Hotshots (Wildfires Book 1) by Jana Leigh, Lynn Ray Lewis Page B

clarify. “I want to talk to him, when you said Nix, were you referring to Nixon Cayson?”
    The nod of his head was unnecessary, but it confirmed she’d heard him correctly. The knowledge that Nix had reason, or she corrected her thoughts, thought he had reason, to worry about her following orders was explained.
    Gibs began talking again. “Jez, Stryker was the best of the best, he was legendary, and he saved hundreds of lives and millions in property, he didn’t always follow the rules and yet he’d bring that chopper in when all hope was lost and save the day. He told me that he loved the drama and we both know he lived for that next flight.”
    He smiled at the girl Stryker had been so proud of, and knew that his old friend would be grinning from ear to ear knowing that his kid had followed in his footsteps. “If you are as much of an adrenaline junkie as your old man, you’ll soon be as legendary as he was.”
    She wanted to deny it, she wanted to tell Gibs that she was more cautious than her father had been, but why disillusion the man? She knew how to “set the chopper on a tree top” as Nix had said, but she wasn’t about to play the superhero, or anything close. She did love to fly, but that was not her only interest. Unlike her dad, she didn’t have that wild steak that made her want to push herself and her machine to the limits, and then push just a bit more each time.
    They talked about her mother moving to Colorado and he promised to stop by once she settled and visit with her. Jez decided to get moving, and gave him a hug on her way out of the door. Ms. Prim-and-Proper was staring at her with narrow eyes, and she couldn’t resist sending the woman a little finger wave as she left the room. Quinn hadn’t been in the room or she would have said goodbye to the friendly woman.
    All the way back she kept hearing Gibs telling her how Nix had kept her alive and given her mouth to mouth. It was a shame she didn’t remember those firm lips on hers, but with a little luck, she might find out how it felt to receive a real kiss from the handsome man sometime in the future. Now that she knew what he’d known all along, she needed to figure out how to deal with him.
    He told her the proof would be in the doing, and she resolved to show him she wasn’t her father. She loved her dad, and nothing would ever take that from her. He told her many times he was happy she was a good mix of him and her mother because the world wasn’t ready for two of him, and they’d laughed together as he taught her some new maneuver that scared her, even as she mastered it under his critical eyes, and received praise for accomplishing the feat.
    Jez decided to again attempt to resolve the trust issue with Nix. It bugged the hell out of her and she wanted to get it out of the way so they could form a good, solid working relationship and hopefully he would open his mind to the possibility that she was not her father.
    After dinner, she went looking for him and saw him standing with Gray and Trystan. She could feel the tingles beginning from just watching the three men laughing and wondered how any woman stayed on a subject around the three of them together, let alone one at a time. It was a good thing she would be heading to bed after their talk, because her panties were being soaked with the fantasy that they were smiling at her.
    Trys and Gray had made no secret of their interest in her, but neither man had made a move or asked her for a date beside the dinner bet with all three. Nix had made no secret of the fact he didn’t like her as a person, but he was attracted to her. It made her feel all girly when any of them made some comment about her being pretty, or complimented her on passing the day’s testing. Nix didn’t praise her, but the assessing look he often wore when he thought she couldn’t see, let her know he might not like her, but his eyes certainly did. She could almost laugh at the insecurities she had when she