“Christ, Boone,” she choked. “Quit making me cry.”
“If you’re crying because you feel worshipped like you deserve, I won’t apologize.”
She let out a watery chuff. “You’re crazy.”
I stood, holding her in my arms, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around my waist. “Yup.” I kissed her. “Crazy about you.”
18
SUMMER
* * *
Coming from Los Angeles, I didn’t think I could handle the winter in Montana, but over the past few months, I had fallen in love with snow. Boone and I headed out into it with woolen hats and down parkas. I had a pair of Boone’s thick wool socks on to keep my feet warm even if they got wet.
I couldn’t see any paths or roads, but Boone led the way through the forest like he knew exactly where he was going, holding my mittened hand in his.
Part of me wondered if this was dangerous–whether we could get hypothermia or lose our way, but then I remembered that Boone was a wolf. They didn’t get lost in the woods, did they?
Damn, that was hot. He wasn’t just a gorgeous lumberjack genius, but he was superhuman. He probably had better hearing and sense of smell. And, of course, he could change into a giant wolf. Oh!
“I want to see you in wolf form,” I blurted, standing amongst the trees, the snow falling lightly.
He tipped his head down to look at me, his eyes crinkling. “Yeah?”
Flakes fell on my face and melted. “Yeah. Do you only change during the full moon?”
He shook his head. “No. We can shift anytime. The full moon just makes us itchy to shift. It’s like… seeing a tray of fresh baked cookies and grabbing one. They’d be hard to resist.”
That made sense. “What… um, color are you? Your um, fur.”
“White and silver. I definitely blend in on a snowy day.”
“Blend in? You mean, to hunt? What do you hunt?” I wasn’t sure if I should be grossed out or not.
He smiled again. “What do I hunt? Little blonde musicians who sing like angels.” Boone suddenly lunged for me, swooped me up in the air, and spun me around, his heat seeping through my layers.
I whooped and giggled.
He set me down on my feet, a grin on his face. “You’d better run, babygirl.” His voice held mock warning.
I laughed, taking off running, snow kicking up all around me. I twisted to look over my shoulder, and my breath came out in a big cloud.
Damn him!
He didn’t even need to run, his long strides kept him right behind me.
“This isn’t even hard for you, is it?” I called, breathless. I ran faster, tripping over a tree root under the snow and flying headlong into a snowdrift.
I faceplanted in the fluffy, soft snow.
“Ack!” It was freezing!
It got under the bottom hem of my jacket and down by my throat. In the space between my gloves at my sleeves and my wrists. I was only down for a second, though, because Boone instantly scooped me up out of the cold and into his arms.
“Whoops. You okay, baby?” Boone’s warm brown gaze traveled over my face with concern as he brushed the snow from me.
“Yes. I am now.” I pushed up onto tiptoes and kissed his nose. His cold cheeks. His soft lips framed by the scratchy beard.
