This kiss was even more intense. Hotter. Deeper. More soul searing. If the first kiss was one I’d never forget, this was one I’d never survive. Not unless there was more to come. Something had come over me, and I didn’t get it. She wasn’t my mate. She couldn’t be. Otherwise I would have known. Wouldn’t I have? But then why suddenly had things changed? And the things that had come after the kiss—she’d wanted me as much as I wanted her. At least there was one thing I could stop worrying about; my feelings for her definitely weren’t unreciprocated.

We still sat there staring each other long after the kiss had broken. Maybe neither of us knew what to say. I had to say something. To break the silence that wasn’t uncomfortable but worried me all the same. “So that was… something.”

“Yes, it was something all right.” She pulled her knees up to her chest.

“A good something.” I needed her to understand my decision to stop things had nothing to do with her and everything to do with making sure I did things the right way. I wasn’t screwing this up. Whether all the signs of her being my mate were there or not, I knew I needed her in my life.

“A great something.”

“An amazing something.” I could still taste her on my lips. There was no taste sweeter.

“Yes. Amazing is the right word.”

I smiled.

“Is that what you wanted to have happen?”

“Yes.” I wasn’t going to lie to her. “But only if you wanted it to happen. And I hope I don’t have to wait another six months for it to happen again.” I wasn’t going to let her run away again unless it was what she really wanted. Fear wasn’t a good enough excuse. In fact it was the opposite. It made it even more important that I kept her near. “We do have a problem though.”

“A problem other than crazy people wanting to kidnap me?” She lowered her legs down and sat crisscross.

“Yes.” I cringed at the reminder of the mountain lion and the so-called king. Nancy deserved to feel safe. If it weren’t for the mystery of her mom, I’d have handled the situation differently, but we needed to wait and do things slowly. She’d never forgive me if we didn’t follow every clue we had to finding her mother.

“What is it?”

“As I started to explain before, I’ve kissed you twice without taking you on a date.”

“And that’s a problem?” She pulled the sleeves of her sweater further down her arms, as if trying to cover her hands.

“Yes. A problem I plan to solve right now.”

“Right now?”

“Yes. Grab your warm coat. We’re going out.”

“Going where?” She didn’t move.

“It’s a surprise. I just need a few minutes to set things up.”

“What do you need to set up?” She eyed me suspiciously.

“Nothing you need to worry about. All you need to do is put on your warm coat and some boots.”

“I need to worry about everything now.”

“Not this.” I knelt in front of her. “I promise this is the good kind of surprise.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

“Good. You should hold me to everything I say.”

“Everything?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Yes, everything.” I really hoped I wouldn’t regret that promise.

* * *

“Are you ready to tell me where we are going?” Nancy asked for the third time. To be fair, we were already over an hour into our drive before she first uttered the question. If the tables were turned and she’d been the one surprising me, I wouldn’t have made it nearly as long without starting in on the questions.

“You’ll see.” I smiled. I loved seeing her so relaxed beside me. Even when she started with the questions, she wasn’t stressed. She trusted me, and I wasn’t going to let her regret that.

“Not even a hint?” She set her puppy dog eyes on me.

Even without that look she was hard to say no to. “It has to do with home decor.”

“Home decor?” She unzipped her parka. “I thought this was a date.”

“It is. Be patient.” I was excited to show her the first part of the surprise. I hoped it went over well.

“But why would we need to drive this far? Aren’t you tired of driving after yesterday? We hit so much traffic.”

She was right about the traffic, although I hadn’t minded it at all. It had given us time to talk and plan. At first she’d been hesitant to turn over the mountain lion to my pack, but I already knew he wasn’t going to give us more information. We needed to bide our time until the ball. The party had significance, especially since it coincided with Nancy’s birthday and her father hadn’t held it since the night her mother disappeared.

“We needed to come up this way for a very specific reason.” A reason that just now was becoming obvious.

“What reason?”

“Look outside.” I pointed to her window.

“I’m looking.”

“Do you see anything different out there did you didn’t see in Forest Ridge?”

“Oh.” She pressed her hand against the window. “Snow.”

“Exactly.”

She turned back to look at me. “This home decorating needs snow?”

“The part after that does.”

She wrinkled her brow. “I’m lost.”

“It’s a surprise. You aren’t supposed to have it all figured out yet.” Maybe it was a little bit late in the day to be starting a multi-part date, but if we timed things right, it might just be perfect.

She laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“You surprising me.”

“How is that funny?” I slowed down and got into the right line.

“It just is. You’re so tough. So strong…”

“And strong guys can’t surprise people?” I turned off at our exit.

“No. I don’t know how to explain.”

“You don’t have to explain.” I drove down a poorly-plowed country road, glad I’d remembered to put chains in the back in case the roads were worse when we were ready to turn back. A few minutes later I pulled into a dirt parking lot.

A large white sign with green lettering spanned half the length of the lot: Billy’s Tree Farm.

“Wait. We are buying you a tree?” There was clear excitement in her voice. “But why up here? There have to be places closer.”

