by Debra Webb
“So we’re supposed to follow your instructions?” Sandra prompted.
“To the letter,” he said tartly. “Whatever written instructions I put before you in this classroom, you are to do without question.”
Before Jane could get his attention, a dozen ladies had clamored around Reg and were following the instructions written on his back.
To the letter.
~*~
“So they all kissed you, huh?” Tom asked with a wide grin. He took a forkful of salad and chewed to cover his amusement. He would have given a month’s salary to have seen it, but just hearing Jane’s description was funny enough.
Reg looked up from his lunch tray and shot Tom a withering glare. “It wasn’t the slightest bit amusing,” he snapped. “I’m certain I need a tetanus booster.” He stabbed a cherry tomato. “Or perhaps a rabies shot.”
Tom leaned forward and assessed Reg’s neck. “Man, I think you missed a spot.” He gestured to a tiny smudge of bright pink lipstick near Reg’s collar. “What’s your wife going to think?”
Color racing up his neck, Reg swiped at the smudge with his napkin. “Subject change,” he announced crossly, his tone considerably higher than usual.
Tom turned to Jane, who sat next to Reg on the opposite side of the table. “How was your morning, Jane?” His insides turned immediately to mush when those big brown eyes focused on him. God, he had it bad for the lady. One night of passion and he was in love.
Tom swallowed.
Had he just said love?
He shook himself.
“Fine.” She offered a hint of a smile. “And yours?” she returned politely.
So, that was the way it would be. Tom sighed inwardly. “Fine,” he replied with forced nonchalance. “Just fine.” He didn’t know whether to be relieved or scared to death. He couldn’t decide how he should feel. One moment he thought he was okay, then the next—Jane glanced at him, then quickly looked the other way.
Tom would have given anything to know what she was thinking. It bugged the hell out of him that she had gotten up and left his bed in the middle of the night. He supposed it was for the best, but somehow that didn’t make it right with him. He wasn’t sure anything would ever be right for him again.
“Surprise, ladies!”
All eyes moved to the front of the dining room. Hattie was grinning like a Cheshire cat and displaying a huge, luscious-looking chocolate cake. Tom’s mouth dropped open. Hattie had wanted to scalp he whole lot of them. What was this all about?
“As a peace offering, I’ve made you ladies this big, rich chocolate cake.” Oohs and aahs punctuated the cook’s announcement. “I say we make amends.” Hattie produced an even wider smile.
Tom had a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling. What on earth was Hattie up to?
Tom, Reg, and Jane watched, stupefied, as Hattie served each lady a big slab of the decadent-looking cake. His stomach rumbled in anticipation.
“Umm,” Jane hummed. “Chocolate’s my favorite. I think I’ll have a slice.”
“None for me,” Reg patted his flat stomach. “I have to watch my weight.”
Jane looked at Tom. He shrugged as if he didn’t care one way or another. “Why not?” Cake or no, at least he would get to walk across the room with Jane. He would eat dirt for that pleasure.
Jane and Tom waited while Hattie served the last of the ladies. When she finally turned to them, Tom said, “Hattie, that was awfully thoughtful of you.”
Jane grabbed a saucer and extended it toward the cook. “I’ll take a nice big slice, please.”
“Sorry, I just served the last piece.”
Jane frowned. “Oh, come on, Hattie, you have to have another slice in that kitchen somewhere.”
Hattie leaned forward and gave Jane and Tom a sly look. “Trust me, you ain’t missing a thing.”
Chapter Seven
Later the next afternoon Jane stood before her remaining retreat participant and watched in amazement as the other eleven made yet another mad dash to the latrine. Sandra and Mildred were pushing in front of the others as if their lives depended upon getting through the door first. Jane frowned, wondering if they were slacking again, or if they were really sick. She crossed her arms over her chest and considered another possibility.
The cake.
Hattie had assured Jane that she wasn’t missing anything by not eating any of the cake. Maybe there was more to that advice than Jane had first thought.
