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Wade stood up and Jeremy’s eyes widened; she’d never seen him on his feet and he was several inches over six feet. He was absolutely enormous. She took a step back, down the stairs.

“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice full of that husky, rich quality that made her feel warm.

She cleared her throat. “Back to base,” she said, struggling not to stammer. “I’ve been on since six o’clock this morning and I am exhausted. You know, you really shouldn’t be standing on that leg. At least until tomorrow.”

He walked slowly toward her without as much as a limp. “The leg is fine,” he repeated. “Why do you have to go?”

She began to feel all quivery and warm and weak inside. She took another protective step back as he approached.

“I told you, because I am tired,” she insisted, extending her foot off the stairs and onto the walkway. “I just came out here to make sure you are okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“I know.”

She suddenly forgot how to take a step and ended up tripping. Wade reached out and grabbed her to keep her from falling to the concrete.

“Steady, there,” he said. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, pulling out of his grip. “I’m fine,” she said quickly, wondering if this night could get any more embarrassing. “I’m just going to head on back to base now… well, now that I know you’re okay. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

She turned quickly and was taking rapid steps toward her car when she heard his voice behind her. It stopped her cold.

“Jeremy,” he called softly.

She paused, heart thumping against her ribs, before turning to him. The moment their eyes met, she felt a jolt. She couldn’t describe it any other way.

“What?” she replied softly.

Wade stepped off the porch and she watched, entranced, as his tall, broad body came toward her. When he was within a few feet of her he stopped.

“I have to be honest with you,” he said quietly. “Ever since I saw you this afternoon, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind. I was sitting out here tonight because every time I closed my eyes, I saw you. You seem so uncomfortable around me and I am sorry if I give you the willies. I know that all I’ve done is stare at you since we met but I’m not trying to be creepy, I swear. I just feel so drawn to you. I’m not sure I can explain it any more than that.”

Jeremy felt wildly happy, as if his admission somehow validated her own feelings. To know that he felt something, too, was overwhelming and she wasn’t so nervous anymore.

“You don’t give me the willies,” she smiled at him, lifting her hand in a helpless gesture. “I don’t know why I came out here tonight. I knew you were all right, but I still came. I guess I am pretty weird.”

“Pretty, yes. Weird, no,” he said, returning her smile and she could see the deep dimples in his cheeks. “In fact, I’d say you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I couldn’t believe it when you said you’d go out with me.”

She stepped closer to him, her face upturned. “And I could not believe you asked me. How’d I get to be so lucky?”

He laughed softly, studying her face. He knew at that very moment he would never let this woman go, ever. Jeremy watched his eyes, feeling so incredibly excited that her entire body was aching to touch him. She’d never had that sort of reaction to anybody. She wanted to stay there forever, staring up into his handsome and powerful face.

For decency’s sake, she knew should really leave. After all, the surrounding houses were her father’s neighbors and she would hate the word to get back to him that his daughter had been hanging out in the front yard with a strange man in the middle of the night.

“Well, I’d really better go,” she said, turning back for her car and opened the passenger door. She tossed her purse inside and, on second thought, pulled out the elastic band in her hair and stripped off her lab coat. Everything landed in the front seat.

“Hey, Jeremy?” Wade called softly.

She turned around, her hair free and unbound and the tee-shirt revealing her beautiful shape. “What?”

“Do you believe in fate?” he asked hesitantly.

She smiled and shrugged. “Sort of. Why?”

He shook his head, looking confused and puzzled. “I do not know. This may sound really bizarre, but I think I dreamed about you once. Now, that is pretty weird.”

Jeremy’s breath caught in her throat. My God, how could he have experienced the same thing she did? It didn’t make any sense, any of it. Her heart began to race and before she realized it, she was moving toward him, like in slow motion. She was moving closer, closer, not sure of what she was going to do when she reached him, but going just the same.