Secrets & Seductions by Pamela Toth Page A

stammered.
    She lifted her chin and looked at him. “I’m not sure of anything. You don’t know what it’s like.”
    Beneath the anger in her voice he could hear the hurt.
    â€œEvery person’s situation is different,” he said carefully. “I wouldn’t presume to know exactly how you feel, but I have some idea.”
    â€œBecause you work at Children’s Connection?” she sneered.
    Giving in to his need to touch her, he reached across the table and covered her hand with his. Her skin felt cold to the touch. He wasn’t surprised when she pulled away.
    â€œNo, Emma,” he said quietly. “Not because of my job. Because I’m adopted, too.”

Five
    M organ’s announcement caught Emma by surprise, but it certainly explained a lot about his involvement with the camp as well as the agency.
    â€œWere you a baby when you were adopted?” she asked, assuming that he would never have brought up the subject unless he was willing to discuss it.
    â€œNo, I was three years old.” He took a sip of the tea and then he set the mug back down.
    â€œDo you want to go for a walk?” he asked abruptly, shoving back his chair without waiting for her answer. “The moon’s pretty bright, but I’ve got a flashlight, just in case.”
    Emma couldn’t ignore the opportunity to spendmore time with him. Besides, she was too curious to refuse. “Sure. A little fresh air would probably help me sleep.”
    He rinsed out the mugs while she wiped off the table and put away the sugar. Everything was kept tightly sealed so as not to attract ants.
    She leaned across the table to blow out the candles, and they used the flashlight until they got outside.
    â€œGive your eyes a chance to adjust,” he suggested as they stood on the porch.
    After a moment, during which neither of them spoke, they headed together toward the lake. At one point he took her hand in order to lead her around some rocks, his grip warm and reassuring. To her disappointment he dropped it again almost immediately, leaving her struggling with her reaction to his touch.
    As she followed him silently along the path, the moonlight illuminated the shape of his head and his broad shoulders. Ignoring her sharp awareness of Morgan as a man wasn’t easy. She wanted to ask why he was still single, but that might alert him to her interest. Her curiosity would have to wait.
    The raft and a few rowboats were secured to a short wooden dock next to the roped-off swimming area. They bobbed around, the movement making occasional soft noises. Farther along the shoreline, the water was thick with lily pads and fat brown cattails with their swordlike leaves. They weren’tvisible now, but she had noticed them the first day she’d come down here.
    â€œThe stars are breathtaking,” she said after she and Morgan stopped at the lakeshore. “It’s true what people say about being able to see them so much better once you get away from city lights.”
    Morgan had stopped by a wooden bench that faced the small lake. “And people who look at the sky while they’re walking can end up getting wet,” he teased as they sat on the bench with a foot of space between them. “But you’re right about the stars. They always make me feel pretty insignificant.”
    There was no breeze, so the moon’s reflection across the surface of the lake was like liquid silver on black velvet. The spicy scent of the fir needles seemed stronger out here, too.
    Emma was beginning to understand what drew people to the outdoors. There was a lot more to it than RVs, ATVs and noisy beer drinkers sitting around a fire pit swapping stories.
    Tucking one leg under her, she turned toward Morgan. “You must have been an adorable baby with your dark hair and blue eyes. Why weren’t you adopted until you were three?”
    â€œHow do you know I was adorable?” In the moonlight, his