"I wanna take you out."

The statement came out of nowhere and caught me off guard. We'd been cuddling in front of the TV, watching a documentary about Great Barrier Reef, and Jared had been mesmerized to see the amount of life underneath the surface of the sea. That was just one of the things Jared found fascinating. Sounds, music, and people talking through a screen. He might be over two hundred years old, but he knew surprisingly little about the world outside St. Elias. However, he'd obviously had something else in mind while watching, and now his eyes were trained on me.

"Like... On a date?"

"If that's what you call courtship, then yes."

I giggled and bit my lip. Courtship...

"But it's the day before Christmas. There's no way we're gonna get a table."

"We won't know unless we try, will we? I'll carry you if you get tired of walking."

I started laughing for real and felt bad when a slightly hurt Jared turned back to the TV screen.

"We're not walking from restaurant to restaurant, Jared. We would freeze to death. Or at least I would. But we've got a car. And I've got a phone."

I picked it up from the coffee table and held it in front of him.

"And how does that work?" he asked suspiciously.

"Instead of physically going there, we talk to them through this device. That way we don't have to go there at all if everything turns out to be full, which probably all restaurants are tonight."

He pursed lips and kept staring at the TV. He obviously thought I was way too negative, while I was just being realistic.

"But I can call a few and hear?" I suggested to cheer him up. He looked at me sideways without turning his head and told me yes with a hum. He was cute when he pouted like a child, and he was so hot wearing his hair loose and two buttons open on his shirt. And cute and hot is a lethal combination.

"Okay," he muttered eventually.

"Just don't get your hopes up, okay? If we can't find any, we can just make dinner here."

"That's not the same. I mostly cook beans, meat, and fish that I catch myself, which wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"Oh? What did you have in mind?" I asked curiously. I didn't mind his cooking. It was just a bit primitive, that's all. He cooked to survive. In today's society we're kind of spoiled with all kinds of food, and we still complain.

"I don't know. Something you really like that I can't cook for you."

"Well, then we can check mom's cookbook and I'll make you something from there?" I suggested, but he scoffed.

"My point was that I wanted to do it for you. I'm not good at this romantic stuff, but I definitely don't want to take you to a dinner you have to make yourself."

I wanted to giggle. He was just adorable.

"I'm afraid you're wrong, my dear sir," I said and cuddled closer to him, and my body tingled when he kissed my temple while he waited for me to continue. "Because you actually are quite romantic. You're hugging me and kissing me all the time. You're affectionate and interested when I talk. You're protective, and the best cuddler I know."

He turned to me and smiled.

"Really?"

"Mhm. And all of those are things us girls appreciate more than being taken out on fancy dinners. Besides, making food together can be quite romantic too."

I smirked when I saw him think hard. And just to tease him, I leaned close to whisper into his ear.

"Especially if we skip to dessert first."

His eyes went wide, and his nose wings flared a bit before he slowly turned his head to look at me.

"Do you mean...?"

I nodded mischievously.

"Well... Uhm. That sounds... No! Your father told me to behave, so that's what I'm gonna do."

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"You're really not gonna budge, are you?"

"No."

"And you really want to take me out tonight?"

"Yes."

"And only to a restaurant?"

"The finest there is."

I stared at him for several seconds and knew he read my facial expression more than well. I was not amused.

"God, you're stubborn!" I exclaimed and started googling on my phone. And while I was talking, I could see him chuckle when he thought I wasn't looking. However, his smirk faded after seven phone calls where all restaurants were full. So eventually we agreed to try one more, and then either order takeaway, which he didn't even know what was, or make something ourselves.

"Hi. It's Skylar Woodland, and I was wondering if you had a table for two tonight?"

I expected to get another decline and was surprised when the woman told me they just had a cancellation.

"O-okay. Great. Bye," I stuttered. Then I turned to Jared who waited with anticipation.

"'McCormick and Schmick's' in one hour. Jared! Get up! We're in a hurry!"

*****

There wasn't much in my closet that fit me anymore. Much less something nice and presentable. But after a sprint through my room, with a detour through the bathroom, I returned to the living room where Jared was waiting. He'd tried one of my dad's shirts and tie, but even the tie looked like it was too small however that was possible. And the shirt? Yeah, right. So he ended up with the same deep green shirt, which I didn't mind at all.

As long as he kept those two buttons open.

I was wearing a red dress I bought a few years back, when Keesha and I were invited to a birthday party we never went to. We'd ended up babysitting her cousin instead, so the dress was practically brand new. It reached a little lower than mid-thigh and was stretchy enough to fit my belly. And since it was cold outside, I put on a pair of stockings and a thin scarf. But there was no time to put on much makeup or to fix my hair, so I just tied it into a loose braid over my shoulder and put on some mascara. Then, to top it all, I put on some of the perfume mom had bought for my birthday last year.

"Oh, my God," Jared groaned when I entered the room. He got up from the couch and looked completely blown away. I liked that. I also liked it when he walked up behind me and coiled his arms around my waist and cursed.

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" he murmured and leaned down to kiss my neck. Then he froze.

"What's that?" he asked, and I thought he didn't like my outfit after all. Flashbacks to the date with Kemar bubbled up to the surface and I felt the disappointment wash over me like a sweaty palm. Luckily, I was wrong.

"What happened to your smell?"

