“Then let’s get out of here.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Do you trust me?” he asked.

  “I do.”

  He reached for my hand and let out a long sigh. “I want that, Julia. I’ll do my best not to spoil that trust.”

  I took a step back. “What’s happening with Wade?”

  “You haven’t checked?”

  “I tried. I don’t have any new emails from Dad or anyone else at Wade. When I woke, I saw the article about our engagement. It was pretty basic.”

  “Would you rather it was detailed? I don’t as a rule share private information with my PR people or the public.”

  I shrugged. “Honestly, it was good and to the point. I appreciated that it didn’t mention my recent broken engagement.”

  “What you read was issued through Sherman and Madison media. The broader media has already spun it.”

  “Spun it how?”

  He squeezed my hand. “No one else matters.”

  “Wade?”

  “The statement has stilled the devaluation. I kept my word.”

  I let out a breath. “That makes me feel better.”

  “You can bring your phone, but where we’re going there’s no cell signal.”

  My eyes widened as excitement prickled my skin. “Are we going to the cabin?”

  He tugged on my hand. “Come with me.”

  Soon we were both in his big black truck and heading back down his long lane. Beyond the windows, the sun glistened on the fallen snow. The heater filled the cab with warm air as Van took some barely marked narrow roads. All at once, the cabin came into view. “Is it silly that I’m excited about a one-room cabin?”

  He parked the truck. “No. I am too. This cabin holds some wonderful memories.” He grinned. “Recent memories.”

  I returned his grin, the same recent memories flooding my mind.

  Van reached for my hand. “Well, first I’ll get the fire going and then the real work begins.”

  “Work?”

  Van’s green stare went out the windshield to the forest surrounding the cabin. “Yes, we have a tree to find.”

  “A tree?”

  We both walked to the cabin on a newly shoveled path. When he opened the door, on the floor near the small kitchen area were bags and boxes. “Van?”

  “It’s not easy to find decorations on Christmas Eve. I may have pillaged these decorations from my office. By the time we’re done, the cabin will be festive and ready to celebrate.”

  Van’s desire to celebrate for me, something he claimed he hadn’t done as of late, brought the holiday to life in a way that decorations alone could never do.

  I looked from Van to the window. “I’ve never cut down my own tree.”

  Van reached for my hand and brought it to his lips. “Another first.”

  As Van started the fire in the stone fireplace, I straightened the bed as it was as we’d left it. I also found some food Van had already delivered to the cabin and organized it along the small counter. The jug of water made me laugh. “No boiling water.”

  “There are advantages to being prepared.”

  The flames snapped and crackled as the kindling caught fire. Soon the chill within the small cabin began to fade.

  “Are you ready to find the perfect tree?” Van asked, his green orbs shimmering in the firelight.

  I pulled the orange hat down over my hair and ears. Apparently, the color orange signaled to hunters that we were people not animals. No one should be hunting on Van’s property, but it was better to be safe. I pushed my hands into the wool-lined mittens. “I’m ready.”

  Julia

  With an ax in his other hand, after closing the cabin door, Van took my hand, our mittens wrapping around one another’s grip. My total experience around the area of the cabin was limited to the journey to and from the truck and to and from the outhouse. This time, we headed into the forest, our boots sinking in the deep snow.

  “They’re all so tall,” I said, looking up through the big trees to the blue sky above. I wasn’t only speaking of the pine trees, but also deciduous trees such as the white birch whose white trunks highlighted the landscape.

  “There are places on my land where I’ve planted saplings,” Van said. “I’m hoping at least one will still be small enough.”

  “You planted trees? There weren’t enough?”

  Van grinned, looking down at me with pink cheeks from the cold. “There’s never enough.”

  “Oh,” I said with a shake of my head. “I forgot.”

  “When I decided to live here, I purchased multiple five- and ten-acre lots. Many had structures. Some were willing to sell, others needed convincing. I had most of the structures demolished. Those spaces then needed trees.”

  “How did you convince people to leave their homes?”

  “Everything has a price.”

  I gave that some thought as we trudged forward. “You didn’t want any other buildings?”

  “I kept a few, but nothing I chose to keep is too close to the house.”

  Taking a deep breath of cool air, I stilled. “You know, I think I’m in pretty good shape.”

  “I think you’re in fantastic shape.”

  “Then why is walking through this snow wearing me out?”

  Van laughed. “Just wait until we have to drag the tree.”

  “I think we should have considered cross-country skis.”

  “We should have. A snowmobile would have been a good idea too.” He grinned as his words came out in vapor puffs. “Next time.”

  Those words were so simple and yet held more meaning than I could comprehend.

  Next time inferred there would be more times like this, more times with the two of us and adventure. It was unfamiliar to me to imagine spending so much time alone, only the two of us. Skylar was all about appearances. Together meant out to eat at one of Chicago’s finer restaurants, the symphony, or the philharmonic, where we were going the night I walked out on him.

  Van’s and my journey continued for another fifteen to twenty minutes, at times walking through knee- and thigh-high accumulations of snow. The good news was that due to the excessive cold temperatures, the snow was basically powder and easier to be displaced than heavier snow farther south. Cresting a hill, I saw what Van had described. The giant pine trees were gone, replaced by smaller ones.

