“Not the same, then. So what inspired you to make a career of cots and cabins?”
“I watched Bambi.”
Maria chokes on her drink.
I giggle, too, but I’ve also developed a good feel for when Ranger is joking—and I don’t think he is. “Really?”
He nods.
Now he’s in charge of wildlife and forest management. “Because of when the hunter kills the mother?”
“Hey now,” Dan protests. “Spoilers!”
“Not the mother,” Ranger says. “But the forest fire at the end completely fucking terrified me when I was little kid.”
Oh god, I can barely contain the giggles now. “So…Smokey Bear was your hero?”
Amusement lights his dark eyes. “Yeah, he was.”
Terrified of the forest fire. I can picture it scaring a little boy, but at the same time…Ranger personally didn’t have anything to be afraid of. Fire can’t hurt him. And something that I’ve learned in the past few weeks is that quite a few wolves and bears end up pursuing firefighting as a career, simply for that reason.
Another thing I’ve learned is how to refer to all these differences without actually saying it. “Did you not know…?”
That he was impervious to fire.
“I knew. Didn’t matter. It was watching all those animals flee for their lives, watching their home be destroyed. So I decided to save all of them. That feeling’s evolved a bit, but the reason is the same—and that reason is making sure we don’t destroy our home.”
Now I just want to rip off his clothes with my teeth. “So you’re saving the planet, Ranger Ranger?”
His gaze falls to my lips. “Doing what I can, Miss Simmons.”
“Yeah…so I’m an IT guy. Saving the world’s economy by restarting one computer at a time.” Dan scratches the back of his neck. “It’s cool to finally meet someone as dedicated to being a hero as I am.”
“And you recycle, too,” Maria says, giving him a sultry look over the cat-eye rims of her glasses. “That’s really hot.”
“Oh, yeah. I recycle all the time. She especially likes it when I take off my shirt while sorting those plastics—because sometimes they still have drips of rotting juice or soda in them, and I just don’t like getting that on my clothes. But then I sort them hard.”
“Don’t share our sexy private secrets, honey.”
“Sorry, darling. You just get me so riled up with your dirty recycling talk and then…Arrr. All my manliness comes roaring out for everyone to see. So, Ranger”—Dan tilts his head toward the grill—“how about I show you how I burn some meat and introduce you to some of my man friends and tell you which ones are complete assholes. Though most of them, it’s fairly obvious after ten seconds of conversation.”
Eyebrows raised, Ranger looks down at me and I give him a little shove. “Go on,” I tell him. “I’ve monopolized your time for three weeks now. You should probably meet other people in this town besides the ones at work.”
He nods, bending his head to brush his lips across mine—then stopping by my ear to say in a gruff, low voice, “I don’t give a fuck about other people. But I’ll be polite. And he’s a good sort, isn’t he?”
“He is,” I say softly.
“I like your friends, baby.” His teeth nip the upper curve of my ear, sending a hot shiver across my skin before he pulls away.
I watch him go, biting my bottom lip. Really, I shouldn’t be so shallow. But my god. His broad shoulders fill out a t-shirt like nobody’s business. And his thick arms and those big hands. And his ass in those jeans—or out of them, I’m not picky. It’s all just… Unf.
Maria bumps her shoulder into mine, her narrowed gaze searching my face. “Are you happy?”
“I am,” I say softly.
“Good. I worried about you this year.”
I know she did. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Yeah, well. That’s me. I care too much. My heart’s too big. That’s why I have such amazing tits. All the love that spills out of my heart has to go somewhere.”
Laughing, I glance down at myself. My blue cotton sundress isn’t as short as the one I wore that first night with Ranger, but has a more fitted cut and a tighter bodice—and not much cleavage to speak of.
“So I have a miserly heart?”
“Nah. Pretty sure all the love is just going to your ass, instead.” She winces as a crash sounds from somewhere inside the house, followed by young male voices shouting at each other. “Oh god. I told those boys to stay off Fortnite for one freaking afternoon. Just one! So—you’ve got a drink, great. Make yourself at home and all that jazz.”
Oh shit. “Do you need me to do anything? Preparing food or washing dishes or whatever?”
“You’re a doll, but I’ll kick your ass if you put yourself to work at my party! It’s all handled.” She starts off toward the house. “And these boys are about to be punished with dishwashing for life.”