number. His friend’s grumpy greeting made him smile, reminding him that he was away from home for too long.
“Yeah, Aaron, it’s about fucking time.” Sawyer sounded like he had been through hell.
“Well, Merry fucking Christmas to you too, man.” Aaron huffed out a laugh.
“Sorry, man. I’ve got a lot going on right now. I’m planning a wedding,” Sawyer grumbled. Aaron wanted to laugh at the thought of Sawyer as a wedding planner.
“So, the whole bodyguard thing didn’t work out then?” Aaron teased. He couldn’t help laughing at his joke. He knew that he was starting to piss Sawyer off, judging by his friend’s frustrated growl into the other end of the line.
“I’m throwing Lorna a surprise wedding for Christmas. We are going to have a baby, and Piper is helping me to plan a Christmas wedding. We have been trying to reach you for months now, man. Where are you?” Sawyer sounded like he was doing fifteen things at one time, judging from the amount of noise coming from the other end of the line.
“Sorry, man. I’m heading back to town now. I’ll be there tomorrow. Tell me that everyone is safe. Last time I talked to Tag, someone was trying to get to Piper.” Aaron flexed his fingers, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter while he waited for Sawyer’s response.
“Yeah, Aaron, there is a lot you should know, but I just don’t have the time to talk right now. I’m taking Lorna to dinner in a few hours, and I’ve got a million things to do. Everyone here is safe—just get your ass back to town,” Sawyer ordered. Aaron could hear the worry in Sawyer’s voice and was sure that his friend wasn’t telling him everything. He knew that he was going to regret asking, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Sunny—is she okay?” Sawyer sighed into his cell, sending up red flags.
“Listen, man, I can’t say too much. I promised Sunny that I’d keep my mouth shut, and she will fucking kill me if I tell you what’s going on with her. All I’m going to say is hightail your ass back to town and show up to my wedding tomorrow. It’s going to start around noon. And dude, don’t be an ass when you see Sunny—she’s been through enough.” Aaron’s anger ramped up at the mention of Sunny having gone through some shit, but he never would want to cause her any more grief than he already had.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Arron shouted.
Sawyer barked out a laugh into the phone. “I mean, don’t act like that when you see Sunny tomorrow. I’ve got to go, just don’t be late tomorrow and fuck up my wedding day,” Sawyer said. With that, Sawyer ended the call, leaving Aaron to analyze their conversation. What the hell happened to Sunny? Whoever was giving her a tough time was going to have to answer to him. God, he would kick whoever’s ass needed to be kicked because picking on his Sunny was just not acceptable. Yeah, he was going to roll into town, take some names, and kick some ass. He would help Sunny fix everything and catch up with all his friends. He was due for some downtime. He worked hard these past few months—he deserved some time with his buddies. After the New Year, he would head back to California and try to forget about Sunnyagain, even though he knew from experience that was pretty much impossible to do.
CHAPTER TWO
Christmas Day
Aaron was dog tired by the time he pulled up to Tag and Piper’s cabin. He knew that he was late and that he probably missed the wedding, but he was hoping to catch all his friends still there. He was so nervous about seeing Sunny, he felt like a teenage boy going on his first date. What the hell was wrong with him? Grown ass men didn’t get butterflies like giddy schoolgirls. He needed to get his shit together before heading in to see her. He wasn’t going to have much time to pull it together because Tag, Sawyer, and Lorna all emerged from the house with their arms laden with gifts. He jumped out of his truck and jogged over to lend a hand.
“Hey, stranger.” Lorna piled her boxes into the trunk and pulled him in for a hug. He always loved the way she made everyone feel like family.
“Congratulations! I hear that you got hitched.” He wrapped an arm around Lorna, pulling her into his side. Aaron offered his hand to Sawyer, who pulled him in for a quick side man hug. Lorna giggled beside him.
“Yep, and we’re having a baby. I guess there will be three new Harvest Ridge residents come spring,” Lorna said. Tag cleared his throat and pulled Aaron in for a hug. Aaron didn’t miss the nervous looks that Sawyer and Lorna exchanged.
“Three babies?” Aaron looked between the three of them, and he knew that they weren’t telling him something. “Who else is having a baby?” Aaron asked, but he could tell by Tag’s smile that he and Piper were in that club.
