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“Complexes and all?” I jokingly asked.
Her finger came down on my lips, and she pursed hers. “You mean your charm, wit, and diverse life experiences?”
“Exactly what I meant,” I agreed with a nod. “Mostly, that I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time when you arrived in Bells Pass. Now I understand the burning need I had to turn down all the other offers and come to this small town. I was supposed to be here when you arrived.”
“I’m so glad you are,” she whispered, lowering her lips to mine for a kiss.
My mind short circuited the moment her lips found mine and I inhaled the scent of evergreens mixed with the scent of her peppermint lotion. It was as though I fell in love with Christmas right there for the first time and it had everything to do with the woman before me. She was an angel’s song and the devil’s fire all wrapped up in one.
Nothing could have prepared me for the way her kisses made me feel. I thought I was prepared after sleeping with her night after night, but this kiss—this first kiss—offered a settling in my soul for the first time in years. Her touch brought me peace and respite in a world where those two things are hard to come by.
I slipped my gloved hand behind her neck to pull her to me then deepened the kiss to show her how much I loved having her in my life this year. Her soft moan of pleasure filled the trees around us, and I released the one I’d been holding in. It echoed with hers down through the rows and into the sky. She broke the kiss, keeping her lips almost on mine, to grab a breath of air.
“Something told me our first kiss would be fire and I was right,” I whispered against her lips. “You’re incredible, Hazel Cane.”
“I’ve wanted to do that since the first day I met you,” she said, leaning back just far enough to gaze straight into my soul. “I’m glad I waited. It’s pretty damn magical out here.”
“Do you think that’s the reason?” I asked, tangling my hand in her hair to keep her close.
“The reason I want to take you home, throw you down on the bed and have my way with you?” she asked, waiting for confirmation from me that I felt the same way. When I nodded, she kissed me again, not giving me a chance to say a word until another breathless kiss was shared. “No, I don’t think where we are is the reason,” she said, her chest heaving from exertion. “The reason I feel this way is sitting in front of me, but I plan to test that theory when we get in the car and I kiss you there. We’ll test it at home when we kiss again.”
I laughed around her lips, but slid my other hand up into her hair. “Not if I kiss you first.”
“I’m a supporter of equal opportunity kissing,” she murmured before she dove back in to take my lips for another walk in our winter wonderland.
“Hazel,” I moaned, wishing she understood all the emotion I poured into those five letters. “No one has ever made me feel this way—”
“Oh, crap. Turn around,” a whispered voice said. It filtered into our ears at the same time and I ripped my lips from Hazel’s. Becca and Cameron were making an escape down the row of trees. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. Ignore us,” Becca said, backing up until she ran into Cameron.
“You cannot tell a soul,” Hazel said when the spell was broken. “Please! Especially not—”
“Ivy or Audrey?” Becca finished.
“Just to name a few,” Hazel agreed.
“Don’t worry,” Cameron said with an easy smile. “We’ll keep your secret.”
“It’s not like that,” Hazel said as she grabbed my hand. “It’s not a dirty little secret or anything.”
“We get it,” Becca said, glancing up at her husband. “I remember being unsure of what was happening between us and trying to keep it from other people, until I was sure. It’s stressful, especially in a town like this, so we’ve got your back.”
My shoulders relaxed and I smiled. “I appreciate that, Becca. Especially since we work together. I don’t want to do anything that slows down the opening of New Beginnings now that it’s finally moving again.”
They both zipped their lips and threw away the key.
“I was worried about you earlier,” Hazel said, stepping forward to address Becca. “Are you okay?”
Becca glanced up at Cameron with a smile before she answered. “I’m okay. I had a small freak-out attack when I saw the pink icing. My whole childhood flashed before my eyes, and I lost it. Embarrassing, but it happens.”
“No, you didn’t lose it,” Hazel immediately said. “You reacted to a present situation based on a past experience. We all do that in one way or another. You don’t need to be embarrassed. Everyone in the room thought you were simply overcome with joy. That’s not an unexpected reaction. No one thought anything else of it, I assure you.”
“You did,” Becca said, pointing out the obvious.
“Yes, but I have special training that most people there don’t have, so it’s not a fair comparison. I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”
“I am.” Her words were firm, even, and free of anxiety. “Cameron reminded me that if something happened to us, dozens of people in this town would fight tooth and nail to take care of our child in a loving home.”
“First and foremost, my sister, who is one ridiculously excited aunt at the moment,” Cameron added.
