As she watched from her safe distance, Lauren saw a tall, familiar-looking guy with dark hair leap down from the other side of the booster. Like Sydney, he wore a high-viz yellow jacket, pants, boots, and carried a yellow fire helmet in one hand. Thick leather gloves protruded from one pocket.

Sydney pointed at him. "Trey here is fit to be tied because most everybody's seen Lauren but him."

"Looks like you're back in town for a day and Kent's already got you into trouble," Trey teased in a deep, melodic voice as he quickly walked down the road toward Lauren.

Everybody laughed at his words.

"I'm doing my best here." Kent shook his head, grinning at them. "But you know how she's a magnet for trouble."

"Cuz, I thought that was you." Trey chuckled as he grabbed Lauren in a big bear hug. "It's about time you got back in town to keep Kent in line."

Lauren laughed, hugging him back. "I thought that was your job."

"Nothing keeps those two guys in line," Sydney complained with a mock pout.

"Pot calling the kettle black." Trey said as he stepped back. "Come on, let's set this fire back on its heels."

"Okay." Kent tried to keep down the spurt of jealousy that burned through him at the sight of Lauren in his cousin's arms. He knew better than to think there could be anything between them. Trey was newly engaged and happy as a calf in clover with his new love, smart city gal Misty Reynolds, who'd come to town last Christmas. She'd found love, not just with Trey but with the town itself, and she was already an important part of Wildcat Bluff County.

Kent stuffed his jealousy away as he focused on the efficient boosters. He doubted they'd need the big engine that night.

A tall guy stepped out of the second booster and walked over to Kent. "Hey, partner, let's get this show on the road."

"Lauren, I'd like you to meet Dune Barrett. He's our newest fire-rescue volunteer. Dune, this is Lauren Sheridan. She grew up in Wildcat Bluff and just got back today."

"Good to meet you," Dune said in a deep, gravelly voice that suggested dark nights in old-time dance venues like the Hill Country's Gruene Hall where the liquor flowed and the country-western bands played like they had for over a hundred years. He was about six-three or so and built muscle upon muscle, with s.h.a.ggy dark-blond hair that made him look as if he'd just returned from a long cattle drive.

Kent felt that flicker of jealousy again when Lauren shook Dune's hand. By now Kent had figured out that he didn't want any other man touching her in any way. He'd better get a grip before he did something stupid that'd get him laughed out of town. Besides, the only thing that mattered right now was containing the fire.

"Dune, I'll work with you on Booster 2," Kent said, getting back to the business at hand, although he'd rarely taken his eyes off the burning barn since he'd arrived at the site.

"You sure?" Dune turned from Lauren and gave Sydney a long look. "Hey, Syd, why don't you work with me?"

"I told you not to call me Syd,' and I already have a partner." She turned a cold shoulder to him and walked back to Trey.

Dune just shook his head, then followed right along behind her.

"History with those two?" Lauren asked quietly.

"She's not looking to hook up, and he's not looking to give up."

"Recipe for disaster?"

"Nah. She'll read him the riot act one of the days and that'll be that."

"I'm not so sure," Lauren said, shaking her head.

Kent shrugged, wanting to leave that volatile situation alone. He took off after the firefighters, opened wide the gate in front of the barn, and joined the others on the road as they prepared to control the blaze.

"Anybody else smell gasoline?" Trey asked as he walked over to Booster 1.

"Sure do," Dune agreed.

"Didn't Bert buy this property?" Sydney asked, turning to look at Kent.

"Yep. This is another of his buildings going up in flames."

"Bet he's up in Oklahoma fishing or some such," Trey said.

"That's not a bet I'd cover." Sydney joined Trey at Booster 1. "Let's just make sure n.o.body else loses property around here."

Kent joined Dune at Booster 2. They'd worked together before, so they were a pretty good team. Tonight, Kent wasn't wearing much firefighter gear, so he'd pump water and roll out the hose while Dune drug the nozzle near the fire and kept up a steady flow of water as he wet a perimeter around the barn. Sydney took a position to pump while Trey sprayed the other side of the ground around the barn. Kent watched as they turned streams of water on the blazing structure and steam rose along with smoke as the water fought to bring the fire under control.

Even so, the fire quickly expanded in size as it ate up oxygen. Soon the wooden structure was fully engaged and pumping smoke from every crevice and open doorway. Flames and smoke surged higher into the sky.

Trey and Dune kept up the water barrage, catching stray sparks as the wind whipped the fire into sudden bursts. They were beating back the blaze, despite the orange-and-yellow flames spitting and licking and clawing to take back what they gave up. Every fire had its own personality. This one reminded Kent of a dangerous wild bull.

And just when he thought they had the fire contained, it erupted when a piece of shake-shingle roof was ripped off by the wind and whipped across Trey's head to land in the adjacent pasture. Flames immediately set the dry gra.s.s ablaze, and a line of fire headed straight for Twin Oaks.

