The third installment of Annabeth Albert’s Hotshots
series—the emotions and intensity of Chicago Fire with the raw, natural
elements of Man vs. Wild.
When their career paths bring two high school sweethearts
together again, the forest isn’t the only thing ablaze…
Fire behavior specialist Luis Riviera goes where his job
takes him. But when he’s assigned to an arson investigation in Central
Oregon—the place he left his broken heart twenty years ago—he’s afraid of being
burned all over again.
Tucker Ryland had planned to join his first love, Luis,
in LA after high school graduation, but life got in the way. Now a fire
management expert and a divorced father of teen twins, Tucker’s thrown for a
loop when he finds himself working side by side with his Luis, now all grown up
and more intriguing than ever.
Though consumed by a grueling fire season and family
responsibilities, the two men discover their bond has never truly broken. Tentative
kisses turn to passionate nights. But smoking sheets aside, old hurts and new
truths stand in the way of this time being the start of forever.
Danger lurks everywhere for Central Oregon’s fire crews,
but the biggest risk of all might be losing their hearts. Don’t miss the
Hotshots series from Annabeth Albert: Burn Zone, High Heat, and Feel the Fire.
Pre-Order Links
“I’m sorry, we’re getting who?” Tucker was usually
all about getting through the morning meeting as quickly as possible, and he’d
learned through years of working with Fred that too many questions would slow
the boss down, lead to tangents and rambles and a lost morning he could have
been working. And a lost morning meant being late getting out of here in the
afternoon, meant another hasty dinner for him and the twins and grumbles all
around. So he made a point of paying attention to the announcements and
getting information right the first time, but this time he had to have heard
Fred wrong.
“New fire behavior specialist out of California—Angeles
National Forest is sending him since we’re still under a hiring freeze and now
down to a bare-bones operation. You know all that. You were complaining about
overtime last week.”
“I get that we need some more boots on the ground. But
I’ve been working as burn boss the last several fires, and Garrick’s coming
along too. Would be nice if they’d send us some more admin support and not
someone who’s going to expect a leadership role.”
“Don’t get your feathers ruffled. You’re both an asset to
incident command, sure, but we need this guy’s fire behavior experience,
especially as it pertains to arson. He’s got the analytical skills we can use
and the experience to back it up.”
“Glad they’re finally taking the arson suspicions
seriously. And what did you say the name was?” That last part was what he
really wanted to know. He could deal with the problem of too many chefs in the
kitchen, but he could have sworn Fred had said—
“Luis Rivera. Comes to us with great experience.”
“Sounds good.” He managed a nod, even as his head swam. Fuck.
Maybe there were a lot of guys with that name in the LA area. Maybe it was
some stodgy near-retiree and not the darkest, deepest pair of eyes Tucker had
ever known. The voice husky and earnest. The smile he’d never forget.
“Apparently he knows the area at least a little is what
his boss told me on the phone.”
And with that, Tucker’s cornflakes and coffee turned to
bricks in his stomach, a heavy weight he hadn’t felt in eons. There might be
plenty of guys with that name in California but there had only been one Luis
Rivera in central Oregon, the one who’d left with Tucker’s heart all those
years ago.
“They’re making me go.” Luis’s voice had wavered,
first time Tucker had seen him cry since he’d broken his arm back on a fourth
grade dare, and even then, he’d been more mad than sad, all sputtering bravado.
This was a level of devastation Tucker had never seen from his friend.
His chest hurt, like he was some hapless cartoon character
and his heart really had been cleaved in half by this news. Scooting closer, he
wrapped an arm around Luis’s slim shoulders, trying to be brave for both of
them.
“You could stay with us to finish school. Share my
room and—”
“I’m hardly your parents’ favorite person.” Luis’s
weighty sigh hit Tucker like that time a swing had slammed into his gut,
because he was right. Tucker’s parents weren’t going to come charging in to
save the day.
“I’ll wait for you,” he promised.
Only Tucker hadn’t. And if it was that same Luis, well,
there wasn’t going to be any avoiding him. As shorthanded as they were, it
wasn’t like Tucker could claim some of his mountain of unused vacation days.
Fred would want him working closely with this person. But maybe he could figure
a way around—
“Should be here any minute.”
Or not. Damn it. He needed time to sort himself out, time
he apparently wasn’t going to get because here came Fred’s assistant,
Christine, knocking at the conference room door, ushering in…
A stranger.
Not the boy Tucker had known. A man. One with a
couple of flecks of gray in his dark hair, which was neatly styled, not all
choppy and goth, and he had a lean, muscular build, taller than him by a
couple of inches, not some scrawny kid. His shoulders were solid, a man who had
known his share of heavy labor, and the biceps peeking out of his forest
service polo said he kept that work up. The edge of a tattoo played peekaboo
with his sleeve. Tucker’s memory had miles of smooth tawny skin, no tattoos or
scars like the one this guy had on his other arm.
But right when Tucker’s shoulders were about to relax,
the pit in his stomach starting to ease, the guy frowned, and Tucker would
recognize that hard, defiant look anywhere. Luis’s head tilted, revealing the
familiar curve of his neck to his shoulder that Tucker remembered all too well.
“Tucker?” The Californian accent drew out the
vowels in his name, an effect that could make him feel special and singled out
when whispered on a starless night. But add a little disdain and a deeper
timbre than Tucker recalled, and it made him feel like an unwanted extra in a
surfing movie.
“Yeah.” He nodded, head feeling untethered, like a helium
balloon about to escape.
“What the—” Luis blinked, then drew his shoulders back,
professional distance taking over, smoothing his facial features and softening
his next few words. “Sorry. Wasn’t expecting…”
“Y’all know each other?” Fred stood to greet the newcomer
with a hearty handshake. “Now, that’s just great. Small world, right?”
“Right,” Tucker echoed weakly, unable to take his eyes
off Luis. “Small world.”
Too small. Especially considering that he’d once seen the
miles between them as an uncrossable sea, a distance so great it made his brain
hurt almost as much as his heart. Once upon a time, he would have given
anything to end up in the same room again, weeks of working together looming,
and now he’d trade an awful lot to avoid it.
About Annabeth Albert
Emotionally complex, sexy, and funny stories are her
favorites both to read and to write. Annabeth loves finding happy endings for a
variety of pairings and is a passionate gay rights supporter. In between searching out dark heroes to
redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles two children.
Connect with Annabeth Albert
