Barely Breathing (Colorado High Country #1), Page 2

  “I can’t come up after you, or we’ll both be stuck up there.”

  The fire department.

  They had trucks. They had ladders. If they got cats out of trees, couldn’t they get a dog off a rock cut?

  “Hold on, buddy.” She drew out her cell phone, looked online for the fire department’s non-emergency number, and dialed, giving her location to the dispatcher and explaining the situation.

  “I’m alerting both the fire department and the Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue Team, ma’am,” the dispatcher said. “You’re right up the road from the fire department. They should be on the scene in a matter of minutes.”

  “Thanks.” Lexi slid her phone back into her pocket and called up to the dog, trying to soothe it. “Hang in there, buddy. We’ll save you.”

  The morning sun beat down on her, and she remembered too late how quickly her skin burned at altitude. Being a natural redhead had its downside. Wishing she’d remembered to bring a hat, she glanced down the hill, expecting to see an emergency-response vehicle headed her way. Apart from a couple of cars, the only other person on the road was a hiker in a red hat.

  Above her, the dog whimpered and whined.

  “You poor baby!” Where was the dog’s owner? Lexi had no sympathy for people who neglected their pets. “Help is on its way. I promise. How long have you been stuck there? You’re probably thirsty, aren’t you?”

  She glanced down the hill again. There was still no sign of either the fire department or any rescue team, but the hiker was moving quickly in her direction. He wore shorts and flip flops, his short-sleeved shirt unbuttoned, his red hat…

  That wasn’t a hat. It was a firefighter’s helmet.

  He was the fire department’s response?

  One man in shorts, an unbuttoned shirt, and flip flops.

  Only in Scarlet.

  He reached her in a matter of minutes, giving her a nod, only a little out of breath. He seemed to take in the situation at a glance, then stared at her, his face splitting in a wide grin. “Lexi Jewell. I sure didn’t expect to find you here.”

  It took her a moment to recognize him, and when she did, she found herself smiling. “Eric? Eric Hawke?”

  Oh. My. God.

  What had happened to the skinny kid who’d blushed every time she’d looked at him? Eric Hawke had grown up to be … well, ripped was the first word that came to mind. Hot was the second.

  There was stubble on his jaw, his skin tanned. A sprinkling of dark hair covered his chest, bisecting a six-pack and disappearing in a thin line behind the waistband of his shorts. Even his legs were tanned and muscular.

  He reached for the hand mic clipped to his collar, and she saw he wore an earpiece. “Scarlet FD on the scene, made contact with the RP.”

  She willed herself to look into his eyes. “So, you’re a firefighter now?”

  Of course he’s a firefighter! Why else would he wear a firefighter’s helmet?

  “I’m chief of Scarlet’s fire department.” His gaze shifted from her to the dog. “Looks like we’ve got a little problem here.”

  He took off his helmet and handed it to her, his dark hair damp with sweat. Then he walked around her car to the rock face and started to climb.

  She didn’t mean to tell him his business, but this hardly seemed safe. “Shouldn’t you use a rope or a ladder or something?”

  “Nah.” His gaze was on the rock. “This is easy.”

  He’d gotten perhaps five feet off the ground when a white SUV with the words “Forest County Parks & Open Space” on the side pulled up behind her car, lights flashing. A tall man in an olive green ranger uniform and mirrored aviator sunglasses stepped out.

  Lexi’s pulse tripped.

  Austin.

  He was taller, his dark blond hair shorter, his body filled out, more muscular, but she would have recognized him anywhere—those cheekbones, that jaw, those lips.

  She’d known she’d run into him sooner or later, but why did it have to be today?

  She sucked in a breath and put a smile on her face. “Austin.”

  Austin Taylor tried to ignore the fact that his heart had skipped a beat. He acknowledged Lexi with a nod, then turned his attention to Hawke. “You got this?”

  “Yeah. No need to tone out the Team.” Hawke drew himself up beside the dog, took it beneath his left arm, and started down climbing.

