She propped them under her arms. At least Phil had taken the breakup better than she’d expected. He’d been wounded at first, due to the blow to his pride. But then he’d admitted that he’d sensed this might happen. And in a way, he was relieved.

Because truthfully, she’d changed since they’d first started dating. She wasn’t the dependent, security-seeking woman he’d first asked out. And now that they both understood that, they made far better friends than potential lovers.

Just then the side door of the parachute loft opened and a smokejumper strode out with a dog. Her dog. Her gaze flew to the man’s handsome face. Her heart tripped, then started quaking.

Cade. Oh, God.

Her nerves leaped like a crowning wildfire. Her pulse rocketed like that blowup blasting uphill. Her breath backed up in her lungs, and she couldn’t suck in the dense air.

His eyes met hers from across the yard and he stopped. Time faltered, then stretched to a standstill. The world around them faded and blurred.

Frozen in place, she just stared at him, her gaze devouring every detail. The spiked blond hair fringing the solid cords of his neck. The iron strength of his biceps beneath the black T-shirt. The olive-drab pants hanging low on his hips and the sling cradling his arm. He looked rugged and brave, and so god-awful sexy that she ached to rush over and hug him.

“Is that everything?” the driver asked.

“Yes,” she whispered, still trapped by those dazzling eyes. Cade was everything, all right. He was the man she’d been destined to love.

She couldn’t read his expression from where she stood, couldn’t tell if he would give her a chance to explain. But at least he hadn’t turned away yet. Hope surged hard in her chest.

The dog jumped and strained against the leash, then let out a welcoming yip. Without taking his gaze from hers, Cade started striding forward.

Her stomach clenched in a rush of nerves. Even if Cade agreed to hear her out, he might never forgive her. She now knew how badly she’d acted. But she was going to try.

The driver cranked the engine and pulled away from the curb, and she glanced at the departing cab. Another ending. She’d had enough of those in her life.

Her throat balled, and she turned back to Cade. Now it was time for a new start, another beginning. And this one mattered most of all.

Her heart thrumming, she adjusted her crutches and hobbled toward him. They met on the grass halfway to the loft. She stopped just inches away, the air so thick now she couldn’t breathe.

He flicked his gaze over her, and her heart made a long, slow roll in her chest. Their eyes latched again, and she felt the familiar hum of awareness, the intensity and heat.

And she couldn’t tear her gaze away.

“Hey,” he murmured. His low, husky voice raised the hair on her arms, like a shiver on the warm wind. “You’re looking good.”

Her lips curved. “Cleaner, anyway.” He looked more than good, and she longed to wrap herself around him, to caress those gorgeous muscles and taste the feverish heat of his skin. To stoke that hunger that drove them both wild.

But she had something to say first. Jerking her mind back to her mission, she swallowed hard. “Cade, I…I wanted to tell you, I-”

Dusty bumped her leg, then leaped up and braced his paws on her chest. She staggered on her crutches to keep her balance.

“Whoa, there.” Cade lunged forward and grabbed her arm, and his hot touch seared though her skin.

She shivered hard. “I’m okay,” she breathed. The dog dropped his paws, and Cade slowly released her arm.

She moved aside her crutches so she could bend down and pet the dog. She scratched beneath his ears, and smiled when he let out a whine. “He looks nice all clean and brushed. And I like his bandanna.” It gave him a rakish look.

“The bros got it. They like him.”

“That’s good.” She sucked in her breath and slowly straightened. “Listen, Cade, I came to tell you I…”

His gaze slammed into hers again, so intense that she couldn’t think. Waves of desire crashed through her, wedging the air in her throat. Dear God, how she loved this man. “I, uh…”

“What?” His eyes narrowed, the heat only slightly banked.

Her pulse tripped, then sprinted through her veins. “I wanted to tell you, I…”

She stopped and dragged in a breath. She had to get a grip. She was mucking this all up, not even making sense.

Then the tour group wandered past, staring and smiling at Cade, and stopped on the nearby sidewalk. The tour guide joined them, and the visitors clustered around, eager to hear about the smokejumper life.

“Why don’t we sit in the shade?” Cade suggested.

“Good idea.” She didn’t want an audience when she bared her soul.

“I’ll take your bag,” he said.

“I can handle it.”

“I know.”

