He pulled her chair closer to him, put his arm around her and drew her in. Lips hovering over hers, he asked, “And what are you looking for, Miss Maggie?”

“Well, obviously I like ’em real complicated, California.”

Maggie made Cal laugh with stories of being a grave disappointment to Phoebe her entire youth. She wouldn’t take tap and ballet but played soccer and volleyball, forcing Phoebe to sit in the hot sun or smelly gymnasium. And when it came to the debutante ball? Of course Maggie wanted no part of that and her mother cried for a month. She wore a uniform at school but the rest of the time could hardly be pried out of her tight, torn jeans, boots and gauzy blouses that showed her bra. And just to see her mother freak out she’d leave out pictures of tattoos she was thinking of getting.

“I was a serpent’s tooth,” she said, sending him into peals of laughter. “And oh God, if she ever found out I lost my virginity here at the camp when I was fifteen, she would die. But first she’d kill Sully.”

“But of course you were safe and protected and—”

“I was fifteen! I worried about being pregnant for a year and the guy broke my heart by being a summer dude who never called or wrote or came back. But all things considered, I’d rather go through that than put on a white formal gown and dance a waltz.”

Cal sprinkled sand on the embers and they left their chairs sitting out. He had his arm around her shoulders as they walked toward the house. As they grew closer, his hand slid down and he began to caress her butt. “Are you worried that I’m just a summer dude?” he asked.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, no one stays here. This is a bump in the road.”

“Sully stayed,” he reminded her.

“Well, that’s different. It’s his legacy.”

“You haven’t made any noises about leaving,” he said.

“I was born to this. I might be different like Sully. But mostly this is a place people escape to. Most of our guests are getting out of the city or away from work. Some think better in the solitude and serenity of the trail—they work things out. But no one stays.”

“You think I’ll go? That I’ll love you all summer, right in your father’s house, and leave you?”

“Probably,” she said.

He stopped walking. He turned her toward him and took her into his arms, kissing her deeply, passionately. He backed her up a couple of steps so that she was against the thick trunk of a big tree and he pressed the length of his body against hers. He was already aroused and if he knew Maggie, so was she. “You don’t think this time it might be different?” he whispered against her lips.

“I can want it to, but there’s been nothing to convince me. I don’t really know you. I’m trying to know you but there’s new information every day.”

“Maggie, you know the best parts of me. When I make love to you, I give you everything I have.”

“Will you deny there have been quite a few women along the way who have benefited from your rather amazing erotic skills?”

“Not really quite a few. Not as many as you might think, but at least one princess...”

“At least?” she said, already a little breathless.

“Come with me, Maggie. You’re way overdressed.”

“So, after all that you’re just going to play with my feelings again?” she teased.

“I won’t be playing...” He kissed her again and grabbed her ass, giving her a hard squeeze. “Come on, angel. Let’s get comfortable.”

Comfort was the least of his intentions. He stripped her and played her body as if it were a Stradivarius and he knew every note perfectly. He wanted to give her everything within him. It all came so naturally with her. He’d been aware of every nuance since that very first night they were together, and making love to Maggie allowed him to pull all his deepest feelings together. Sex with Maggie was more than just sex; it was intensely personal. All he had to do was think about getting into her body and his chest expanded a little; his wounded heart seemed to grow stronger.