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Casey found her brother Jackson aiming
the hose at the fire. She couldn't see that it was doing any good at all. She
prayed harder for the fire department to show up, but Bellefontaine was some
distance from Baton Rouge, so it was no shock they hadn't arrived.
"Was Aunt Esme in the kitchen when the fire started?" Jackson asked her.
"When I went to see Megan I tried to talk to her, but she wasn't making much
sense."
"Yes, I found her on the floor. That's all I know. I don't know how it
started, either."
A few minutes later, Casey left Jackson's side to check on Nick Devlin.
Jackson wouldn't relinquish the hose to her, so she thought she'd try Devlin. "I
can spell you," she said hopefully.
He shot her a glance and grinned. "Like hell you can. Go sit down. You're
about to pass out."
"I have to help." She glared at him. It only irritated her more that he'd
seen her weakness and called her on it. Fontaines didn't show a weakness. "This
is my home. Let me help." As soon as she said it, she winced. Her voice sounded
forlorn, rather than demanding.
He sized her up for a moment, then apparently realizing her need to do
something, handed her the hose. "Have at it, Princess."
Another time she'd have taken exception to the nickname. But she was too
tired and too scared to care right now. The only thing that mattered was saving
Bellefontaine. She turned back to the fire with renewed resolve.
From a distance she heard the sound of sirens. She'd never been so happy
to hear anything in her life. Smoke surrounded her, enveloped her in a dense
cloud. Her eyelids felt heavy, her head began to spin, and the world went gray.
Casey opened her eyes slowly. She lay flat on her back in the grass. A man
bent over her, dashing water in her face. A very handsome man, she thought,
staring at him. She blinked and her mind cleared. Nick Devlin, that's who it
was.
"What happened?" She struggled to sit up, but he pushed gently on her
shoulder to hold her in place.
"Take it easy."
"I can't. The house, I have to help."
"No, you don't," he said, his voice surprisingly soothing. "The fire
department is here. Let them handle it. They've got the equipment and the
manpower."
"Thank God," she whispered, trying to ignore the tears stinging her eyes.
"I didn't think they were coming." She wanted to get up, but she was tired. So
tired. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. "Why am I lying here? I
don't remember . . ." Her voice trailed away. The last thing she remembered was
praying for the fire department to show up.
She could hear them—the shrillness of the alarm, the men shouting, the
water gushing from hoses, the clang of equipment. The night took on a surreal
quality. Was she really lying on the grass talking to a stranger while her house
burned down?
"I brought you around front, away from the smoke. Your family's still out
back, watching the firefighters."
His voice rolled off his tongue in smooth, rich syllables, dark as night
and twice as sinful. He had, without question, the deepest, sexiest voice she'd
ever heard. From a man who wasn't a movie star, anyway.
His gaze intensified and he frowned. "But now they're here, you should
have the paramedics check you out. Smoke inhalation's nothing to sneer about."
The voice might be sexy but the words did nothing but irritate. "I don't
need any paramedics. I'm fine," she said, and immediately proved herself a liar
by having a coughing fit. When it was over and she'd drunk some water, she sat
up and gazed worriedly at the house. "What happened?" she repeated.
"Well, Princess," he drawled, his smile a wicked flash in the dark. "You
passed out in my arms."
Excerpt from CASEY'S GAMBLE, copyright 2003 by Eve Gaddy,
Harlequin Superromance® #1122, April 2003.
CASEY'S GAMBLE
"Raising Cane, Book 1"
Harlequin Superromance® #1122
April 2003
ISBN 0-373-71122-0
Also in the "Raising Cane" series:
|
The Secret
Daughter
by
Roz Denny Fox
|
Jackson’s
Girls
by
K.N. Casper.
|
You can order from Eve Gaddy's currently
available titles at Author,
Author! or Amazon.
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