“God, please don’t do that.” She ran a hand up his chest, smiled. “But, hey, my house burned down. Can I move in with you?”
Chapter 19
Joaquin openedhis eyes to find Mia there, looking beautiful and worried at the same time. “Mi amor.”
He could see she’d been crying.
She smiled down at him, rested a hand against his arm. “How do you feel?”
“Sleepy. The pain pills are kicking my ass, but I’m not complaining.” He reached out, tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. “How are you?”
“Me? I’m fine now.” She reached for his water pitcher, held the straw to his lips. “They said you were dehydrated. Drink.”
He took a few deep swallows, found her studying him.
Yeah, he looked like hell, and he knew it.
“Your poor face.”
“The doctor said I might have scars where the burns are deepest.”
“You’ll still be as handsome to me as you ever were.”
What had he done to deserve her?
“How long have you been here?”
“About an hour. Sophie and Tessa drove down from the Cimarron when they got the news. They stayed with me and then drove me here.”
“I’m glad you weren’t alone.” He’d never doubted that his friends would be there for Mia if anything happened to him, but it was nice to know he’d been right.
“Alone?” She laughed. “Are you kidding? I called your parents, and ten minutes later most of your family and the entire cousin mafia was at our place, cooking, praying, lighting candles. I had to sneak upstairs to get away from it all.”
He could believe that. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“Yeah? Well, think about that next time you selfishly decide to be in a helicopter crash in the middle of a damned wildfire.”
He chuckled. “I love that smart mouth.”
Her chin wobbled, her composure fading. “They told me you’d survived the crash but said they hadn’t heard from anyone since. I was certain I’d lost you. I couldn’t understand how life could be so cruel to take you from me now.”
“Eric Hawke—he saved my life. Without him….” Joaquin would never be able to repay the man. “He gave me a spare set of firefighter clothes. He said mine would melt and cause bad burns. He showed us how to use our shelters. When that fire was running straight at us, he kept me focused on survival. He was the last to deploy his shelter because he was helping us. The man has balls of steel. How is he?”
“Last I heard, they were cleaning his burns.”
Joaquin hoped they’d knocked him out.
Mia went on. “I met his wife, Vicki. She’s in the waiting room. She was very kind to me. She’s pregnant, too—their second.”
Then Joaquin told Mia the story from the beginning, hesitating when he got to the worst of it. “I was sure I was going to suffocate in there—or burn to death. I kept remembering what Hawke said about it being a hundred times hotter outside of the shelter. The noise was deafening. Then I heard him cry out, and I knew something must have gone wrong. I just closed my eyes, tried to breathe close to the ground the way he’d showed me, and prayed—for him, for myself, for all of us.”
“I can’t imagine.”
“Brandon Silver, he’s a good guy, too. He got me out when it was over. He took care of Hawke, gave him morphine. He and I refused any for ourselves because we didn’t want to run out before help arrived. God, Mia, it was a long wait. The thirst, the pain—it was tough. I just kept telling myself that I was alive and I was going to see you soon.”
“Oh, Joaquin.” She reached for his hand, stopped herself. “I want to touch you but I’m afraid to hurt you.”
He closed his hand over hers—then remembered. “Any word about Rossiter?”