  Austin reached for the hand mic of his radio, which he kept clipped to a loop on his uniform shirt. “Fifty-six-twenty.”

  “Fifty-six-twenty, go ahead.”

  “Disregard that last call for SAR. Scarlet FD has it under control.”

  “Ten-twenty-three,” dispatch responded, noting the time for the official record.

  Hawke dropped the last few feet to the ground, the dog under one arm. He scratched behind its ears. “How the hell did you get up there?”

  Lexi hurried over to Eric, handed him his helmet and took the dog, a smile on her face. “I can’t believe you climbed that in flip flops.”

  “It was nothing, really, but if you want to be impressed, go ahead.” The grin on Hawke’s face told Austin he was enjoying the attention.

  Hawke had once had a serious crush on Lexi, calling her “Sexy Lexi.” Okay, so Hawke hadn’t been the only one to use that nickname. All of the boys, including Austin, had used it, too, because…

  Damn.

  She looked just like he remembered her—long hair a soft shade of red, high cheekbones, big, green eyes, a perfect mouth. Well, maybe she had changed a little. Her hair was longer, and the white tank top and denim skirt she wore clung to curves that were clearly fuller.

  Holy hell.

  She set the squirming dog on the ground, knelt beside it. “You’re happy to be down, aren’t you? Poor puppy.”

  The dog wagged its entire body, lavishing her face with kisses.

  She laughed, looked up at Austin with those big eyes. “Do you have water? I think he’s thirsty. He’s been stuck up there for a while.”

  She didn’t seem to have a leash, and she hadn’t brought water either. What kind of dog owner was she?

  “I’ve got some in the vehicle.” Austin went to get it, returning with a bottle of water and a collapsible water bowl.

  She gave him a bright smile that made his pulse skip again. “I guess you’re prepared for everything.”

  Everything except seeing her again.

  He knelt down beside her, close enough to catch the scent of her skin—clean and feminine and familiar. He lost his train of thought, his mouth struggling to find words. “I come across stray pets fairly often. Sometimes I work with rescue dogs.”

  The dog drank greedily.

  “You were thirsty, weren’t you?” He scratched behind the dog’s ears, disappointed to see dirt, burrs, and tangles in its fur. He would have expected better of Lexi. She had always loved animals. “Do you have a leash?”

  She shook her head.

  “This is Forest County Open Space. Dog owners are required to keep their dogs on leash at all times. I’m going to have to issue you a ticket for—”

  “A ticket?” Lexi gaped at him. “How can you ticket me?”

  Her response surprised him, made his hackles rise. Did she think he would give her a break because they’d once had a connection?

  “Aw, come on, man,” Eric protested. “Cut her some slack. She just got here.”

  Austin’s temper spiked. Hawke had spent five minutes with Lexi and already he wanted Austin to bend the rules for her? He was thinking with his balls—again. “That’s not how it works.”

  Then Lexi’s eyes went wide, her lips forming a little O, a look of comprehension on her face. She laughed, the sweet sound stirring memories.

  What was so damned funny?

  “It’s not my dog.”

  “It’s not your dog?” Austin repeated, stupidly.

  Behind him, Hawke chuckled.

  “I was just driving by when I saw the little guy up there and stopped to help.�
��

  And the pieces came together.

  “Got it. Not your dog.” He found himself laughing, too. “I guess that means no ticket. I’ll grab a leash and take it to impound.”

  It was disappointing, really. He’d been working his way toward seriously disliking her—the woman who’d broken his teenage heart and didn’t take care of her dog. But she’d stopped to help a stranded animal.

  Damn.

  He strode to his vehicle, grabbed a leash, and returned. He was about to fix it to the dog’s collar, when a young woman in a crocheted halter top and ankle-length tie-dyed skirt clambered over the opposite embankment and ran across the highway on bare feet, blond dreadlocks hanging down her back.

  She glared at Lexi, her hands making fists. “What are you doing with my dog?”

  Austin hadn’t seen her around here before and guessed she was with the group of transients that had camped out on Forest Service land over the weekend. Her tone and bearing had him instinctively stepping closer to Lexi.

