The moment Dane's lips touched hers, Jaimi knew she was lost.

Lost in him. Lost in the kiss. Lost in how he made her feel. Lost in the most delicious way possible. The kind of lost where you actually feel like you finally have more answers than you've ever had before, the kind of lost where you drop all the barriers that have trapped you for so long, and you just breathe in the beauty of the moment that you're in. Where you stop hanging onto everything and stop trying to control everything.

The kind of lost she hadn't known existed until this very moment.

It had been one thing when he'd kissed her on the fence post. That had been unexpected, magical, and super fun and flirty. He had surprised her, and made her feel beautiful and appealing.

This one was different. This one felt like it was so much more. It wasn't simply that the kiss was deeper, that this kiss was slower and more sensual, as if he were carefully stoking the fires buried deep within her.

It was different because she wasn't afraid of him anymore. When he'd kissed her before, she'd still been anxiously waiting for him to start prying away at her secrets. She'd been afraid that he would find out who she was, how scared she was, and hate her for it.

All that was gone now, and all that was left was a man who knew her truth, the one she was most afraid of revealing, and he'd proven himself to be strong, supportive, and understanding. The way he'd carried Emily and tucked Jaimi against his side as they had approached the Stocktons, somehow sensing how nervous they both were, had been amazing. He'd offered them his strength, and he'd done it in a way that had made both of them feel like they could take on that which scared them the most.

And, most importantly, he'd honored her request to keep her secret private. A secret which affected those who had been his family his whole life. For some reason, he had chosen her side, and that felt so beautiful she could barely even understand how it made her feel.

He slid his hand under her jacket, spreading his fingers on the bare skin of her lower back as he continued to kiss her. A low groan escaped Jaimi's lips as she leaned into him, gripping the front of his jacket, as if she were afraid that he would stop. It felt so good to feel the heat and hardness of his body pressed against hers. She was stunned by how incredible it felt to have his arm locked around her waist, to feel the warmth of his hand against the back of her neck. She felt safe, encircled by his strength.

He deepened the kiss still more, a kiss that was no longer about anything except them. She wanted to get closer to him. She wanted to kiss him back more deeply. She wanted to pour her soul into the kiss, and offer it into his capable hands for safekeeping.

She'd been kissed before, more than once, more than twice, but never had a kiss made her feel so beautiful, so safe, and so loved, as Dane's kiss was doing right then.

This time she wasn't holding any secrets anymore. This time she wasn't afraid of what he was going to find out. This time he knew he was kissing a woman who was scared, vulnerable, alone, and secretly related to his best friends. This time he knew he was kissing a woman that he knew wasn't always strong, sassy, and funny.

And the fact that he knew all that about her, and was kissing her anyway, made it so much more beautiful. She felt the kiss all the way deep inside her, in her belly, in her breath, and in her heart.

There was something about Dane that lifted her spirits in a way she hadn't thought was possible. She loved the sensation of his lips on her, the way he so effortlessly turned the kiss into something deeper, something sensual, something with a little bit of decadence.

There was a sudden roar from the crowd, screams and applause erupting around them. Jaimi pulled back quickly, and looked around, half expecting everyone to be looking at her and catcalling her.

No one cared what she and Dane had been doing.

Everyone was looking past her toward the stage, so she turned around just as Travis Turner walked out onto the stage, only a few yards away from them. He pointed at the Stocktons and blew them kisses, before grabbing the mic and issuing a booming Christmas welcome to the town of Rogue Valley.

It was the Travis Turner she'd seen in so many videos online, the Travis Turner who filled up a large portion of her playlist, the Travis Turner that she and Emily had cranked in the car on the way to school so many times.

And it was also her brother. "Holy crap. That's really my brother?"

Dane laughed as he slid his arms around her waist, drawing her back against his chest, and resting his chin on her shoulder. "Yeah," he said. "It's good to have him back around. He took off from Rogue Valley for a long time. It wasn't until he met Lissa that he settled here again."

"Why did he leave?" She leaned back against Dane, resting her head on his shoulder as she watched Travis chatting with the crowd, making them laugh and feel welcome.

Dane didn't answer, and she twisted around to look at him. His face was troubled, his eyes shadowed.

She frowned and twisted around in his arms to face him. She rested her forearms against his chest, and searched his face. "What's wrong?"

His face became even more troubled, and for a moment she thought he wasn't even going to meet her gaze. But after a few seconds, he finally looked at her. "How much do you know about your biological father?"

Her stomach jumped. "Nothing. I didn't even know his name until my mom told me about my brothers a few weeks ago. I assume his last name is Stockton? Is he alive? What's he like?" She hadn't even thought about her father. Her mom had mentioned only her brothers, and given her the list of names. She'd been so consumed with her siblings, and so happy with her mom as her only parent, that she hadn't even wasted any time on thinking about a dad. "What do you know about him?"

Dane sighed and lightly trailed his finger along her jaw. "Why don't we grab some grub and find somewhere to eat? We can talk there."

She stared at him, her heart sinking. "Why aren't you telling me now?"

"Because I don't know how, and I need time to figure it out."

Jaimi suddenly felt cold, very, very cold. "Tell me now."

Dane sighed. "Jaimi—"

She pushed at his chest. "Tell me, Dane. I want to know."

He caught her wrists. "I swear I will tell you, but this is not the place." He gestured to the crowds, to the Stocktons nearby. "Emily will be back out here to watch the show any second. Let's go find a place we can talk."

"But—"

He pressed a kiss to each of her balled fists, his gaze beseeching hers. "Trust me on this one, Jaimi. You need to."

Something about the way he said it made something heavy settle in her stomach, something weighty, and scared. Suddenly, she didn't want to know. She didn't want to know any of it. She'd gone her whole life without knowing, and there was no reason to find out now. "You know, I think I'm good. Why don't I just head back to the hotel—"

Dane cut her off with a kiss that went from bossy to molten within moments. He didn't break the kiss until her arms were around his neck and she was sagging against him, nothing but a melted ball of mush.

He pulled back, smiling as he kissed the tip of her nose. "No more running away, sweetheart. Let's go get food, and hunker down. Okay?"

She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He was right. She didn't actually want to run away. It just felt like it was too much to handle, but with Dane's hands locked around her hips, and his body against hers, she felt like maybe she could do it. "Okay."

He grinned, a smile that didn't reach his eyes anymore. "Okay."

Jaimi let him take her hand, and she followed him as he threaded his way through the crowd, who was now singing along with Travis to his trademark song, Fence Sittin'. She glanced back over her shoulder at the Stocktons, and saw that another Stockton had joined them, one she hadn't met yet, but he looked very much like Maddox. A twin? Didn't Maddox have a twin brother? Ryder, right? She was pretty sure that was it.

Ryder was watching her, and the look on his face was hard, as if he were ready to do whatever it took to defend his family, if she proved to be a threat. The darkness of his expression made her swallow, and she looked at Dane's face as she followed him.

He, too, had lost the lightness that had made her feel so good. He looked hard, like a man who had been through hell and survived. Then he looked over at her and smiled, transforming his expression back to the one she'd gotten to know.

Except now she knew better. She knew that underneath Dane's light-hearted exterior lay something else. Something darker, something that she might not like, something that she might not be strong enough to handle.