Page 56 of Some Like It Hot

Maybe if she just stayed here—she unscrewed the hose and pumped water on herself, wetting the ground around her. But she couldn’t even fit her entire body onto the platform and—

The fire would simply rush over her, evaporating the water and burning her body to a crisp.

Get to the lake!

Right. She scrambled to her feet, put one hand over her mouth, the other tented over her eyes—although, really, she couldn’t see anyway, with the blur of her watery eyes, the cocoon of smoke.

She tripped, landed hard, nearly missing a head blow to a rock, and sprained her wrist.

Get up!

She closed her eyes.

Riley, in her head, a moment before he dropped over her, protecting her.

But he wasn’t with her now, was he?

Okay, she wasn’t brave or tough at all. Or maybe she was, but she was also painfully, wretchedly weak.

And maybe that’s why God had dropped Riley into her life. Because a girl like her—a tough girl, one who ran outside the fence more often than not—probably needed a guy willing to go after her.

Drag her back to safety.

Let God walk you into new paths, new pastures. Not with this guy, but with someone good. Honorable.

Yes, with this guy.

Except—Stop trying to protect me—

Larke wanted to curl into a ball and weep. Because even if Riley wanted to come after her, the road, her house—the fire engulfed it all.

She couldn’t even find her way to the lake. She scrabbled on her knees across the lawn, blinded.

Then, behind her, an explosion shook the air. She screamed and fell to the dirt, her hands over her head, her legs drawn up as dirt and debris rained over her.

Her propane tank had ignited.

The house turned into the furnace of hell, flames engulfing it. It sucked the smoke and oxygen into its vortex, and for a moment, the smoke lifted.

Enough for her to spy the lake. Blood red and cresting with waves from the firestorm.

And, dragging to shore, like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, a man garbed in a sopping wet jumpsuit, dragging a helmet from his head. He reached the shore and took off in a run, tugging a square out of his leg pocket, unzipping it as he picked up speed.

“Larke!”

She wanted to call his name, but the fire ate her attempt, coughs tearing through her. She forced herself to her knees, her breaths gritty and stiff even as she spat out dirt and soot from her lungs.

Riley!

Please let him see me. Please let him find me, drag me—

“Larke!”

She looked up and he stood over her like some kind of superhero in all that bulk, his body backlit by the flames from the house. He’d already shaken out the tarp, now he shoved his feet into the pockets at the bottom, then he fell over her, in that bulky outfit, thick and soggy, and pressed her right into the ground.

“Roll over. Head down and stay under me. Your entire body, Larke, keep it under me.”

She obeyed and felt his body practically smother her. He hooked one hand in the upper pocket, but when he reached up to grab the other, he let out a groan that she felt right through to her bones.