She turned to Crystal. “Did you have any of Hattie’s cake?”
Crystal shook her head adamantly. “I’m allergic to chocolate.”
A few minutes later, the other women trudged back to the formation. Most were holding their stomachs and looked like the wind had been sucked from their sails.
Jane surveyed the solemn-faced group. “If we’re all ready now, ladies, we’ll head out on our scheduled three-mile walk.”
Sandra’s eyes suddenly rounded in horror. She grabbed her stomach and groaned, then ran as fast as she could back to the latrine.
Jane tried to work up a little concern, but it was hard in coming. “Perhaps we’ll wait a few more minutes,” she offered to the others.
“Sergeant Jane, I think I need to lie down,” Veronica whined. “I’m not feeling so well.”
“Me either,” Mildred chimed in.
“Oh, Lord!” Beulah broke from formation and sprinted in the direction Sandra had disappeared.
Jane heaved a resigned sigh. “Let’s call it an afternoon then,” she announced. “The next formation will be at oh-six-hundred tomorrow.”
She watched with only a flicker of sympathy as most of them hurried toward the latrine. Tom wasn’t going to like this. And there was no way she could keep it from him. He would want to know why the ladies weren’t taking their scheduled hike. She should never have started providing him with a daily agenda.
At that precise moment, she looked up to find the subject of her worrisome thoughts watching her from the front of his office. Judging by the look on his handsome face, he was anything but happy.
~*~
Tom glared first at Jane, then Reg, and finally at Hattie. Jane braced herself for the storm. She had not seen him this angry. A muscle flexed rhythmically in his tense jaw. His hands on his hips, he looked away and then paced the length of his office once more. Jane had the distinct impression that he was trying to get a grip on his anger before he erupted, his fury descending upon them like hot lava.
He pivoted and retraced his steps. Pausing before them once more. Tom shook his head slowly from side to side. “I cannot believe you did this, Hattie,” he finally said. His voice was deeper, harder than normal. His crystal blue eyes burned with irritation. “You’ve worked at this camp for twenty years.”
“And you.” Tom turned to Reg. “Putting the idea in her head. I can’t believe a grown man and woman would conspire to do such a thing.”
Unflappable, Hattie rocked her chair back on two legs and glared up at Tom. “Served ‘em right as far as I’m concerned.”
“Here, here,” Reg agreed. He folded his arms over his chest and gave Tom an indignant glare. “I agree without reservation.”
Tom turned to Jane then, his features taut. “Is that the way you feel, too, Jane?”
Jane looked from Hattie to Reg. Both gave her an evil look, daring her to disagree. “Well,” Jane began, as she shifted her gaze to Tom, who was technically her boss, “Reg and Hattie do have a point.” She shrugged. “After the snake scare—”
“Don’t forget the way they mauled me,” Reg piped in with a shudder.
“And…and the kissing incident. It’s true the ladies did deserve exactly what they got.” Jane cleared her throat beneath Tom’s intensifying glare. “However—” Reg and Hattie glowered at her. “However,” Jane continued, “we are adults and our behavior recently has been…well…somewhat juvenile, don’t you think?” she added weakly.
“Exactly,” Tom stated succinctly.
“
Traitor,” Reg muttered from the corner of his mouth.
“Brownnoser,” Hattie mumbled beneath her breath.
Jane shot them both an appalled look.
“You see.” Tom waved his arms magnanimously. “You’re behaving like children. As bad as the kids who are required to attend this camp.”
Reg heaved an exaggerated breath. He waved one hand airily. “Fine. We’ve behaved badly. What are you going to do, Tom?” He shot Tom a challenging look. “Spank us or send us to the corner?”
Tom cocked that gorgeous head of his and smiled one of those smiles that took the breath right out of Jane. Every square inch of his incredibly male body cried out to her. Jane’s errant gaze roved over more than six feet of pure heaven. She swallowed tightly and forced herself to study the row of trophies behind his desk. She absolutely would not connect spanking with Tom.