  At first, I was preoccupied with walking between the trees, comparing their height to Van’s and mine. Even the smaller ones seemed too big when I thought about putting it in the one-room cabin. When I looked up, the cold air caught in my lungs.

  The scene before me was simply spectacular—the crystal-clear sky above and the beautiful white bowl.

  “This view is gorgeous,” I said, my words floating through the air in puffs of vapors. “I bet it’s amazing in the summer.”

  Van pulled me close, looking down at me. “My view is stunning, no matter the season.”

  “Honestly, Van, how did you choose which home to keep? If they all had beautiful views like your house, it must have been difficult.”

  “Location. I wanted to be remote. Where we are is a lot closer to the edge of the property and to the civilization of Ashland. Some of the homes were older. I weighed the pros and cons. The one where we live won. I had it gutted. The contractor said it had the best bones, making it sturdy. It was also near the size I wanted.” He grinned. “With room for expansion. More. Bigger. Better.”

  I spun toward the younger trees. “I feel bad that you’re going to chop down one of these. They’re just babies.”

  “There are hundreds if not thousands on the property.” He lifted my chin with his gloved hand. “You have a beautiful heart, Julia. I tell you what, we chop down one for our celebration and in the spring, we plant ten or one hundred more.”

  “We can do that?”

  “We can do whatever we want.”

  After we decided on one of the smaller pines, I stood back as Van knelt in the snow and began chopping the tree. First, he chopped off the lower branches before his ax began notching the trunk.

  As the ax flew with vigor and force, I wrestled with the dichotomy of the man Donovan Sherman. The man my parents warned me about was such a small part of him. I truly didn’t know all there was to know about him, but I was getting to know the man that others didn’t.

  A smile came to my cool lips as I remembered the way Van warmed our dinner and cleaned the plates after we ate, and the way he fed me with coffee and nectarines. This man working up a sweat in the cold air was the one who chopped wood for a fireplace that saved me from freezing.

  Would the people who only know Van as a business tycoon recognize the man before me?

  “Timber,” Van called as the pine fell to the soft snow.

  He handed me the ax. The pass-off made me wobble as I tightened my grip. “That’s a lot heavier than I thought.”

  I wasn’t good at judging weight, but now that I held the handle of the ax, I was even more impressed with the way only a few minutes earlier, Van had been rapidly reeling it at the tree’s trunk.

  “Here’s the hard-work part.”

  Van held tight to one of the bottom branches as he began to drag the tree, backtracking our journey back to the cabin. Our speed was slower as we continued toward the cabin. As we neared, the thin plume of smoke could be seen coming from the chimney. By the time we made it back, the sky was beginning to lose its sunlight, with shadows appearing on the eastern horizon.

  The heat from the fire within the cabin hit like a wall as we entered. The layers that were so essential outside were now stifling. Sighing, I removed the mittens and ugly orange hat, hanging them from the pegs near the door. It didn’t take a mirror to know my hair was a mess. Pulling the tie from the end, I ran my fingers through the length and piled it all high on my head.

  If it was going to be messy, why not be a messy bun?

  As I began to lessen the cumbersome layers, Van dragged the tree to the hearth. He said it was only for a little while to melt the snow.

  With the addition of a few more logs, the fire roared, its flames crackling within the sandstone hearth.

  Soon, Van’s coat, hat, and gloves were also hanging on the pegs near the door. And both sets of our boots were there. As I continued losing the layers, I watched Van. His meticulous movements, his knowledge of what it took to stay alive and warm in this remote cabin, and his strength with the ax and tree had me enthralled. When his gaze caught mine, I smiled. “Thank you.”

  “Was this your first hike through drifted snow?” he asked, his green orbs reflecting the fire’s flames. “I’m working for more firsts.”

  I shook my head. “More?”

  “Always more, Julia.”

  I went to him, grinning at his messy dark hair and laid my palm on his chest, feeling the warm thermal shirt and his beating heart. “Yes, it was my first hike through the snow to find the perfect tree. My trees have always been artificial.”

  Van exaggerated a gasp.

  I grinned. “You didn’t even have a tree.”

  “But artificial?”

  “I had one of those tall thin ones in my apartment during college, but the ones at my parents’ home just appeared one day fully decorated and then after the New Year they went away. I guess you could say, I’m not very experienced in decorating trees myself.”

  “You’re creative. I’m sure together we can figure this out.”

  “Does that mean that you’re not experienced either?”

  “It means that I’ve never thought about it. I suppose as a child I helped decorate the family tree, but if memory serves me, I avoided those bonding moments. And as you saw at the house, decorating hasn’t been a priority.” He reached for my cheeks. “Priorities can change.”

  His lips met mine.

  Thinking about our hike, I added, “I’ve been cross-country and downhill skiing, but hiking through those drifts was definitely a first.” I smiled. “The thank-you I said earlier was for something else.”

  Van’s hands came to my waist, his warming fingers splaying beneath my sweater. “What are you thanking me for?”

  “For showing me a side of Donovan Sherman that the world doesn’t see.”

