AS I SCOOTED closer to the tree, I reached under it for the largest box, per Vaughn’s instructions, and was shocked to find it weighed next to nothing as I lifted it up and brought it to my lap. Hmm, okay… I wonder what this is.

I looked back to see Vaughn watching me in a way that made me want to put whatever the gift was aside and crawl over the top of him. Those eyes of his were bold as they lazily moved over me, and when they fastened on my mouth, I licked my lips.

With the fire warming the room, his hair had dried off, and the beautiful golden strands looked soft and made me want to run my hands through them. His full lips were relaxed, his body stretched out in the best way imaginable, and as I returned his hungry stare, he said, “Open your present, Carter.”

“Huh?”

His eyes dropped to the package in my hands. “Your present. Open it.”

“Oh,” I said, having completely forgotten I was even holding it. “Right.”

I shook myself out of my daze and then looked down to the huge red bow on top of the box. I lifted the package up again and shook it, and when I heard nothing, Vaughn laughed.

“Learn anything new from that, detective?”

I pinned him with narrowed eyes. “No…”

“Just open it.”

“Hey, bossy? This is my gift. I’ll do what I like with it. You just shhh.”

Vaughn imitated zipping his lips shut, and I grinned as I undid the bow and tore into the pretty wrapping, now in a hurry to see what was inside. As I took the lid off, a laugh bubbled up inside of me, and I looked over to Vaughn. “You freak.”

“Me? He’s your crush.”

“This is”—I reached inside the box and pulled out a cardboard cutout of Daniel Day-Lewis’s face circa The Last of the Mohicans—“fantastic.”

As I held it up beside me, Vaughn let out a loud, booming laugh.

“I mean, come on,” I said as I looked at the fierce warrior’s face beside me. “Look at those eyes, that hair, that determination to go and save his woman.” I looked back at Vaughn, who was now holding his stomach as he shook his head. “You know he’s totally hot. Oh wait… You did say it was mine and I could do what I liked with it, right?”

“If you start making out with that thing, I’m out of here.”

I cast a flirty look over at him. “Jealous?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t remember you paying too much attention to him the night we saw The Last of the Mohicans together.”

I pouted and looked back to Daniel before shrugging and putting him down on the ground. I then crawled over to where Vaughn was reclined, moved up over him, and said, “You’re right. I was too busy trying to keep my hands off you…”

I LIFTED THE collar of my jacket to ward the freezing wind off the back of my neck and then reached into my pocket to pull out my wallet as the lights of the Majestic Theatre rose in front of me. When I reached the ticket booth, I pulled out a five-dollar bill and pushed it toward the teller.

“One for The Last of the Mohicans, please,” I said, shoving my wallet back into my pocket. Another gust of bitter wind swept through, and I bounced on my toes to try to keep warm. The woman behind the glass slid my ticket through the open slot, and I hauled ass inside, where the vintage theatre was toasty warm and smelled like buttery popcorn.

It was my weekly indulgence, catching a classic film on the big screen, and after buying my usual small bag of popcorn, I grabbed a handful of napkins and turned to head into the theatre, but ran smack into a hard body instead. Popcorn went flying as I lost my grip on the bag, and a string of apologies left my mouth as I bent over to pick up the mess.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Little Miss Whoops.”

The hair on the back of my neck stood up as the man’s smooth voice drifted over me. Oh no. I knew that voice. It belonged to the man I’d been dreaming about for the last two weeks. And as I looked up from where I was on my knees at his damn feet, my apologies turned into curses.

Dr. Vaughn Bennett chuckled as he crouched down to help me gather the popcorn and throw it back into the bag.

“You seem to only catch me at my most embarrassing moments, I’m afraid,” I said.

“Hey, at least no stitches are required this time.”

“You mean yet,” I said, shaking my head as I got to my feet and he did the same. I tossed the bag into the trash and sighed. “Thank you. Again.”

Dr. Bennett smiled and motioned to the concession stand. “Let me buy you another bag.”

“No, that’s okay. I don’t need it anyway.”

“I insist.” Before I could protest again, he rattled off his order to the concession worker, and a minute later, I had a fresh bag of popcorn in hand.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, as he carried his own popcorn over to where I stood, stuffing my pockets with napkins—just in case I decided to have any more accidents, which, now that Dr. Vaughn Bennett was in the building, was entirely likely.

“You’re going to eat it and enjoy it,” he said, and then winked.

“You’re kinda bossy, you know that?”

“Comes with the territory.”

“I bet your wife doesn’t appreciate that much,” I said before I thought better of it. Shit, why did I say that? His personal life was none of my business, and—

“I thought I mentioned that wasn’t my type.”

My head jerked in his direction, and I must’ve had a crazy expression on my face, because he laughed.

“Why do you look so surprised?” he asked.

Uh, because you’re fucking gorgeous and there’s no way a man like you isn’t taken by someone…

But I didn’t say that. Instead, I averted my gaze and shrugged. “I just thought you weren’t into Smurfette types.”

“Definitely not into that either,” he said as we reached the closed doors that led into the main theatre. An awkward silence settled between us then, and I debated what to do next. Invite him to come sit with me? No, he had to be here with someone. I scanned the room, waiting for his lucky date to come running up out of nowhere. And then I’d have to punch the bastard and probably get thrown out.

“Are you waiting for someone?” he asked, a frown marring his handsome face as he followed my gaze.

“Oh…no. No, I’m not here with anyone.” I bit my lip as I hesitated. “Um. Are you…”

“Here with someone? No.”