“You know, Reg, I’ve given that quite a bit of thought,” Tom said slowly. “Since today is Friday, I’ve decided to cancel passes for tonight. Nobody leaves the camp. That includes staff.”
Reg was outraged. “You can’t mean it. That’s ridiculous!”
“I ain’t missed a Friday night movie in forty years,” Hattie growled.
“Well, you’re missing one tonight. Tonight there will be no passes for any of you or the ladies. And there’ll be no dessert of any kind, no television, no radio, no cards, no nothing.” With a look that cut to the bone, Tom dared them to argue.
“Fine,” Reg snipped.
Tom turned to Hattie.
Hattie poked out her bottom lip and pouted.
“Hattie?” Tom asked.
“Can I catch the matinee tomorrow afternoon?”
Tom closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “Yes, you can go to the matinee tomorrow afternoon.”
“All right, then,” the cook agreed.
Jane smiled. Tom was a pushover when it came to the people he cared about. That’s one of the things that made him so lovable, Jane realized. She stilled and her smile drooped. She couldn’t love Tom. She couldn’t love anybody right now. She had to focus on her career.
“Well, if Hattie gets to go to the matinee, I’m getting the afternoon off too,” Reg was demanding as he and Hattie left Tom’s office.
Jane stood quickly. She had been so lost in her troubling thoughts she hadn’t even realized the two were leaving. She should be going as well.
“What about you, Jane?”
Tom’s deep voice wrapped around her and made her want to close her eyes and forget all about snakes, cakes, and other camp-related craziness.
She lifted her gaze to the man who was looking down at her so very intently. Her heart thumped with anticipation. If he only knew the power he held over her.
“What do you want?”
Oh, that was a loaded question if Jane had ever heard one. What did she want? She wanted Tom Caldwell in her arms. She wanted him to kiss her the way he did last night. She wanted him to make love to her in that slow, thorough manner of his, leaving them both sated. She wanted to spend an entire night in his arms, and to wake up with him every morning for the rest of her life.
Jane froze. Five days she had known this man. And in that five days they had gone from being strangers to being lovers…and now he possessed a big chunk of her carefully guarded heart. Fear surged through her. This couldn’t be real. She had to be blowing the whole thing way out of proportion.
“Jane, are you all right?”
She met his worried gaze. Dear Lord, she had made a serious mistake. How could she have presumed she wouldn’t become attached to him?
“Jane?”
She blinked rapidly. “I’m fine.” She shook her head. “I don’t want anything.” She had to get out of here. She was confused. She needed to think.
“Jane, wait.” Tom pulled her back. His strong hand held her arm firmly in its grasp as if he feared she might run away. “We need to talk about last night.”
Tom was right to hold on to her. Had he not, Jane would have run out of his office as fast as she could. She was totally unprepared.
“What’s to talk about?” Jane held his gaze, hard as that proved, hoping like hell he couldn’t read the truth in hers. This had to stop now.
Hurt flickered in his eyes at her words, and Jane wished with all her heart she could take them back. But she couldn’t. She had to stand firm.
“Look, Tom.” Jane steeled herself against the emotions tugging at her. She didn’t want to feel any of this. And the only way to keep it from going any further was to stop it. Now. “We shouldn’t make too much out of what happened,” she continued. Her voice sounded as hollow as she felt. “We crossed the line. It was a mistake. You have your life. I have mine. They’re worlds apart there’s no place to meet in the middle.”
His grip tightened on her arm. That tic started in his chiseled jaw once more. “That’s not a problem. How about we meet right here?” He jerked her against him and kissed her long and hard.
Jane’s bravado wilted beneath his sensual assault. How would she ever fight him when he used such overpowering weapons? His arms went around her and he deepened the almost punishing kiss. She reminded herself to struggle, but the only things her hands would do was tangle in his thick hair. A desire so fierce filled her that all else ceased to matter. There was only Tom and the way he was kissing her…and the way she was kissing him back.
When he at last released her, she touched her swollen mouth. Her lips burned with the heat he had generated. No one had ever kissed her like that.