  Lexi started to answer her. “I—”

  “Your dog was stuck up there.” Hawke stepped in front of Lexi. “She stopped and called for help. I believe what you’re trying to say is, ‘Thank you.’”

  The woman scooped the dog into her arms, still glaring at Lexi. “You didn’t have to call no one. I’d have found him. I always find him.”

  Austin would have ticketed her, but he could see the woman wasn’t carrying an ID with her. She probably didn’t have a permanent address. There was no way to be certain she’d give him her real name and no mechanism to ensure that she paid the ticket. In other words, giving her a ticket would accomplish nada.

  “Take this.” He held out the leash. “Dogs must be kept leashed at all times on National Forest and county open-space land.”

  She glared at him. “Dogs gotta run.”

  Austin nodded. “Sure they do. Sometimes they run into packs of coyotes that tear them apart. Sometimes they run into skunks, porcupines, rabid foxes, bears. Sometimes they run across highways and get hit by cars. If you care about your dog, you’ll want to do all you can to keep it safe. If I find it abandoned again, I’ll take it to impound.”

  She jerked the leash from his hand, set the dog down, and attached the leash to its collar, muttering profanities.

  Austin didn’t give a damn if he made her angry. He pushed a little harder. “There’s a low-cost pet clinic in town. If the dog isn’t up on its vaccinations, take it in for a quick checkup. Rabies shots are free on the third Friday of every month.”

  “Whatever.” She shot Lexi one last dirty look before crossing the highway again and disappearing down the embankment, the dog following behind her.

  Lexi stared after her. “What did I do?”

  “No good deed goes unpunished.” Hawke shook his head. “You handled that well, ranger man.”

  “You both did,” Lexi said. “Thanks for your help, guys.”

  “That’s what we’re here for.” Hawke flashed that stupid grin of his.

  Go ahead, buddy. Play it for all it’s worth.

  Austin kept his voice neutral, professional, irritated by the way some part of him had reacted to her praise. He was as bad as Hawke. “Thanks for calling it in. There aren’t many rangers. We depend on people to be our eyes and ears.”

  “Are you here for a while or just a few days?” Hawke asked her.

  Austin already knew the answer—or thought he knew.

  “I came to help my father, but I won’t be staying long.”

  Of course, she wouldn’t.

  Still, Austin knew she and her father had never been close, so he supposed it involved some genuine sacrifice for her to put her life in Chicago on hold to help the old man. “I’m sure he’ll be glad you’re back.”

  “I’m not.” There was no emotion in her voice. It was just a statement of fact. “He wants his wife, but he’s stuck with me for now.”

  Austin was about to ask Lexi what was going on between Bob and Kendra, but that was too personal a conversation to have with someone he hadn’t spoken with for twelve years and, frankly, none of his business.

  Instead, he bent down, dumped the leftover water out of the bowl, and shook it out before collapsing it again. He turned to Hawke. “You need a lift back to the station?”

  “Nah, man, I’m good.” Hawke grinned. “Though I wouldn’t say no to a ride in Lexi’s snazzy little convertible.”

  Lexi laughed. “Hop in.”

  Austin glanced at his watch, feeling the need to move on. He reached for his hand mic. “Fifty-six-twenty.”

  “Fifty-six-twenty, go ahead.”

  “Show me back in service.”

  “Fifty-six-twenty. Ten-thirty-two.”

  “I imagine I’ll see you around town, Lexi.” He turned toward his vehicle. “Hawke, I’ll see you at Saturday’s training, if not before.”

  Both of them were members of the Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team and never knew when they might get called out. It was rare during the warmer months for a week to go by without the Team getting tasked with multiple missions.

  Hawke shouted after him. “Hey, you want to grab a burger and a brew at Knockers tonight? Timberline Mudbugs are playing.”

  That actually sounded good, though Austin might go for a scotch instead of beer. “Sure. I get off at seventeen-thirty. Meet you at nineteen-hundred.”

