Kat hadn’t been completely honest with Alex when she’d said she was meeting friends at Café Orange. Her best friend, Tilly, owned it, and Kat had thought it would be a safe place to meet her mystery man.

Standing outside in the chilly evening air, she shifted from foot to foot, anxiously watching traffic as it passed. Having never been on a date before, she wasn’t entirely certain how to behave, but she suspected she probably looked too eager.

“Chill,” she breathed to herself as she tried to rein in her nerves.

That helped a little…until a big black town car with tinted windows stopped in front of her. The driver jumped out and opened the back door. Kat’s breath caught in her throat when Alex exited the vehicle in one smooth movement.

Dressed in a dark blue Armani suit, he might as well have stepped off a billboard and into her dreams. Beyond his striking features, mesmerizing eyes and adorably mussed hair, a power emanated from him that drew her to him in a way she’d never experienced before…never imagined.

Alex stood by the car door, his hand stretched out, beckoning her forward. “Shall we?”

God, that smile! Slightly predatory, with more than a hint of good humor, and so seductive she nearly dropped her skimpy thong right there on the sidewalk. Despite her bathtub activities earlier, every part of her body tingled and throbbed, ready for him to show her the way of love. It sounded sappy, but she knew in her heart he’d be the perfect teacher. Patient, gentle, and sexy as hell.

Drawing on her training, Kat did her best to hide her true feelings and climbed into the car with practiced ease. No nip slips, no crotch shots, just fluid grace — even though she felt like a nervous wreck inside. Of course, her heart raced at the thought of Alex getting a peek at the humming body parts in question.

“You said something about dinner and dancing,” she said once he climbed in next to her. “Where are we going?”

He gave her a confident grin. “I have something very special planned. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

They barely spoke on the short drive. Kat didn’t trust her own voice to her nerves, and besides, she had no idea what to say. She didn’t know the guy at all…didn’t even know his last name! But she had no idea how to ask, now that she was sitting so close to him she could feel heat coming off him in waves.

They pulled up to a swanky apartment building, complete with uniformed doormen and expensive artwork on the walls of the lobby. Inside the ornate elevator, he punched the button for the top floor. Hmm, there must be a restaurant on the roof or something, she thought. It wasn’t until Alex stepped out of the elevator and pulled out a house key that Kat realized he’d brought her to his apartment.

When she hesitated to get off the elevator, he smiled and raised an eyebrow. “You said you wanted something secluded.”

All the fears her father had instilled in her bubbled to the surface. Only an idiot would walk into a stranger’s apartment, especially when no one else in the world knew where she was.

Holding the elevator door open, Kat gazed into Alex’s emerald eyes. Fell into them, really. Without thinking about it, she allowed her bear senses to sharpen — just a little. No doubt he knew exactly what she was doing by her slightly longer fingernails or a telltale glow in her eyes, but she didn’t care if he was offended. If he was, she’d let the doors close and write him off as a jerk. But he waited patiently, appearing almost amused.

She smelled no danger from him at all. In fact, that sensation of total safety, one she’d never truly felt in the company of her bodyguards, solidified. Returning her gaze, Alex growled low. Not a threat, but an acknowledgement. He was inviting a she-bear into his den, letting her know it was safe.

The warmth of anticipation set her heart beating faster. If she stepped through that door, her life would never be the same. She knew this on a cellular level, and she couldn’t wait. With a slow, hopefully seductive smile, she brushed past him, trailing her fingers across his abdomen. His sharp intake of breath gratified her.

“Oh my God,” Kat said with a gasp once she stepped inside.

As the daughter of a Tier and successful businessman, she was no stranger to elegance and wealth, but her family’s taste leaned to the traditional. Dusty old carpets which had been in the family for centuries, tapestries featuring scenes of great battles between bear clans which had been embroidered by her seven-times-great grandmother hung on dark mahogany walls, and heavy furniture that wouldn’t break under a full-sized bear.

Alex’s apartment exhibited just as much wealth, but it couldn’t have been more different. Every piece of furniture and art screamed ‘modern’. Hardwood floors gleamed — how they weren’t scored with bear claw marks remained a mystery — and long, low, black leather couches dotted the spacious living room. The high ceiling gave the almost-comforting illusion of being outdoors. French doors on the far side of the room sat open to a balcony, offering a breathtaking view of the city and allowing a light breeze to cool Kat’s overheated skin.

“Let me show you around,” Alex said from very close behind her.

His proximity, not to mention his sultry tone, caused the tips of her breasts to tighten. Normally, she would have tried to hide her arousal, but not with him. She felt completely at ease with Alex.

“This is my TV room.” He swung open the first door they came to.

“Holy crap!” A giant screen took up an entire wall and three rows of staggered couches. “You call this a TV room? This gives ‘home theatre’ an entirely new meaning”

“Glad you like it. Next stop, my office.”

