“Do you think we should start back?” Kate chewed her lip and eyed the shifting clouds.

“Not until I get that tree down.”

“But…” She shivered as another strong gust of wind blasted them.

“No buts,” Nick ordered. “Mary Margaret was promised a Christmas tree today and I’m not going to let her down.”

“That’s really sweet of you, Nick.”

Her admiration caused him to squirm inside. “Nah. I’m just saving myself the heartache of another hike through the Artic.”

“Then you won’t mind if I do this?” He saw the satisfied grin split her lips just as another snowball flew in his direction.

Nick lunged forward, but she evaded his hands. The air was soon filled with their labored breathing as he chased her across the frozen ground. Seconds later, her exclamation of surprise lent impetus to his steps. One second she was there and the next she tumbled down the slight incline.

Nick reached her just as she stopped rolling. He was surprised to note his hands were shaking as he brushed the snow from her face. “Kate, darling, talk to me. Are you okay?”

He watched as her face flooded with embarrassment, glad she didn’t comment on his tormented endearment. He could tell she was mortified at falling.

“Of course I’m okay. Now let me up.”

Nick stared down at the woman in his arms and performed his second most impulsive act of the day. He kissed her.

A kiss, he told himself. Just a friendly, neighborly, snowball fighting, glad-you’re-okay, type of kiss. But all neighborly thoughts fled his mind as Kate’s lips parted on a soft sigh of surrender. The air sizzled between them, so fast and so hot he feared the snow around them would melt from the heat.

His tongue drew a slow wet circle around her mouth, outlining her lips before plunging inside. He pressed closer and she responded in kind. He discovered her softness and savored her tentative touches, her taste, glorying in each delectable delight and riding high upon the erotic cloud of sensation which only came when two people give in to attraction and share their first kiss.

The pleasure built, spirals of tension unfolding, curling deep within him. Never had he felt such a primitive pull, a craven need to be close to another human. As close as man and woman could possibly be.

The thought brought him up short. Lord, what was he doing, necking in a snow drift? He had more finesse, more style than this. Kate deserved more. A lot more.

He forced his mouth from hers and watched the play of emotions cross her face as she avoided looking at him. Several fat snowflakes swirled past them before Nick brought them both to their feet. He brushed her coat free of snow.

“That shouldn’t happen again,” Kate said.

Nick sighed. He understood what she was trying to say. Things were too complicated to even consider a relationship between them. But damn, she did something to a man. He imagined her soft, warm body pressed against his. Her willing, womanly flesh molding itself to his as if begging for his touch.

The fit of his jeans tightened as his body hardened. He shook his head and forced the pictures from his mind. He needed a cold dose of reality – and fast. He laughed harshly as the slight flurries of moments before disappeared and the snow started to fall in earnest. Even in a blizzard he couldn’t control his wayward thoughts.

“I didn’t mean to mislead you, Nick.” Her low voice barely sounded above the moaning wind.

He watched her bite her kiss swollen lips and groaned out loud. “You didn’t Kate,” he assured her even though his body was a study in torture.

He let her walk away, more shaken then he cared to admit. The kiss had rocked the very core of his being. To have been such a simple kiss, it had packed quite a wallop. Of course, the lady had a lot to do with it. Kate was innocence and sin rolled into one dynamic package. He’d never met anyone like her. It scared the hell out of him.