“You were saying,” he murmured breathlessly.
Still cradled in his strong arms, she braced her hands against his chest. She had to get a handle on herself. If one week with Tom was this devastating to her self-control, how could she ever get through the next several weeks and meet the general’s expectations?
“We hardly know each other,” she argued, wishing he wouldn’t look at her that way, as if she was everything he had ever wanted and more.
“I was born in Waynesville and I’ve lived here all my life. You already know about my family. I’ve never been married or engaged, mainly because I’ve always been too busy,” he said with a grin. “I teach high school history. I own a house, a jeep, and right now I’m kind of between dogs.”
Jane frowned. Between dogs.
As if reading her mind, he added, “The dog I’d had for ten years, who came to camp with me every summer for the past five years, died last winter.” Sadness flickered in his eyes. “I’m having a hard time finding a new one.” He shrugged. “Maybe I haven’t really been looking.”
“You didn’t tell me,” Jane said, her eyes a little misty. “Nobody mentioned you’d just lost your dog.”
Tom shrugged one broad shoulder. “Everyone’s been really careful not to mention him.”
“What kind of dog was he?”
Tom smiled, obviously remembering. “Jack was a big brown Lab who did nothing but eat and sleep.” He laughed softly. “But I loved him anyway.”
Jane’s defenses crumbled like a sand castle on a stretch of lonely beach. “I’m sorry,” she offered sincerely.
Another sad smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. “It’ll get better with time. It’s you that worries me.”
“Tom.” She searched his gaze, looking for anything besides all that intensity. Did he have to be so serious? Wasn’t it enough that her heart would be broken? Did he have to prove to her that his would as well? “You’re making this awfully hard on me,” she told him. She wouldn’t tell him just how hard.
He grinned wickedly. “It’s pretty damned hard for me too.” One strong hand slid down to her bottom and pressed her intimately against the evidence of his statement. He was fully aroused.
Before Jane could rally an appropriate response, he went on, “Just promise me you won’t pretend last night didn’t happen. Promise me,” he pressed, “that you’ll keep an open mind about us.”
Us?
Jane’s entire being reacted to his word
s. Had last night meant as much to him as it had to her? Could it have affected him half as deeply?
“Promise me, Jane,” he whispered insistently.
“I promise,” she heard herself say.
“We’ll seal it with a kiss,” he murmured against her lips. His arms tightened around her waist. His mouth closed firmly over hers.
And Jane stopped thinking at all.
~*~
Tom sat on the steps outside his cabin door and stared at the star-filled sky. He thought about all that he had said to Jane. He wondered if it would make a difference. He leaned back against the closed door and asked himself again if he really wanted it to. What was it about her that made him want to think about forever? She was so damned determined to make her way in this world all by herself. To prove that she was as big and tough as anyone else. That was part of what drew him to her. And beneath all that attitude was a soft, vulnerable woman who responded to him as if she were his long-lost soul mate.
Jane wouldn’t be here nearly long enough for them to really get to know each other. Could he simply let her go when camp was over for the summer? He frowned. He didn’t think he could.
Tom tried again to get to the bottom of what it was that made Jane different. What made him want her so very much? It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had girlfriends in the past. He’d had his share. But this time was different. He felt different about Jane…somehow. Making love with her had been mind-blowing, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted more…and then some more after that. He had always assumed that falling in love happened slowly, over an extended period of time with two people who knew each other well. Only teenagers fell in love at first sight.
Disgusted with himself for overanalyzing the situation, he pushed to his feet and started his usual nightly routine of walking the grounds. Even if it was considerably later than usual.
Tom slid his hands into his pockets and strolled at a leisurely pace. No point in hurrying. He sure as hell didn’t have anything to rush back to. His thoughts went immediately to Jane, and last night. He wondered what it would be like to make love with her again. Could it possibly be that amazing the next time? He had a feeling that every time with Jane would be like the first time. And he wanted so badly to test that theory that he ached with the need of it. Ached for her.