He dropped his hand to her lower back to guide her — a perfectly natural thing to do — but his touch made her head spin. At least he was close if she fainted from her need for him.

Alex’s ‘home office’ looked like any high-powered businessman’s office in one of the skyscrapers downtown…except one thing. And that exception worried her.

“Do you have a kid?” Not that she minded, but it could complicate things.

“No, why— Oh!” Alex’s laugh rolled over her like thunder on a hot night. “That’s my childhood desk.”

It looked like a torture device to Kat. Made entirely of wood, the antique desk only vaguely resembled a more modern one — say, from the 1970s. Three unevenly spaced slats of wood served as the seat with just one more slat to act as a backrest. The desk portion was connected to the seat by wooden rails, and had a long groove at the top for pencils and two holes for ink wells. The thing didn’t even open on a hinge — rather, the desk itself was a simple box, open at the front.

“It looks really old.”

“It is,” Alex said, clearly proud of the ratty old antique. “Look there, what do you see carved into the surface?”

Kat peered at the desk. “Ozzy?”

“Not that. In the top right corner.”

“Um, looks like initials. TR.”

“Yup. TR. Teddy Roosevelt. When he was a boy, he sat at this very desk and carved his initials into it.”

“Wow.” Kat did her best to sound impressed.

Almost every family in the two clans claimed to own something that had once belonged to the nature-loving president. Kat never could understand why — the man was a renowned hunter, and he wouldn’t have known a bear shifter from a real bear if he came upon one on a hunting trip. Of course, almost all of the claims were bogus, but it would probably be rude to insult something your date was clearly proud of.

Alex guided her out of the office, past a closed door — presumably the bedroom — and into the well-appointed kitchen. Top-of-the-line appliances gleamed and sparkled as if they’d never been used. He stopped in front of a wine cooler.

“Red or white?”

“White, please.”

He smiled and pulled a bottle from the cooler, before showing her back into his massive living room. She found herself drifting over to a wall with three large paintings. She could have stared at them all night…until she felt Alex sidle up next to her. She glanced up at him and became ensnared in his gaze.

That’s what I could stare at all night.

“Decorator?” she squeaked.

“Hmm?” An eyebrow quirked up.

Kat swallowed hard. “Did you hire a decorator?”

“No,” Alex replied, glancing around the place. “This is all me.”

Of course it was. Gorgeous, successful, a strong eye for quality art and he liked to decorate. It was all Kat could do to keep from swooning into his arms right then and there.

“Shall we…?” He motioned to a small table set for two on the terrace. Twinkle lights ran around the railing, giving the scene a soft, romantic glow. “Dinner’s ready.”

“You cook too?” Who could have imagined her first date would be with the perfect man?

Alex chuckled has he pushed in her chair and settled across from her. “Not even a little. I order in…a lot. In fact,” he looked a little embarrassed, “I have caterers on retainer.”

Kat couldn’t help laughing. “You’re joking!”

“Hey, I have to entertain for business, you know.”

“Sure,” she teased, as she looked around for the mysterious catering staff. “Are they here?”

Alex slowly lifted the sterling silver dome off her plate, revealing a mouthwatering selection of poached salmon and gently roasted vegetables. The scent made her stomach growl.

“No. They bring the food, set it up, and pick up everything the next day. They won’t be disturbing us.”

Katrina smiled, then blushed a little. She didn’t want to seem too eager, but she was more than happy to be completely alone with this bear of a man.

As they ate, the awkward tension she’d felt in the car fell away. He turned out to be much easier to talk to than she’d imagined. In fact, she found herself opening up to him, though she was careful not to talk about her family. The mere mention of her father typically sent men screaming.

“I want to travel more,” he said, after grilling her about her world travels. “I haven’t been nearly as many places as you. I’m a little… Well, planes don’t thrill me. When I was a kid, we had some turbulence on a flight to L.A. You remember how hard it was to control yourself as a cub, right?”

Katrina gasped. “You didn’t!”

“Yup. I shifted, and then completely freaked out. Naturally, the other passengers freaked, and the flight attendants freaked, and the pilot… Let’s just say it wasn’t my finest moment.”

“How did it all end?” She’d never shifted in front of unsuspecting humans before, and couldn’t imagine their reaction.

“Father told everyone they were transporting an orphaned bear cub to a zoo. To this day, I have no clue how he managed to talk his way around the fact they didn’t have a cage or that the child they boarded with was no longer on the flight!”

Genuine, relaxed laughter wrapped around them like a warm blanket. She silently cursed her father for letting her miss out on the fun of dating, assuming all dates were this pleasant. But in her heart of hearts, she knew tonight was unusual. She and Alex had a special connection she couldn’t deny, and judging by the hungry look in his eyes when his gaze locked onto hers, neither could he.

It seemed impossible and ridiculous, but Kat wondered if this was what it felt like to fall in love.