Page 43 of I Should Hate You-but I Don't

Sweep.

She pulled the pin. "Go to the bathrooms and hook the hose up to the water faucet and bring the hose here."

"Okay." The man ran off.

She aimed the small funnel-like attachment at the fire, held her breath, and squeezed—a cloud of white fire-retardant powder sprayed out of the canister.

She swept the spray back and forth on the burning logs. The flames died down and disappeared. The spray fizzled and stopped sooner than she expected it would.

The camper arrived, stringing the hose, when Phil rode up in the side-by-side. She backed away and set the extinguisher down.

With the high rush of adrenaline gone, she inhaled deeply, surprised to find herself shaking. She'd done it—she put the fire out.

Phil assessed the situation, grabbed a shovel out of the back of the utility vehicle, and started moving the burnt logs around. "Good job, River. Your quick action probably saved Gem Haven."

"We're so sorry." The woman held on to her husband. "We put a little gas on the logs to start the fire and—"

"Your first mistake was using gas on larch wood. You could've sent flames up to the top of the trees. What you've done was put people's lives in danger. The rules are posted, and you signed the agreement when you paid to stay here." Phil shoved up his baseball hat. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave immediately."

The shaken couple nodded and backed away, picking up folding outdoor chairs and coolers. River collected the extinguisher, now lighter than before, and set it in the back of the UTV.

Phil stuck the shovel in the ground and leaned his elbow on the handle. "Go ahead and go back to the cabin. I'll make sure our fire-happy couple gets on the road."

She nodded, brushing off her hands. "I put the extinguisher in the back."

"I'll get another one out of storage and put in the cabin." Phil took off his hat and wiped his forehead. "You did good. Exactly what I'd want you to do."

"I tried calling you first."

"I was out of range." He patted her back. "Go back to the cabin, grab a Coke from the cooler, and relax."

She walked back to the cabin. Luckily, no campers were waiting to enter or check in when she arrived. While the fire fiasco seemed to take forever, it all happened in a matter of minutes.

Unlocking the door, she let herself in. Doing what Phil suggested, she got a pop and took a big swallow. She'd never been through an emergency before. It rattled her. But there was a sense of pride, too.

A rumble filled the cabin. She looked toward the door, knowing that sound. It was as familiar as her heartbeat.

Several seconds later, Zane stormed into the cabin, looking wildly around until his gaze landed on her. He studied her up and down, head to toe, as he made his way across the room.

He stopped before her, running his hands over her shoulders and down her arms. "You're okay?"

"Yeah."

He crushed her to his chest. She couldn't move. All she could feel was his heartbeat pounding in his chest.

He whispered, "I heard there was a fire, and you—"

"I put it out." She leaned her head back, smiling at him. "I remembered everything Phil taught me."

He kissed her hard. Taken off guard, he'd never kissed her outside the house before.

He pressed his forehead against hers and pulled out of the kiss, breathing hard. "If anything would've happened to you..."

She raised her hands and pulled his head down to her breasts, loving him the best way she could when he was eight inches taller than her. "Nothing happened. I'm fine."

"You need to go back in the kitchen," he muttered.

She laughed. "That sounded rude, Zane."

---