His gaze met hers, and his mouth slid into a grin. That sexy, soul-pounding grin. The thumping of her pulse grew faster.

“Thanks.” She handed him the bag.

They walked silently across the road toward a small, shaded park, Dusty trotting between them. A picnic table sat under a cottonwood tree, near the antique lookout display. The parking lot bordered one side, the frontage road another, partially sheltering them from prying eyes.

She lowered herself to the bench, facing the road. Cade sat down beside her, and she propped her crutches against the table. Dusty dropped to the grass at their feet.

She reached down again and scratched the dog’s ears, wondering how to begin. He swished his tail along the grass and licked her hand, and a spurt of warmth mellowed her heart. At least he had a better life.

But would she?

Her heart trembling, she sat back. This was it, the moment of truth. She dragged in her breath and met his gaze. “I came here because I was hoping that we, that maybe…I mean, I know I don’t deserve it, but I love you and…” Her breath hitched. “Oh, God, Cade-”

“Jordan.” His deep voice stopped her.

He reached over and picked up her hand, and the air in her lungs stalled. He cradled her hand in his bigger one, his rough calluses tingling the skin around her bandage. Scars branched from his fingers to his forearm, testimony to years spent working in the forests. His tendons flexed with power and strength.

How could she have ever doubted that she could depend on this man?

“I was just heading out to look for you,” he said.

“You were?” Her heart abruptly lost its rhythm.

“Yeah.” He stared at their joined hands. He stroked her wrist with his thumb, sending shivers along her nerves, then threaded his lean fingers with hers. “I wanted to ask you for another chance.”

Her heart stuttered. Her pulse made a long, hard beat through her skull, then hammered in her ears.

He still wanted her. Tears swelled in her eyes, and she blinked to clear them away.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her throat so cramped she could barely speak. “I was such a fool. And I messed everything up.”

A sad, tight smile twisted his lips, and he tightened his grip on her hand. “I’m the one who should apologize. You were right, what you said before. I should have talked to you more. And I did care too much about my job.”

He released her hand and shifted to face her. She hardly breathed as he traced the bruise along her cheek, his rough, warm fingers sparking on her skin.

“I plan to quit if you’ll take me back,” he said.

Her lungs ceased. The world around them slanted. “You’d do that for me?” she gasped. “You’d really quit your job?”

“Yeah.” He lowered his hand and switched his gaze to the road. A motorcycle passed, its reverberations fading as it headed toward the mountains.

When the noise died out, he sighed. “It took me a while, but I finally figured it out. When I first started smokejumping, I wanted to prove that I could do it, that I belonged here. That I could succeed in this world. But I don’t need that anymore.”

His gaze met hers. “Don’t get me wrong. I like the work, the bros, but the job’s not everything to me anymore. I can be happy doing something else.”

He tugged her hand into his. “I love you, Jordan. I missed you so damned much. And I don’t want to lose you again. You matter more than any job.”

A sob rose in her throat. Her heart swelled with an ache so huge that she could barely speak. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” she whispered. It was what she’d always wanted, what she’d dreamed. “But I don’t want you to quit.”

“Jordan-”

“No, listen.” She shook his hand loose, and swiped at her brimming eyes with her sleeve. “I’ve thought about this a lot, about my childhood. How I spent years watching those ships disappear, looking out to sea.

“And I thought about our marriage. About how lonely I was and especially what I did wrong, like not making friends.

“And I asked myself whether, honestly, I could do it again, whether I could survive that lifestyle this time. And I realized I could.”

“Jordan-”

“No, wait.” She needed him to understand. “Remember how I told you about my job, about the elderly people I work with? How they aren’t afraid of dying? They don’t focus on the negative part, on the short time they have left. They celebrate what they do have, their moments together, and they live each day as a gift.

“And maybe I won’t like having you gone in the summer, but it won’t bother me like it did before.” She would have her work to fill her time, dogs to rescue, and maybe someday, another child.

She shrugged. “I don’t know why it seemed so hard before. Maybe we just didn’t talk enough. Maybe I was too young, and I didn’t really know who I was.

“But I’ve changed. I’m not the same person I used to be. I’m stronger.”

“Yeah.” He stroked the line of her jaw, scorching her with his heat. “But I still don’t mind changing jobs.”