Playing With Fire: inspirational romantic suspense (Montana Fire Book 2) by Susan May Warren Page B

“Yeah. Sure. Of course.”
    “Huh.”
    Raina slid onto a kitchen chair. “Does this have something to do with Conner? And his random phone calls? You know, you could join the rest of the twenty-first century and get a cell phone. I know they don’t work well in Deep Haven, but trust me, the rest of the world is connected. He could call you in Arizona.”
    Liza offered a laugh, something easy, as if Raina hadn’t somehow wheedled through her layers to find that tender spot. “No. This has nothing to do with Conner. Of course not.”
    Um, yes, absolutely.
    Because it had occurred to her that if she left, Conner wouldn’t find her...
    And now she was breaking every single promise she’d made to herself—to not wrap her future in some man’s affection for her.
    “Okay. Because if he likes you, he’ll find you. At least that’s what that book He’s Just Not That Into You says.”
    “Raina, you need to stop reading books on dating—”
    “I’m not. I’m trying to live in reality, finally.” She got up from the table. “And you should, too.” She put her plate in the sink. “Conner likes you, otherwise he wouldn’t still be calling you. And I’ll bet he likes you enough to track you down if you go to Arizona.”
    Liza leaned over, sprayed water on the plate. “No, honey. Conner and I are just friends.”
    He’d made that ever so clear over the past year, his phone calls sometimes fun, sometimes dark with stories on the fire line, and yes, he often sounded wrung out and raw, in need of a friend. And that’s what she’d been. A friend.
    Nothing more.
    If she started thinking they’d perhaps, someday, be more, then she was simply setting herself up to get burned.
    Besides, he hadn’t called in weeks.
    “It’s not easy for him, being one of the few Christians on the Jude County team—sometimes he just needs someone to help him see truth.”
    “I think you need to see the truth,” Raina said, grinning.
    “No—that would be wishful thinking—”
    “So you do like him. I knew it!”
    Oh. Liza made a face. “Fine. Yes. He’s brave and loyal and a Christian—”
    “He must be hot—I’ll bet he’s hot, with muscles—”
    “Raina—”
    But Raina had her hands folded across her chest, grinning.
    “Fine. Yes. He’s handsome. Golden blond hair and blue eyes—actually, amazing blue eyes. And yes, muscles, not that I noticed—”
    “Oh, please. You’re not made of stone.”
    Liza offered a slow smile. “Okay. He filled out his T-shirts pretty well. But he works outside—jumps from airplanes into fire and digs out fire lines—so, yeah, he’s pretty fit.”
    Raina’s mouth tweaked up at the tame assessment. But what was Liza going to say? That last time Conner had held her in his arms—actually, she’d started it, but she couldn’t help it when he’d simply radiated grief—she sank into him. Smelled the faintest hint of smoke and fire on his skin, the scent of danger and strength, and it all combined to make her want to hold on. Forever.
    She’d foolishly hoped he’d kiss her good-bye when his team came to pick him up. They’d eaten dinner at the VFW. Listened to the Blue Monkeys play a set. Talked about the fire and how the lodge at the Evergreen Resort had survived.
    All through dinner she’d wondered how she’d survive letting him walk out of her life. A foolish thought, because he’d barely been in it.
    But while he had, he’d made her feel like she mattered. The fact that he chased her down… It made her feel as if she wasn’t the one clinging. That she wasn’t forcing him to like her...
    “Aunt Liza, you’re blushing. Which means you’re not telling me everything, are you? Did he kiss you?”
    Liza pressed a hand to her cheek. “He didn’t really kiss me.”
    Sadly. Even though he’d had the chance. They’d stood outside the restaurant in the shadows as the Jude County buggy pulled up, his buddies inside, and right then she hoped he’d turn to her, search her