Kent immediately rolled out more hose and upped the pressure on the pump so Dune could go after the expanding blaze, while Trey kept a stream of water on the barn. But it didn't work out like Kent had planned because the wind whipped back around and Dune had to return to spraying the barn.

"Sydney, watch my pump." When he got her nod of understanding, he took off running, hoping he could stomp out the fire with his boots before it took hold and swept away from them.

He got ahead of the blaze, but the flames were moving fast, consuming the gra.s.s at an unbelievable rate. He pulled on his gloves as he stomped, making a little headway, but he quickly realized that he wasn't going to be able to do enough quick enough. And the others couldn't leave the barn. He'd have to call for backup, but he feared the engine couldn't get there in time.

Just as he pulled his cell out of his pocket to make the call, he heard Lauren hollering his name. He glanced up. She'd crossed the road, dragging a heavy fire extinguisher in each hand, up to the barbwire fence. He could've cheered because she might just have saved the day.

He pocketed his cell, ran over to her, grabbed the extinguishers, and set them down on his side of the fence.

"Hold up the barbwire and I'll crawl under," she said as she went down on her knees.

"Lauren, I don't want you in danger."

"I'm not letting that fire get anywhere near my daughter." She lay down and started to crawl on her stomach under the fence.

He quickly raised the bottom strand of wire so she wouldn't tear her clothes or scratch her back.

Once she was on the other side, she grabbed an extinguisher and dragged it toward the leading edge of the blaze.

He used the black strap to hang the other fire extinguisher over his shoulder and caught up to her. He tried to take the other extinguisher from her, but she gave him a dark look.

"Two of us are faster than one," she said. "I remember how to use these cans, so let's get to it."

He grinned, loving her sa.s.siness even as he wanted to keep her safe. He knew better. This was his Lauren, and she didn't back down for nothing or n.o.body. "Let's do it."

Together, they got out in front of the fire and started spraying the potent chemical on the blaze, leaving a trail of yellow. They continued to douse the flames till nothing was left except charred gra.s.s. When their cans were empty, they tossed them aside, and then stomped on the crisp gra.s.s to make sure there were no hot embers left that might reignite.

Finally, Kent picked up one empty canister and hung it from his shoulder by the strap before he put the other strap over his free shoulder. He couldn't resist leaning down and giving Lauren a quick kiss on her plump lips.

"Don't you know I'm too hot to handle?" she teased, laughing with a sound caught somewhere between delight and relief.

"Guess I'm looking to get burned."

"I think we're both a little on the scorched side." She laughed harder, pointing toward the barn. "But that building took the brunt of it."

He looked in that direction. He felt a vast sense of relief when he saw that the old barn was nothing more than a pile of black rubble with a red-orange glow of banked embers here and there. He glanced back at the blackened patch of pasture. He'd been c.o.c.ky tonight, maybe because being with Lauren had made him feel like Superman, and he knew better. You could never count on a fire doing what it was supposed to do, and particularly not when it was a raging bull of a blaze.

He clasped Lauren's hand and threaded their fingers together again. "Guess you're a Wildcat Bluff volunteer firefighter all over again."

She squeezed his hand. "I feel like I've never been gone."

"Let's get you home."

"Twin Oaks will look mighty good."

But Kent hadn't been thinking about Ruby's place. He'd been thinking about his own farmhouse on Cougar Ranch.

Chapter 19.

High and dry in Kent's truck, Lauren completed her text to Ruby so her friend would know all was now safe and sound in the area. She slipped her phone back into her pocket as she turned to look at Kent. He drove in the easy, controlled manner that volunteer firefighters were trained to use as he headed toward Twin Oaks. She felt a warm contentment with him, just like the old days.

She also smelled like smoke, but he did, too. Fact of the matter, the entire cab reeked of the bitter, pungent scent of burnt wood, mostly emanating from their clothes. But that didn't matter, not when lives and property had been saved by their help. She was proud of her friends who'd dedicated their lives to Wildcat Bluff, their families, and each other. She felt a little guilty that she hadn't returned sooner so that she could lend a hand to the folks who had made this county so special. But life had thrown her a curve ball, and she was just now stepping up to the plate back home.

They'd left the other volunteers in charge of making sure there were no stray embers to ignite the pasture and wreak more havoc. She'd like to have spent time catching up with her friends, but there'd be plenty of opportunity to do that later.

Illumination from the dashboard cast the strong planes of Kent's handsome face in light and shadow. Maybe that's what life was all about-some light, some shadow, some in between. She felt as if a spotlight had been shining on her life since she'd set foot in Wildcat Bluff that morning. With so much that had happened today, she felt a little contemplative. Maybe the shadows of uncertainty were giving way to the certainty of hope. She smiled at the idea, feeling as if Kent were making her poetic, or at least thoughtful, since he was a major factor in her fast transformation from city gal back to country gal.

