He didn’t know what changed, but Noelle seemed more standoffish than he would have expected for a woman he’d spent the night with, particularly since he was still around in the morning and even made her breakfast. He didn’t run away from women, that was for damn sure, but he also didn’t try to overstay his welcome. He only occasionally got domestic for someone else, and usually it was a battle buddy who needed help.
But for Noelle… Jameson had a hard time not whistling and singing like a fucking blue jay as he made breakfast, fed her, and made sue she bundled up before they headed to the car. She did a face-phone call with her daughters to tell them good morning and to check on the adults with her nursing knowledge. Jameson listened with half an ear in case Owen or Kara gave her the third degree about what happened after they left the hot tub, but Kara and Josie, Kaiser’s mate, both sounded half-dead despite pretending to be cheerful. He breathed a little easier, sensing a reprieve from fighting with Owen, and vowed to make the most of his day with Noelle.
The snow had stopped during the night, but a fresh blanket still covered his truck and everything else outside. It was the wet, heavy shit, too, so he couldn’t just brush it off the windshield. It practically had to be shoveled off. He grumbled and resisted the urge to turn into his polar bear form so he could enjoy the snow and cold, but Noelle could have seen and he wasn’t about to risk that. Although returning to his human form always left him naked, so that was something. He could potentially seduce her again.
He snorted and shook his head, since it was cold enough his dick tried to turn into an innie. He stood a better chance of seducing her by staying clothed. He made hot chocolate and filled a thermos with it, then filled another thermos with hot soup in case they needed a snack. He didn’t know how far outside the city they’d have to go to find a tree that someone wouldn’t mind them cutting down, but he knew to be prepared. Jameson went through his mental checklist at least a dozen time as he cleaned off the truck and got it started: first aid kit, GPS, extra batteries, jumper cables, power pack to recharge his phone, military radio just in case the cell phones didn’t work, flares, spare tire, and so on.
He had a chainsaw and axe for the tree, rope to tie it down, and a rifle just in case something else happened along them in the woods. When he first arrived, Sasha gave him a list of potential threats in the city and around it, including Russian mobsters, several packs and prides of other shifters, average criminals looking to boost a car, wolf shifters not affiliated with the organized packs, and regular wolves and wildcats in the woods. None of them worried him when he was on his own, but adding Noelle into the mix changed his calculus a little.
He turned the heater on full blast to try and warm up the old truck before Noelle came out. He was still more than a match for any human in his human form, with his military training and the strength and speed of a polar bear, and if the animals — shifters or regular — showed up, he’d deal with them with the rifle. In the worst case scenario, he could shift and use his bear form to intimidate the fuck out of anyone with a lick of sense, or he’d shred them with his claws. Easy. Nothing was more frightening than the world’s largest land predator in full fight mode, except maybe the female largest land predator defending her cubs. He wasn’t stupid enough to take on a female polar bear under any circumstances, but everything else had better watch the fuck out.
He brought extra blankets, too, since he worried about Noelle getting cold. There was no telling how long they’d be gone and where they’d have to walk. He glanced at the building as the side door swung open and Noelle appeared, pulling a hat down over her ears. Maybe it was better for her to stay behind, to stay safe inside where it was warm and sheltered, and he could go trekking through the snow to get the tree. It wasn’t like he expected Noelle to really contribute to the physical work of felling the tree and getting it into the truck, since his strength dwarfed hers, but the company would be nice and she probably had a better eye for Christmas trees than he did. What if he picked one that was bald on one side or looked like shit?
“It’s fucking cold,” Noelle announced as she jumped in the truck. She shivered and hugged herself in the thin clothes.
He frowned as he studied her. “Well, yeah. Don’t you have something heavier to wear?”
The sideways look she gave him reminded him of the hard-learned lesson of not commenting on what a woman wore. Still, though. He wasn’t going to let her freeze to death. He kicked the door open and made his way back inside the gym to retrieve some of the extra layers and accessories that stayed in the room with all the presents. He wordlessly handed the pile of clothes to her as he got back in the driver’s seat, and ignored the mutters that greeted the mishmash of gloves, jackets, and snow pants.
They didn’t speak as the truck rumbled out of the parking lot next to the building and into the city streets, most of which hadn’t been cleared of snow yet. Jameson didn’t mind, since it meant there weren’t any other cars on the road. He waited until they were past the tangle of urban jungle and heading out toward the empty landscape, where he could breathe, to attempt conversation. “How was everyone doing upstairs? Any improvement?”
“Sort of,” she said. Noelle stared out the side window, her breath fogging softly on the glass. “The chicken pox is getting worse but the flu seems to be getting better. It’s more than just a 24 hour bug, maybe 48 hours. Everyone is staying hydrated but they need more sports drink and electrolytes, so we’ll have to pick more up on the way back.”
“We’ll see how things go,” he said slowly. Last time he’d had some of Sasha’s friends open up a grocery store so he could take shit out the back, which he did not want to repeat with Noelle around. Not much looked open in the city as they drove past, but it was entirely possible that would change by the time they came back. “I’m not sure the store I went to will be open, but we can check.”
“We’ll have to figure something out,” she said. Noelle sighed and removed her gloves to rub her eyes. “I don’t know what we’re going to do if we can’t find it right away.”