“I told you the reason we needed to come up here was for what we do next.”

“Oh. Ok.” She nodded. “I forgot this is a multi-part date.”

“Yes. This is only the beginning. I hope you’re ready for this part though.”

“Ready?” She unbuckled.

“You are going to teach me the art of picking out a Christmas tree.”

“Am I?” She put a hand to her chest.

“Yes.” I leaned over and zipped up her coat. We’d driven far enough north that it was going to be cold out there.

She looked down at her coat as I finished zipping. “You zipped my coat.”

“I did.”

“Why?” She put her hand over mine just under her neck.

“Because it’s cold.”

Her expression changed from confused to having the faintest hint of a smile. “That was thoughtful.”

I stared at her lips, ready to claim them once again. I shook myself. No. Not yet. The whole point of this trip was to slow things down and show her she meant way more than sex to me.

She pulled out her gloves and slipped them on. “What about decorations?”

I immediately missed the feel of her hand over mine. “One step at a time.”

“Oh, is that the next part of the date?”

“You’re going to have to wait and see.” I opened my door and hurried around to her side. By the time I got there she was already hopping down. I swallowed the words I wanted to say about her waiting for me to open it next time. She’d get used to me doing it eventually.

By the time we entered the farm, she had her powder blue hat on. She glanced over at me. “No hat or gloves?”

“Nope.”

“Oh yes, you never get cold.”

“I occasionally get cold.”

“No, you don’t.” She bumped her shoulder into mine. “But thanks for pretending by wearing a coat.”

I laughed. “Didn’t realize you noticed.”

“You made good time.” Billy, the owner of the tree farm, walked over. He was wearing his usual uniform of a flannel shirt and jeans. “Good to see you, Norm.”

“Good to see you too.” I smiled at my old friend. “This is Nancy.”

He held out his hand to shake her hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” She took in his lack of a coat, and I knew she was sizing him up, trying to figure out what he was.

“I hear you’re the tree expert?” He leaned down to match Nancy’s height.

“Not an expert. My guess is you know a whole lot more than me since you work here.”

“Not just work here. Live here.” He ran a hand through his long, thick, beard.

“It’s his place,” I explained.

“Oh, ok. I didn’t realize. Nice farm you have here.” She opened her arms wide. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Why don’t you take a look around. Take your time. The place is all yours right now.”

“Great.” She headed into the forest of trees. I followed behind after nodding to Billy.

She stopped after a few moments. “What kind of tree do you like best?”

“What kind do you like?”

“I usually get a Douglas Fir. They smell really good and I can hang my ornaments easily, but if you want less of the fragrance go with a pine. And of course spruces are great too. Another question is height. You have fairly high ceilings in that spot. Wait, you are going to put it where I suggested, right?” She watched me expectedly.

I nodded.

“Ok, so what height were you thinking of?” I didn’t want her to think I was uninterested, but I was perfectly fine letting her make the decisions.

“I say seven or seven and a half feet. I like tall trees.”

“Is that the only thing you like tall?” I teased. It wasn’t as if Nancy was short, but at 6’4 I towered over her.

“No.” Color crept to her face.

“Sorry, continue.”

“Continue with what?”

“Picking out the tree.”

“Wait.” She shook her head. “No. This isn’t about me picking out a tree. I have my tree up, albeit it’s a fake one. But we are doing this together. This is a date after all.”

“Ok, so what would you like me to do? I’m new at this.”

“You’ve never picked out a Christmas tree before, like ever?”

“We’ve cut them down from outside and brought them in...” But the last time I did that I was a kid.

“How is that different than this?”

“More options here.” And I hadn’t been with Nancy any of those other times. This experience was something altogether different.

“Ok. So what do you think of that one?” She pointed at a tall tree.

“Nice.” It looked like most of the others.

“Wrong answer. Look at the branches on it.” She touched a branch with her gloved hand. “Where are you going to hang all the ornaments?”

“Ok, so what about that one?” I looked closer at the branches before selecting another that seemed to be about the right height.

“Perfect.” She grinned.

“You sure?” Was this another trick question?

“I was planning on that one too. Funny.”

“Not funny. It means we’re more alike than you think.” I put my hands on her hips and kissed her forehead. “You want to cut it down?”

“Like with the saw?” She adjusted her hat so it better covered her ears. She was cold. I’d have to do something about that and soon.

“Yes.”

“You think I’m strong enough to do that on my own?” She pressed a hand to her chest.

“Yes, I do, but it’s cold. Let’s mark it and then have Billy cut it and load it into the truck for us.”

“So we can get decorations?” There was palpable excitement in her voice.

“Yes, but not quite yet.”

“Why not?” Her voice faltered.

“We need to find our new vehicle first.”

“New vehicle? What’s wrong with your truck?”

“Nothing at all.” I smiled. I’d never imagined surprising someone could be so much fun.“But we can’t take a truck where we’re going next.”

“What kind of place can we be going where we can’t take a truck?” She glanced around as if worried something might jump out.

“You’ll see.” I slipped my hand around hers. “I think I’m going to have surprise you more often.”