“Me either.” Then I wanted to kick myself, because I’d already said that. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “I mean, do you want to maybe…”

He leaned in and said, “Sit with you? Yes. I’d like that.”

Oh holy fuck.

“Right. Of course.” I shifted the bag to my other hand and fumbled for the door handle, managing to pull it open on the second try even though my hands were shaking so badly I thought I’d drop my popcorn again. Thankfully, Dr. Bennett—err, Vaughn? What do I call him now?— led the way down the lit path, coming to a stop about halfway down the aisle.

“Is this okay?” he asked, looking over at me.

“Anywhere’s great. Yeah.” I’d sit on the floor if you asked me to.

He aimed one of those megawatt smiles my way, and it was official—my heart was a melted puddle of goo. Once he picked out a pair of seats in the middle of the aisle, I sank down in the seat, grateful that I’d made it this far without my knees giving out on me. As he sat down beside me, his arm brushed against mine, and I quickly jerked it out of the way.

“Sorry,” I said.

“Don’t be.” He smiled again. “Please don’t think I’m terribly unoriginal right now, but do you come here often?”

“Yeah, if the movie playing is anything good. You?”

This close, I could see just how full his lips were, and God help me, it took everything I had to keep myself from kissing him right then and there.

“Yeah, when I’m off. They have a good selection. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you here before,” he said, as his eyes wandered up above my eyebrow. Then he leaned over and, Shit, is he going to— Yeah, okay, he’s totally touching me. “This is healing nicely.”

I sat frozen, willing my brain to think of anything, for my tongue to say something, but I had nothing. As if he knew the exact effect he was having on me, he lowered his hand, and as he did, he said, “I have to ask or I’m going to hate myself later.”

I waited with what I hoped looked more like a curious expression than a desperate one.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

I opened my mouth, about to answer just when the lights went down and the movie began to play. Oh my God. Was he serious right now? How the hell was I supposed to sit here after that and concentrate on anything other than the man who’d now shifted in his seat to face the screen? Did I have a boyfriend? No. No, I didn’t. Unless, of course, you counted him in my dreams these past two weeks.

As I sat there staring up at Daniel Day-Lewis, a.k.a. the previous man of my dreams, I didn’t hear a word he said. I was so focused on every breath, move, and brush of the strong body in the seat beside me, and at the end of the film, my heart was racing, my palms were sweaty, and I felt like a teenager all over again.

When the lights came up and everyone got to their feet, I sat there, unable to move or speak as Vaughn got to his feet and looked down at me.

“You coming?”

No, thank fuck. That was the one thing I’d managed to control throughout this entirely too-tense experience, but his velvety voice was stroking me in all the right places, making it more difficult with every passing second.

“Carter?”

Damn. Had my name ever sounded hotter? I didn’t think so. And before I could reply, Vaughn leaned down and placed a hand on either side of me, gripping the arms of the seat. He was so close that I could feel his breath, and when I slid my tongue along my lower lip, his eyes followed the move.

“You okay?” he asked, and when I nodded, he asked again, “You coming?”

I pushed forward on my seat then, wondering if he’d move back, and when he did, I stood until we were both wedged in the aisle facing one another, so close our toes touched. Then, something, I wasn’t sure what—maybe the way his eyes flared—made me bold as hell, because I arched an eyebrow at him and said, “Not yet,” then walked out of the aisle with his husky laugh following after me.

As I headed toward the exit, I could’ve sworn I felt Vaughn’s eyes on my ass as I went, and as I pulled open the door, he was right there grabbing it over my head.

“I’ve got it.”

Yes, you do, I thought, as I stepped out into the lobby. The looks, the charm, the heart of a healer, and the best fucking body I have ever seen clothes on. You, Dr. Vaughn Bennett, have got everything I look for in a man.

I continued out to the street, and as the bite of the frigid night air hit, I pulled the collar of my jacket up and slipped my hands into my pockets. When the fine doctor stopped opposite me, I decided to just go ahead and run with my bold streak. The man was obviously interested, right?

“Can I have your phone for a minute?” I asked.

Vaughn grinned at me, but then pulled his phone out, obviously understanding exactly what I was about to do. As he handed it over, I added my number and then gave it back to him, and when he looked down at the screen, he laughed and then raised his eyes to mine.

“Little Miss Whoops?”

I shrugged and took a step closer as he pocketed the cell phone, and then told myself to just do it, and before I thought better of it, I reached out and took hold of either side of his coat and pulled him in against me. As I crushed my lips against his, Vaughn didn’t hesitate for one second. His hands went straight to my waist and tugged me even closer as I sank my tongue between his lips and groaned at the taste of him. His strong arms wrapped around me, and when his hands moved to my lower back and held on, I wanted to melt into him and never leave. This was possibly the best kiss I’d ever had in my life, and when he raised his head and looked down at me, I knew he was feeling it too.

As I reluctantly let him go and backed away, I said, “That was incentive for you to use my number. And to answer your earlier question: no, I don’t have a boyfriend. But I think I might like one.”

I LOUNGED BETWEEN Vaughn’s raised knees as he leaned back against the recliner, and when I looked back at him, he winked at me.

“You were such a daring little teacher that night.”

My mouth fell open and I took immediate offense. “Little?”

Vaughn chuckled, and when his chest vibrated against me, I snuggled into it and he said against my temple, “Well, not where it counts.”

I smacked him on the arm, and when he feigned pain, I shook my head at him. “That was the best first non-date ever.”

“It really was, wasn’t it?”

“Mhmm. After that, Daniel Day-Lewis was dead to me—until today, that is. He’s totally going at the end of our bed later.”