  His grasp of my torso tightened. “Julia, this is a Donovan Sherman I haven’t seen in a long time—I’m not sure if I ever have. This is what you do to me; you make me want to be better and to make you happy.”

  “You make me happy. You don’t need to try.”

  “I do. My first instinct is to be selfish.” He reached for the hem of the sweater and pulled it over my head. Despite the fire’s warmth, my nipples beaded. Van took a deep breath. His gaze focused on my silk camisole covering my lace bra. “You’re so beautiful.”

  I lifted his chin, already prickly from his morning shave. When his green gaze met mine, I smiled. “I’m happy. I’m unbelievably happy. You do the same thing to me, Van. You make me feel like a different person. When I’m with you, I feel liberated.”

  Every word was true.

  Under his wanton gaze, I felt a sense of sexual power and prowess I’d never before felt. His obvious desire filled me with strength to be more assertive than I’d ever been. I pushed up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his.

  My hands went to his belt as I fell to my knees.

  “Julia.” His voice was suddenly an octave lower than it had been moments ago.

  Peering up through my eyelashes, I smiled as my fingers worked to release his belt buckle, the button and zipper of his jeans. “It’s my turn, Van. I want to give you something to show you how much I appreciate all you’ve done for me.”

  “Fuck.” The one word was drawn out.

  As I freed his hardening cock from his boxer shorts, I licked my lips. Lapping the pre-come from the glistening tip, I opened my lips as my hands worked the root and gently squeezed his balls. Inch by inch, I took him, each time backing away, each time taking more.

  With his tip teasing the back of my throat, I sealed my lips and ran them and my tongue up and down. In the short time since I’d fallen to my knees, his cock had gone from hardening to rock solid. When I looked up, I saw the combination of restraint and pleasure in his expression. Van’s chin was lifted and the muscles and tendons of his neck stretched. His arms and hands were at his side, the tension visible with his fisted fingers.

  This wasn’t my first blow job, but it was the first one I wanted to do because of the desire bubbling within me and the first one I wanted to be sure I did right.

  The sound of a pop echoed through the cabin as my lips came off his steel-hard rod. I reached for Van’s hands. When his eyes met mine, I placed his hands on top of my head, over my messy bun. “Use me, Van. I want to do this right.”

  His fingers splayed over my head, before dropping to my cheeks. “If you don’t think what you’re doing is right, you’re not paying attention.”

  His erect penis bobbed before me.

  I grinned. “I’m paying attention. I’ve invited, now I want you to lead.”

  “Fuck, Julia. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  My tongue licked his length from the tip until his coarse hair tickled my face. “You won’t. Use me.”

  Van’s chest inflated and deflated with each deep breath. His hands came back to my hair. “You’re doing well. Open your lips, Julia.”

  I did as he instructed.

  “Rest your tongue and close your lips. I’m going to fuck your mouth.”

  I nodded.

  His cock slid within my mouth as I closed my lips. My eyes closed as Van began to move, pushing deeper each time. I concentrated on not gagging as my core became wetter and wetter with his wordless noises of pleasure. My hands went to his strong thighs as Van continued pistoning his hips. It was as his grip tightened and his speed increased that I knew he was close.

  When he tried to pull away, I wrapped my arms around his legs, refusing to not follow through on what I’d started.

  “Fuck, Julia, I’m going to come.”

  I held tighter to his legs as his cock began to throb, my mouth filled, and I rapidly swallowed. The cabin filled with Van’s mumbled curses as I stayed on my knees, licking and sucking until he was satisfied and clean. When I looked up, I saw a gaze filled with so much emotion that I would fall to my knees every damn day to see it again.

  “You’re…” He didn’t finish his sentence. He offered me his hand.

  “I’m?” I asked as I stood and leaned into him.

  “More. Every second of every day, you’re more.”

  “That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

  “More than I knew.”

  I looked around. The sky beyond the windows was dark. “I know I just had a protein snack…” —my cheeks warmed— “but I could make us some food while you get our tree in its stand and then we can decorate it.”

  Julia

  Van wrapped his arm around me as we both stared at the tree. He’d taken strands of garland of silver and gold, silver beads, and white, gold, and silver ornaments from his office. I imagined one of his employees showing up and wondering who vandalized the tree. My guess would be that the CEO would be their last suspect. He had left the lights. Without electricity, they wouldn’t do us much good.

  “It’s the best tree I’ve ever seen,” I said, leaning against his side.

  His head tilted the same direction as the slightly leaning tree. “It’s definitely interesting.”

  I pushed up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “It’s hard to believe we were here only a week ago.”

  Taking my hands, Van’s gaze washed over me. “Finding you was the best thing I’ve done in my whole life.”

  A smile lifted my cheeks. “That’s a long time.”

  His head shook. “It’s enough time to make a lot of mistakes. This—between us—has been a whirlwind, but it’s not a mistake.”

  “I agree. A mistake wouldn’t feel this good.”

  Our dinner was behind us and our stomachs filled as we sat cross-legged together on the pile of rugs before the fireplace. It was the exact same place we’d had those nectarines and mugs of coffee a week earlier. The flames flickered and snapped as the damp wood hissed and spit.