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tough enough to handle herself now, in or out of uniform. Well, physically anyway.
    Another one of those rare breezes stirred the sultry night air. Jane lifted her face to the cool breath of nature. It was a beautiful evening. Even if she were probably making a mistake by lingering in this man’s company longer than necessary.
    Sh e stole a glance at his strong profile.
    A big mistake. And there was no probably about it.
    “What made you decide to become a teacher?” she found herself asking. Teaching didn’t seem nearly as exciting as the careers his siblings had chosen.
    “The kids,” he responded without hesitation. “From the age of fifteen I worked in one youth program or another.” He gave another slight shrug. “I guess you could say it’s my calling.”
    “No kids of your own?” Jane could have bitten her tongue off. Why in world had she asked that?
    Tom shook his head. “Nope. No wife, either.”
    Jane was thankful the moon was blocked by a tall stand of tall trees at the moment. Her face burned with humiliation. His marital status or number of dependents wasn’t supposed to matter to her.
    “How about you ? Ever been down the aisle?”
    She could feel his gaze on her, so she kept hers focused straight ahead. The moon drenched them in its golden glow once more as they cleared the stand of trees. “Only as a bridesmaid,” she told him succinctly. “Remaining single is simpler in my chosen career.” It was her turn to shrug now. “Besides, I don’t have time for real romance.”
    “Isn’t that the tru th,” he murmured.
    Silence settled over them as they covered the final stretch of camp property, bringing them full circle and back to the dining cabin.
    “Do you ever get lonely, Jane?”
    The question stopped her dead in her tracks and she stared at him despite her desire to avoid eye contact. “What?” she asked more sharply than she had intended.
    “Do you ever feel like you’re missing something?” He seemed at a loss for words for a second or two. “You know, like you’re missing something that should matter because you’re so absorbed in your work. Too foc used on everything but you?”
    Jane opened her mouth to state an unconditional no, but a new emotion in his gaze stopped her. Wonder…confusion, maybe. The same things she had felt recently—very recently, in fact. Starting from the moment she laid eyes on him.
    “I don’t know,” he added slowly. “Something you might wish for the rest of your life you hadn’t let slip away.” His words were soft, almost lost in the breeze.
    There was no mistaking the desire in his eyes now. Or her own powerful response. Slowly, as if time had almost stopped, his hand came up to her face. She closed her eyes as his fingertips traced the outline of her jaw. Sensations exploded inside her, making her heart slam against her ribcage. She ordered herself to back away, but her body refused to obey the command—her control went utterly AWOL.
    The whisper of his warm breath against her lips made her breath catch. He was going to kiss her. The organ thundering in her chest suddenly stilled, and Jane melted with the heat blazing wildly inside her.
    The sound of glass breaking shattered the spell. Jane jerked back a step. So did Tom. Instinctively, she surveyed the darkness. A beam of light flashed across a window in the rear portion of the dining cabin. Metal clattered.
    “Someone’s in the kitchen,” Tom said, already headed toward the dining cabin’s entrance.
    Jane double-timed it to catch up. They took their time climbing the wooden steps and crossing the porch. One squeaky board could give them away.
    She had known this would happen. She’d had a gut feeling all evening that something was up. Tom might be surprised, but she certainly wasn’t.
    Slowly, quietly, they made their way across the dark dining room and to the double doors that entered the kitchen. Tom leaned close and whispered in her ear. She shivered in spite of