  “You’ll join us, won’t you, Lexi?”

  Austin heard the trap Hawke had set for him snap shut.

  You bastard.

  Hawke just grinned.

  Lexi looked from Hawke to Austin and back again, then shook her head. “Maybe some other time. I need to get settled at my dad’s place tonight.”

  Austin tried not to let his relief show.

  Chapter 2

  Lexi put her car into gear and nosed back onto the highway, Austin disappearing up the road behind her in his service vehicle. “He didn’t appreciate that, you know. He wouldn’t have agreed to meet up with you if he’d known you were going to invite me.”

  She might not have seen Austin in twelve years, but she could still read him. She hadn’t expected him to be excited about seeing her again, but she also hadn’t expected him to be so … cold.

  “Dude needs to lighten up.” Eric took his helmet from his head, dropped it into his lap, the wind catching his hair. “It would have been good for him. He’d have had a few beers, gotten reacquainted with you, realized you’re not an ogre.”

  “He thinks I’m an ogre?” She laughed but felt a twinge of hurt just the same.

  Eric gave her a “duh” look. “You did break his heart.”

  “He broke my heart.” She’d never cried so hard in her life as that night he’d dropped her off in front of the inn and driven away. He hadn’t even said goodbye. “He’s the one who ended it.”

  “Sure.” Eric nodded, then looked over at her. “But only after you told him you thought the two of you should date other people. What did you expect?”

  “That’s not what I said.” She ought to have known Eric would side with Austin. The two had been best friends since they were little.

  “Okay, so you both played a role in screwing things up, but, hey, you were just kids. That’s why I tried to get you together. I thought it would give you both a chance to let go of the past.”

  “I let go of all that when I left Scarlet.”

  “Uh-huh.” The tone of Eric’s voice told her she hadn’t fooled him.

  Months had gone by before the pain in her chest had dulled to something bearable. God, how she’d missed Austin. She’d missed him more than she’d known she could miss anyone. She’d missed his kisses, his sense of humor, the way he’d made her feel special. Everything had reminded her of him—a song on the radio, their favorite TV shows, a couple kissing in the park. It had been a solid year before she’d even considered dating again. To this day, she never saw a box of Junior Mints—his favorite movie theater candy—without thinking of him.

 
If only she’d kept her mouth busy kissing him that night instead of talking, that entire summer might have been very different. It’s not like she’d truly wanted to date other guys. She’d been in love with Austin. Still, she’d known their lives were about to change and that they were headed in different directions. She’d thought she was being mature by forcing herself to face that fact, but he’d thought she didn’t love him.

  What she hadn’t known, what she couldn’t have known until she’d gotten settled in Illinois, was that she would have changed her plans—just to be with him. But by then it had been too late.

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t stir the pot.” She turned into the parking lot behind the fire station. “You’ll only make Austin angry.”

  “I think I’ve made you angry.” He grinned, apparently untroubled by this. “Damn, it’s good to see you again, Lexi.”

  She let go of her irritation. “It’s good to see you, too. But, hey, if you ever actually fight a fire, you might want to, you know, wear something. I hear fires are hot and dangerous.”

  Which was also a great description of the man sitting beside her.

  He chuckled. “I’ll try to remember that.”

  “Good.” If he dressed like this, the women and gay men of Scarlet from age nine to ninety might start setting their houses on fire just to stare at him.

  “Hey, if you’re looking for a date during the short time you’re in town, I’m available.” Eric rattled off his phone number, then opened the door and stepped out. “If you can’t remember that, just dial 911.”

  She laughed. “How do you know I’m not already in a relationship?”

  She hadn’t been with anyone since Chris. Trust issues, Vic said.

  Eric glanced at her hand. “No ring means there’s nothing I need to take seriously.”

  “I don’t recall you being this bold in high school.”

  The Eric she remembered had been shy.

  He looked her straight in the eyes. “If I had been, Austin wouldn’t have been the one to pop your cherry.”

  She gaped at him, unable to keep from laughing. “You’re sure of that, are you?”