Dane folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe between the kitchen and his family room. Emily was fast asleep in his guest bedroom, and Jaimi was curled up on the couch, eating leftover chili, since they hadn't gotten around to finishing their dinner when they were on the trailer.

She looked exhausted, stressed, and absolutely beautiful. He loved the curves of her body beneath her jeans and sweatshirt, and the tight curls of her hair were gorgeous. The flames from the fire were casting an orange glow that illuminated her skin in the most riveting way possible, as if the rich, brown tones of her face were somehow lit from within.

Or maybe it wasn't the reflection of the fire that was doing that. Maybe it was just the light radiating from inside her. "You're breathtaking," he said softly.

She looked up at him, her face softening when she saw him. "I've never had anyone look at me the way you do. There's so much tenderness in your eyes. It's…beautiful."

"You bring it out in me." He levered himself off the doorframe and walked toward her. As he neared, he saw her tense, so he sat down in an armchair facing her, instead of next to her on the couch. "We need to talk."

"I don't want to—"

"We're going to talk anyway." He knew this was his only chance. "Family is important—"

"They aren't my family!" Jaimi pushed the bowl away from her, suddenly not hungry anymore. "I'm going back to Boston in the morning—"

"Give me a chance." He moved quickly, kneeling between her knees, and setting his hands on her hips. "Give me five minutes."

She sucked in her breath at the feel of his hands on her hips. "Why does it feel so good when you touch me?"

"Because it's right." He slid his hand up her arms and drew her face down to his. Jaimi sighed as he kissed her, all her resistance fading at the feel of his lips on hers. After a long, melting kiss, he slid up beside her on the couch, pulling her against him.

She didn't resist.

It simply felt too good, and kissing him seemed like a much better option than revisiting the darkness that apparently ran in her veins. Besides, this was her last chance with him, because she knew that when she left town in the morning, she wasn't coming back.

He broke the kiss. "Jaimi—"

"What about your family?" she interrupted, desperate not to lose this moment by bringing up her biological family. "You know all about mine. What about you?"

He smiled. "Are you practicing avoidance?"

"Totally, but also, since we're casually dating, I think I need to know more about you. How can I casually date someone I don't know every detail about?"

His smile widened. "Definitely practicing avoidance," he said.

"Kiss me, Dane."

"Avoidance works for me." He slid his fingers into her hair and kissed her again, deep, hard, and beautiful.

It took about ten minutes of the most delicious and sensual kissing she'd ever experienced, for Jaimi to admit to herself what she wanted, what she truly wanted. "Take me to bed, Dane," she whispered against his mouth.

He went still, his body tensing. "What?"

She sat up. "You aren't seriously going to make me say that twice, are you? I haven't been with anyone since Emily's birth father. I'm a little rusty, and if you make me think about it—"

"I want you to think about it." He sat up, his hand rubbing circles on her lower back. "I already told you that I'm in this for the long haul, Jaimi. I know you don't see a way for this to go anywhere, but that doesn't matter. I believe it will, and I'm not going to screw it up by making a choice that you're not actually ready for."

"Me? What about you?"

"I'm ready for it." He searched her face. "Baby, I'm ready for the whole nine yards, but you're not. You're running scared right now, and I'm going to fiercely protect what we have."

She stared at him. "I don't understand how you can talk like that. How are you so sure? Why do you want me, and this, so much?"

He smiled. "Because I know what it's like."

Her heart suddenly seemed to freeze. "You've already been in love like this?"

"No, not me. My parents." He traced his fingers along her jaw in a move so sensual and beautiful that she got chills. "My parents adored each other. My mom was amazing, and my dad loved the hell out of her. They met when they were in high school. My mom was in a wheelchair, and—"

She stopped him. "A wheelchair? Why?"

"She got sick as a kid, and it left her paralyzed from the waist down. She moved to Rogue Valley when she was fifteen. Kids started bullying her, and my dad stood up for her. He was a star athlete, and he was dating the captain of the women's soccer team at the time. But the minute he met my mom, no one else mattered. He fell in love with her instantly." He smiled, love shining in his eyes. "I loved hearing my dad talk about the first time he saw her. He'd choke up every time, talking about how he knew she was the one for him the moment she smiled at him."

Jaimi's heart turned over. She'd never heard anything like that. Her mom had been an independent warrior, never needing anyone, and she'd taught Jaimi to live that way. The way Dane was talking was…beautiful. There was no other way to describe it. "Tell me more." She tucked her feet under her and turned toward him to listen. "I love their story."

"They married when they were seniors in high school, and she had me when she was twenty. My sister was born six years later." He smiled, twirling a curl of her hair around his finger as he spoke. "My dad trained a horse just for my mom, so she could ride even though she couldn't communicate with the horse through her legs. She ended up being an amazing barrel racer. To see her racing like that, fearless, was incredible. She was so free. My dad, God, if you could have seen my dad's face when he was watching her." He looked at Jaimi. "His entire world was focused around making her shine. I swore from early on that I wanted that, that I'd never settle for less."