"Oh. It's perfume," I giggled, relieved.

He sniffed my neck a bit, then kissed me up to my ear and made me shiver in delight.

"It's nice. But I like your natural scent better."

I blushed. Normally I'd never even consider going anywhere without a deodorant. After I met Jared... No. I guess he'd have to get used to it. But I took a mental note to lay off the perfume when he was here.

"Thank you. But is my outfit okay?"

He growled and pushed his pelvis forward so I could feel exactly what he meant.

"It's more than okay. So okay that if we don't leave now, I'm gonna break your father's rule and we'll skip dinner."

I inhaled sharply at his sudden dominating demeanor. There was no doubt he was turned on, and I took it as a major compliment. And as a reaction to his physical response, I became hot and bothered too. The hormones. It had to be the hormones that made all the electrical synapses explode in my body at once. In just a few of seconds I was literally swooning in his arms, and my body got a mind of its own. My eyelids grew heavy, and my gaze was dazed, and I invited him to kiss my neck by turning my head to the side to expose my neck. And he did. He even sucked on it, and I felt his teeth sharp against my skin. But then he tore himself away with a groan and shook his head.

"Skylar, please! You're torturing me!"

"Sorry," I giggled, and he smiled although with a slightly pained expression. Then he combed his hair back into a neat bun and helped me put on my coat before he held out his hand so I could grab it. And like a true gentleman, he led me to mom's car, and we left.

*****

"Table for two, Woodland," I said to the young man who welcomed us into the warmth of McCormick & Schmick's. I noticed Jared squeezed my hand harder when he took in our surroundings. This was probably as far as you could come from a simple meat stake over a bonfire, and definitely not something he was used to. I felt bad, even though he was the one who insisted going. Hopefully he'd be able to relax after a while.

It was a beautiful restaurant. Even more crowded than I'd expected, but that made me all the more impressed that they managed to squeeze us in somewhere. The carpet was pretty fancy, and I could see glass mosaic in green, orange, and white on the doors and windows. The pattern was mirrored in the square shaped ceiling lamps that kind of looked like the two top levels on a pyramid, only upside down. That seemed to be the theme. Squares. Even the backs on the chairs were square shaped with a little hole shaped as another square in the middle. They looked comfortable enough, though. And the table we got was just as expected for a place with this standard. Classic and elegant.

The waiter took our drink orders and tried not to stare at Jared. And he wasn't the only one who turned their heads, and I figured that was something we just had to get used to when we were out in public. He was literally a whole head taller than most men.

"Hey. Are you alright?" I asked when his eyes kept flickering restlessly around in the room. I reached across the table to hold his hand and received a tiny smile.

"Yeah... I'm sorry. I'm just not used to this. I haven't been around this many people before, except for at the airport, and it's... It's a bit overwhelming."

His voice was hushed, and he held his head low as if he was trying to become invisible. So I tried to cheer him up.

"Awe. I didn't think big, bad werewolves were scared of anything," I teased quietly so nobody else could hear.

"Oh, I'm scared of a few things, alright," he mumbled, and I realized that my attempt failed. He was actually so nervous that I chose to give our orders to the waiter myself. Then I focused solely on calming him, which luckily worked pretty well. Until we got the food. As soon as the waiter put his plate down in front of him, he started squinting around as if someone was about to steal his fillet mignon, and he ate so fast that I don't think he even tasted it before he swallowed. Quite typical wolf behavior, actually. So I nudged his leg under the table so he would make it seem less obvious that he wasn't quite like everybody else. Except for that, the rest of the evening went smooth.

*****

"Thank you for doing this for me."

We were finally back in the car, and I leaned over the mid-console and kissed him with gratitude before I started the car. Sadly, Jared was full of remorse for his behavior and kept apologizing, even though I told him it was okay. Just the fact that he voluntarily wanted to do this was a huge declaration of his love for me. And even though our date didn't go quite as planned, it was a million timed better than the previous date I had. Completely incomparable, actually. I shuddered. How could I be so blind to the way Kemar manipulated me?

I kissed Jared one more time and placed my finger on his lips afterwards to make him stop talking. Then we drove off to our next destination, which wasn't at all what Jared expected. However, this time I knew his social anxiety wouldn't be a problem.

"Where are we going?" Jared asked, when we drove passed our exit and continued down the highway.

"To somewhere I hope you'll like," I answered secretively and placed my hand on his thigh. He quickly cupped it with his and entangled our fingers. While he'd been to the toilet, I'd taken a couple of phone calls to find a hotel room somewhere, and to tell my parents that we weren't coming home until tomorrow. That would be a nice Christmas gift for the both of us.

After a while, we entered a quiet part of the city. The streets were beautifully decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments, and it had just begun to snow. Tiny ice crystals soared through the air and covered everything with a fragile white blanket. I smiled. I don't think I'd ever been this happy before. Sitting here in the car with the man that made my life complete, not really doing anything else but existing, was more than a hormonal pregnant woman could handle. My eyes welled up with tears that silently rolled down my cheeks, which made it hard to see the road properly. And without a word, Jared raised his hand and wiped them away.

"Don't cry. You look amazing tonight, Louve."

I giggled and smiled as we entered the parking lot in front of the hotel. And after bringing the car to a halt, my smile changed into a mischievous smirk.

"Tonight there are no rules."