She trailed a finger down his chest. "What?"

"Thinking-" He grabbed her finger. "That maybe I could teach every other class of recruits, and be here in between."

She went still. "The best of both worlds?"

"Only if you're in both of those worlds." He brushed her hair away from her face, traced her earlobe with his finger. "What do you think?"

"It won't be easy." She stood up, gave him a hand and pulled him up, too. "I'm bossy. And I like to have things my own way."

A smile tugged at his mouth. "I've noticed. But I have my own bad habits, you know. I can be broody, especially if I don't get sex once a day."

"Hmmm..." Her heart surged with such hope and love, it almost hurt. "Then we'd better make sure to sleep together every night."

He stroked her jaw. "That sounds like a commitment."

"I'm not the commitment phobe here, Jake."

His other hand came up, cupping her face. "I find that particular fear has left me."

Her breath caught. "Is that right?"

He looked down at Richard's stone and nodded. "Yeah." He brought her hand up to his mouth. "Do you ever talk to him?"

"Richard? Sometimes."

He touched the stone, then did something he'd never really done before. Talked to his father. "I'm sorry I never told you when you were alive, Dad, because you would have gotten a kick out of this, but you were right. You had it all here." He opened his arms to Callie. "Right here."

She moved right into them, there being no place on earth she'd rather be.

Epilogue.

Six months later.

I can't believe we're doing this." Jake turned over once, and then again, in a useless attempt at comfort. Max, one of Tiger's soft brown puppies, took advantage of the moment to lick his face. Laughing, he pushed the not-so-little-anymore puppy away.

Callie smiled and stroked the excited puppy. "You promised if I made it through your firefighter training course, you'd try camping again." She spoke patiently, even lovingly, but she had a wide grin on her face, assuring Jake she was enjoying every moment of this.

This being Jake inside a small tent, inside an even smaller sleeping bag with a wild puppy, trying to get comfortable. "I think there're a thousand rocks right beneath me."

"Big baby," she teased.

Back in Arizona after a training session in San Diego, she'd dragged him out here in the Dragoons with far too much glee. With a wicked smile, she picked up Max, set him right outside the tent, attaching his collar to a long lead. "Be good for a few minutes," she said, and zipped the tent shut. Still smiling, she pulled off her sweatshirt. Her T-shirt went next, leaving her in a leopard push-up bra. While Jake's mouth went dry, she shimmied off her jeans.

Her panties matched her bra.

"I charged them," she said a little breathlessly, and climbed into the sleeping bag with him. On top of him.

His hands went on a tour of her body. "I love your Visa."

"Actually, it was yours."

He laughed. "Why don't we just get one Visa together, dedicated to your lingerie issues. I have no problem donating to the cause."

"One Visa?" She eyed him carefully. "That sounds...serious."

"Uh-huh." He swept the hair from her face and just lay back soaking up the incredible feeling of having her warm, soft body draped over his. "And while we're at it, why don't we use the same last name?"

She looked at him, her eyes huge. "Are you asking me to marry you?"

He traced her jaw. "How about it, Callie? You're already my lover, my best friend, and most definitely my better half. What do you say you make an honest man out of me and make me a husband as well?"

Her eyes shimmered brilliantly, but her voice, when she spoke, was light with teasing. "I'm not sure. I want a husband who can appreciate the finer points of the life out here-including camping."

"Make you a deal." He rolled with her, until she was tucked beneath him. "We sleep like this, and I'll camp every single night."

"Now there's a deal I just can't pass up." She laughed and rolled again, and they tangled for a while, somehow losing all of Jake's clothes as well, which worked for the both of them.

"So, the future Mrs. Rawlins..."

She touched his face. "Yes, Mr. Rawlins?"

"I love you."

"Love you too, Jake."

The End.