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“You have goose bumps. Are you cold?”
    She snorted. But couldn’t answer, because her voice felt raw, and tears burned at the back of her throat.
    His hands cupped either side of her face, and he forced it above him. His gaze swept her face and his hands softened, holding her as though she was fragile. “I hurt you.”
    She shook her head.
    “Then why are you crying?”
    “I’m not.”
    A thumb stroked the moisture on her cheek, and he arched a brow.
    But he didn’t call her a liar.
    “I’m sorry,” he said, his tone deepening.
    Another fat tear leaked down her cheek. “Don’t be. I’m okay.”
    He narrowed his gaze. “You’re shivering and crying.”
    “And you said I talked too much,” she griped, but her voice was muffled and thick.
    “I did not.”
    “You wanted me quiet.”
    “You were driving me crazy, Carly. I needed to concentrate, so I could hold back. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
    “Well, you didn’t do that.”
    “Well, I did something.”
    Fuck, yeah, he had. She sighed. He wasn’t letting the issue go until she told the truth. “I’ve never felt like that,” she said softly. “Please can you not look at me?”
    “Impossible.”
    “You like reducing your girls to blubbering, soppy messes?”
    “Actually, it’s never happened before.” He smiled gently and let go of her face.
    She lowered and rested her cheek against his shoulder.
    He placed a hand behind his head and raised it, and then tipped her chin so that once again, their gazes locked. “Baby, I’ve never felt like that either.”

Chapter Five
    ‡
    S aturday morning arrived, and Jeremiah was grumpy, having slept little the night before. They’d returned home in the late afternoon. Carly had hurried straight upstairs to clean up, and then threw herself into chores around the house. No matter how hard he tried to corner her to talk, she managed to slip away.
    He hadn’t slept worth a damn because every time he closed his eyes, he relived those last moments when he’d made love to Carly, remembering how she’d arched and cried out, and then gone limp beneath him.
    He’d never had a woman pass out on him during sex, and it had scared him half to death until she’d moaned and slowly stiffened. The moment her eyes opened, he hadn’t felt any relief because she stared with bruised, damp eyes.
    Her expression haunted him. And he knew why. There was no escaping the fact they’d both found something unimaginable when they’d finally thrown down their defenses and crashed together.
    They’d found a powerful connection. One he wasn’t willing to ignore.
    If only she wasn’t so determined to do exactly that.
    This morning, they stood with the group of volunteers in a field just outside of town. Pale, prickly stalks of cut hay awaited their drip torches. Every volunteer wore fire gear: hard hats, goggles, fire retardant clothing, leather gloves, and boots. Tools had been distributed according to what each person’s role would be during the burn.
    Jeremiah held a drip torch. A two-way radio was clipped to his belt.
    Glancing at Carly, he eyed the oversized yellow fire jacket he’d found because he didn’t want her wearing plain cotton. Her gloves were a little large, too, because he’d borrowed those from Mayra. Carly held a rake, and a sack was tucked and hung from her back pocket. The hard hat and goggles obscured her face, but he could see the grim line of her mouth.
    Again, he wished he knew what was going through her mind. Was she excited or fearful? Either way, he’d keep close to her.
    Caldera’s Fire Chief, Blake Thacker, had been made the Fire Boss above the rep from park services because he was experienced with prescribed burns and knew the local people. He stood on a wooden platform and held a bullhorn. Already, they’d formed teams, talked about their duties during the fire, and now they’d practice setting then extinguishing fires. Each group had their own little piece of the field to practice with,