He pulled up to Twin Oaks and stopped in front of the three-car garage, letting the engine idle as he switched off the headlights. For a moment, she sat perfectly still because she felt a little disoriented, as if he were leaving her at the wrong place instead of taking her home with him. But Hannah was here at Ruby's cozy B&B, and Kent's house was not Lauren's home. Still, she couldn't help her feeling of not wanting to be separated from him, not after all they'd shared during this long, special day.

Kent cleared his throat, drumming his fingertips on the steering wheel as he looked over at her. "If you don't mind me saying so, I hate to leave you here."

"Why?" She unbuckled her seat belt and turned to face him. "Twin Oaks is safe now."

"Doesn't seem right," he said in a voice gone deep and husky with repressed emotion.

"I don't have any other place, not yet anyway."

"You could come home with me."

She felt his words go straight to her heart as heat flushed her body, along with longing for what might have been if they'd remained sweethearts. He was also voicing her own thoughts and putting them right out in the open so there was no mistake about what he wanted from her. She felt a little giddy, in a good way, at the thought of them being together again.

"I'm coming on too strong, too fast, aren't I?" He gripped the steering wheel with both hands as if to keep from reaching for her.

"Kent, I'm not the carefree girl I used to be. There's Hannah to think about and-"

"She's a doll. And she's part of you, so I care about her, too."

"Thank you." She felt deeply touched by his words. Could he really still care about her after all this time? She reached over and squeezed the hard muscles of his forearm to make her point. "I want you to understand that my daughter comes first in my life."

"That's only right." He covered her fingers with his big, strong hand. "But there can be more than one right in life."

"True." She felt the power of his strength in their simple touch. "But for now, Hannah is my right."

He squeezed her hand, and then gripped the steering wheel again. "You'll bring her out to the ranch?"

"We've got plans. Remember?" She reluctantly let go of his arm and immediately felt the loss of their connection. And yet, she'd been on her own a long time and didn't need a man to make her feel complete. Maybe she needed Kent to help her feel happy and content. She was beginning to think she wanted more in life than what she'd allowed herself to experience in a long time.

He turned toward her, reached out, and ma.s.saged the back of her neck in gentle spirals. "We'll find a way to make everything right."

She wanted very much to believe him, particularly as she responded so strongly to the sensuality of his touch. Waves of heat cascaded outward from the erotic caress of his rough fingertips, setting her entire body ablaze and turning her core molten. When he tugged her toward him, angling his head in the way he'd done so long ago, she eagerly leaned into his kiss, wanting nothing more than to lose herself in this shared moment.

He stroked her lower lip with the tip of his hot tongue, sending shivers chasing through her, then kissed the corner of her mouth as he easily upped the sizzle between them. Soon she needed more, much more, and she nipped his lower lip in return, letting him know how intently she wanted his kiss, his touch, his nearness. And with that encouragement, he deepened the kiss as she eagerly opened her mouth to explore the depth of their shared pa.s.sion. And still nothing in all the intervening years had diminished their spark one bit. Instead, a hot core of desire like nothing she'd felt when she was younger exploded into a raging inferno of blatant s.e.xual need.

Kent must have been ignited by their kiss as well because they quickly reached a boiling point that called for much, much more than a single kiss. And as he shifted to draw her against his chest, the outdoor lights of Twin Oaks snapped on and illuminated the pickup.

He groaned in obvious frustration, and she echoed the sound. And yet they ended the kiss and pulled away from each other as their breath came fast.

"Ruby's not letting us get away with anything, is she?" he said in a rough, husky voice.

Lauren took a deep breath, trying to slow her racing heart as she clasped the door handle. "Has she ever?"

"Nope." He smiled as he gently rubbed the pad of his thumb back and forth across her lower lip. "Guess I'd better let you go. I'll get out and open your door."

"Just stay where you are. If you get out, no telling how long it'll take me to say good night and reach the front door."

He chuckled, but the sound came out in a strained rasp. "Yeah. Trouble is-I just want to take you home."

"And I'd like to be there." As she opened the door and the interior lights came on, she glanced down at her borrowed jeans. "I'll wash these and get them back to the station."

"Reminds me." He reached behind him, grabbed her sundress off the backseat, and thrust it into her hands.

"Thanks. Your hat's still inside."

"I'll get it later."

She hesitated as silence fell between them, along with a reluctance to separate. She took another deep breath, knowing she had to go or she'd never leave him. "Well, thanks for everything."

She quickly stepped out of the truck and slammed the door behind her. She walked under the covered porch before she turned back for a last, irresistible look at him. She realized that there'd never been anyone else like him in her life, no matter where she'd gone, no matter what she'd done.

He switched on his truck's headlights, blinked them once in good-bye, backed out, and headed down Cougar Lane.