Jaimi realized suddenly that he was talking in past tense about his parents, and her chest tightened. "What happened?"

His smile faded. "My mom's body had been damaged so much as a kid, that it eventually wore out. She died when I was eleven, and my sister was five."

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry." She reached out, setting her hand in his. "And your dad?"

He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed them. "He was killed in a car accident a year later."

"Oh, Dane."

He nodded. "I visited him in the hospital after the accident. He was already in a coma, but I felt a huge sense of peace from him. I think he wanted to be with her."

Jaimi's gut tightened. "How could a dad choose to abandon his kids?"

"No." Dane held up his hand. "He didn't choose to abandon us. He accepted what fate had given him. There's a difference." He cocked his head. "It sounds like your mom was the same, wasn't she?"

Jaimi thought back to that last call she'd had with her mom, and how cheerful her mom had been, how insistent she'd been that Jaimi not be sad or live in regret. "You're right," she admitted. "That's exactly how she was the last time I spoke with her."

Dane nodded. "So, we get it, right? As kids, it sucks to be left behind, but we get it, right?"

"I guess." She sighed and sank deeper into the couch. "So, if you and your sister were so young, who raised you?" She sat up suddenly, fear knifing at her. "Not my father?"

"No. My mom's sister and her husband."

There was something in his tone that made her tense. "It wasn't good?"

He met her gaze. "My mom's sister felt like their parents had favored my mom because of her illness and physical challenges. My aunt was locked in a loveless marriage, without kids, and she bitterly resented the fact that my mom had somehow found a life of freedom, love, and motherhood, despite being in a wheelchair." He shrugged. "She hated me and my sister, and she made sure we knew it."

Sadness clogged Jaimi's throat at the thought of Dane losing his incredible parents, and then being thrust into a home where he was hated. "What was it like?"

He paused for a long moment, then shrugged. "It wasn’t that different from what your brothers grew up with."

"Oh, Dane." Tears filled her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. The Stocktons protected me, and I protected them. We all became stronger because of it. They helped me keep my sister safe. If I was out of the house, one of the Stocktons, usually Ryder, would always be sleeping in her room, watching over her to make sure my uncle didn't pay her a visit during the night."

He didn't need to say more. She felt sick. "You protected her?"

"We all did, especially Ryder. He was fierce about it. My uncle never got to her. Not once. But we knew what he was like, and we were ready to do whatever it took. Hell, I turned down a free ride at college to take a deputy job so I could stay in town. There was no chance I was going to leave her behind."

So, that was how he'd ended up being sheriff. He'd taken the job so he could protect his sister, and that had become his life. No wonder she felt safe with him. He truly was a born protector.

Dane leaned in, searching her face. "I have to be honest with you, Jaimi. If my uncle had ever touched Zoey, he would have met the same fate as your father, and I would never have wasted a second regretting it."

She felt the truth in his voice, and in the hardness of his tone. He meant it. He would have killed his uncle if he'd harmed his sister. When he'd described what Chase had done to save Travis, it had horrified her. But now, hearing Dane talk about his sister, it felt different. She somehow understood now. "She was so lucky to have you."

He nodded. "I was lucky to have her, too. She was my only connection to our parents. I needed that reminder that there was good in this world." He sighed. "But we all lived in a constant state of tension until she was old enough to move out. The day she left town to go to college was the best damn day of my life." His smile faded. "I wanted everything for her," he said softly. "I wanted it all."

"It didn't work out?"

He sighed. "She has stuff going on right now. It's not good. I think she's moving back to town." He leaned forward and kissed Jaimi. "I don't want to talk about Zoey. I want to talk about us." He slid his hand along her jaw. "When you threw yourself at me when the tractor was coming, I finally understood what my dad had felt when he met my mom. When you know, you know."

Her heart started to pound. "How do you know?"

He set his hand over her heart. "Feel it there. Your heart speaks the truth, if you listen."

She closed her eyes and focused on the feel of his hand, on the warmth of his touch. The most incredible sense of peace and rightness filled her, so beautiful that she couldn't keep tears from filling her eyes. She opened her eyes. "Love," she whispered. "It feels like love."

He smiled. "That's because it is." He bent his head and kissed her, a beautiful, tender kiss that made her heart ache.

She slid her arms around his neck, kissing him back, losing herself in everything that he was. His tenderness. His kindness. His strength. His love. His love.

Maybe it didn't make sense for their bond to be so intense so quickly. Maybe it was illogical. But she knew that he was correct: this connection between them was special. "Dane?"

"Yeah?" He bent his head to nibble on her neck

"Would it be impossible for me to be falling in love with you so quickly?"

He looked down at her. "It would be impossible for you not to be. I'm freaking amazing."

She burst out laughing. "You're supposed to say that it's not impossible because you're falling in love with me, too."

"Am I?" With a low chuckle, he slid his arms beneath her and scooped her up against his chest. "I hate playing by the rules. It's not my thing." He stood up, cradling her as he began walking toward the one room in the house she hadn't yet been in.

His bedroom.