“I’ll figure it out.” Jameson would make another late night excursion to liberate some supplies after Sasha called some of those mysterious characters, but he’d keep Noelle as far away from them as possible. “First we need to get this tree situation sorted out.”
“Have I mentioned lately how much I hate Christmas?” She rested her hands on one of the blowers in the dash, apparently trying to thaw out her fingers because her thin gloves were bullshit and ineffective. “Why do we even need a tree? The kids won’t even see it behind all the presents, and they’ve got trees upstairs.”
“I remember the tree being your idea,” he said. Jameson kept his attention on the road but couldn’t resist needling her a little bit. “Something about the kids needing to have a perfect Christmas.”
She shot him a dirty look. “I don’t remember it that way.”
“I’m not surprised.” Jameson turned his vents toward her so she would have more of the warm air. He should have borrowed Sasha’s new truck or maybe Kaiser’s souped up SUV, even if it would have made hauling the tree back more difficult. At least they wouldn’t have frozen to death on the drive. “I also remember you offering to cut down the tree all by yourself.”
“Oh really.” Noelle’s nose wrinkled when she tried not to smile, so Jameson knew she wasn’t pissed. “I don’t remember that either.”
“Yep.” Jameson rummaged with one hand, the other still on the wheel, through the pile of crap he’d grabbed from the building for the heavy gloves he’d found. She’d need them. “Pretty sure you said it last night, in between begging me for more sex.”
She smacked his shoulder while her face turned bright red. “I did not beg you for anything.”
“I remember things differently.” He grinned and winked at her. “Or maybe it was just in my dreams. Hard to tell sometimes.”
“You’re the worst,” she said under her breath, but that nose stayed wrinkled and her cheeks pink as the truck bounced and rattled down increasingly less-maintained roads. “Just because a girl is enthusiastic doesn’t mean she’s begging for anything, I’ll have you know.”
“I loved your enthusiasm,” he said. It was the damn truth any way he looked at it. It was part of why he wanted to get her smiling again, so maybe that enthusiasm would join him in bed that night, too. “And if you’re just as enthusiastic about chopping down a tree, we’ll obviously need another soak in the hot tub.”
That got him the side-eyes again. “I guess I’ll be in the hot tub alone, then. Since you’re obviously not going to do any of the hard work.”
Jameson had never been great at flirting and wasn’t sure how well things were going, but at least she kept smiling and needled him back. “I’m pretty sure driving all the way out here and all the way back entitles me to some hot tub time.”
“We’ll see about that.” Noelle drew her feet up on the seat so she could hug her knees, smiling faintly as she went back to watching the empty white fields go by as they approached the forest. “I’ll be the judge.”
He found himself still smiling even thirty minutes later, despite nothing else being said. Every time his enjoyment of the quiet and the drive began to flag, Noelle would sigh or move or otherwise remind him of her presence. And then he’d be slapped with that stupid grin again, thinking of her, for a while until his thoughts wandered again. It was a vicious cycle and it made him feel like a stupid teenager again. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman’s mere presence sent him into daydreams about what life would be like with her.
Which was what the bear wanted to think about: that, and only that. Life with Noelle. Noelle in his den, and them making a den together. Playing with her cubs and protecting them and making sure they were well-fed. It was like a goddamn Norman Rockwell painting threw up in his brain.
Jameson finally pulled the truck over on one of the country roads with a wide shoulder, clear of drifting snow, to give them room to be out of the way if a snow plow came through. He got out of the truck and scanned the surrounding trees and fields; it didn’t seem likely that the backwoods roads would get plow attention for days, if not weeks, so the truck would be fine for a couple hours.
Noelle slammed her door after she got out, huffing and puffing in the cold air, and rubbed her gloved hands together as she eyed the fifty or so feet of knee-deep snow between them and the trees. “We’re supposed to drag a tree from there to here?”
She sounded dubious, but Jameson didn’t let it dint his ego. It just created an opportunity for him to impress her even more. Maybe get a little sweaty, take off his shirt and flex, let her see in broad daylight what she’d enjoyed the night before…
At least she’d put on a few more layers and actual insulated gloves instead of the thin crap she’d had on when she first got in the truck. Some common sense took hold if the weather was bad enough, apparently. Jameson checked the bed of the truck and lifted out the chainsaw and rope, along with a kid’s plastic sled he’d grabbed at the last minute. “Yep. It won’t be as hard as it looks. I’ll go first, and you get to ride like Cleopatra.”
She eyed the sled with about as much enthusiasm as she’d looked at the snow. “You’re kidding, right?”
“And here I thought you’d be excited by getting a prime view of my ass,” he said, deadpan, and reveled in the astonishment in her expression, followed quickly by a red face. He was not expecting the snowball that smashed the back of his head when he turned to display his ass — less impressive than normal in bulky cold weather pants, but whatever — although Noelle looked innocent as a speckled pup when he whipped around.
Someone was going to get snow stuffed down their pants, and it wasn’t him. He just had to bide his time.
He grinned and got the sled set up, the chainsaw secure in its holder across his chest, and gestured for Noelle to get in. “Let’s go get us a Christmas tree.”
She took a deep breath, about to object again, then shrugged and waded through some of the snow to flop onto the sled. For a second she wormed around like a breakdancer, and he bit his cheek to keep from pointing that out. He just hoped their little foray went more smoothly than her sled-boarding procedures.