"Do you mind if we swing by the bookstore quickly?" Emily asked. "I wanted to pick up a Christmas gift for JJ." Under the guise of needing to run into town to run some errands, she had convinced Alex to join her...or, rather, Ethan had convinced her, ever Emily's partner in plotting.

What Alex didn't know, though, was that she was about to find herself on a date...

Emily pushed the door open, catching the gaze of the shop's owner – a pleasant, colourful woman named Penelope – and shared a wink, the signal for her to scuttle off to the store room to give them some privacy. (Not only did Penelope run the bookshop, but she also had a reputation as being something of a matchmaker who prided herself on pairing off everyone in town, so she'd been more than willing to help Emily pull off this little surprise date.)

When Alex followed Emily into the store, she could hear her sharp inhale, part surprise, part confusion. "What's all this...?" she asked, gesturing vaguely at the section of the floor that had been cleared away to make room for a little table and two chairs.

Emily offered her a shy smile. "It's a date," she said, though it was inflected more like a question than a statement of fact. "I mean, if you want it to be..."

"A date?" Alex repeated.

She nodded. "Ethan told me you love bookstores, so I thought it might be nice to surprise you," she explained in a rush, words all running into each other. "Of course, if you hate it, I can just..." She gestured over her shoulder, cheeks already heating up in embarrassment.

"I don't hate it," Alex said, voice a reverent whisper as she gazed around at the fairylights that had been strung across shelves to create a romantic ambience. She glanced back at Emily, caught her gaze and offered her a soft smile.

"There's tea," Emily said, gesturing to the table, "And a death by chocolate cheesecake I've been informed you're a fan of..."

Alex raised a brow. "I take it Ethan has been in on this scheme?"

She shrugged, but her eyes sparkled with mischief.

When they arrived back at the ranch, there was a note tacked to the door informing them that Derek had taken the boys to the farmer's market...and no sooner had Emily read those words aloud than Alex had her pressed against the wall, kissing her throat.

Emily laughed breathlessly, tipping Alex's chin up so she could meet her lips in a proper kiss. Her fingers found their way to the button of Alex's jeans and set to work.

With a soft whimper of protest, Alex reminded, "The boys could be home any minute..."

With a brow raised in silent question as to whether she wanted her to stop, Emily halted her movements.

"Bedroom," Alex answered simply, fingers wrapping around Emily's wrist and tugging her down the hall. And, no sooner had they shut the bedroom door behind them, than Alex was once again kissing Emily, a desperate neediness apparent in her kiss.

This time, it was Alex that ended up with her back pressed against the wall as Emily's lips travelled along the line of her jaw, her fingers deft on the button of her jeans. She knew from the few times they'd hooked up already that Alex, inexperienced as she was, needed Emily to take the lead and she was all too happy to oblige...

Her hand slipped past the waistband of Alex's panties, seeking out her clit and, with little effort, had her on the brink of orgasm, but refused to let her fall.

Alex let out a little whimper as Emily pulled back and stripped out of her jeans and sweater until she stood there in her bra and panties, staring at Alex with hunger in her eyes. "Please..." Alex couldn't help but beg. "Emily..."

Emily smirked at the pleading tone in her voice, all too happy to oblige. She pulled her hair back into a haphazard ponytail with the elastic on her wrist, then dropped to her knees before Alex, staring up at her with hungry eyes.

She dragged Alex's jeans down her legs, then kissed her way up her thigh, eliciting a gasp from Alex when she gently sank her teeth into the tender flesh before laving the bite marks with her tongue before continuing her path along her leg.

Finally, she found her target, pushing her panties aside so she could lap at her core, the sounds Alex was making at her ministrations travelling straight to her cunt, quickly soaking through the lace of her panties.

It didn't take long for her to make Alex climax, this time allowing her the release she'd previously denied. And, when she stood to kiss her, Alex tasting herself on Emily's tongue, she couldn't help but hum contentedly into the kiss, the sound quickly turning into a whine as Alex palmed her breast through the lace of her bra, the rough fabric scraping deliciously against her pebbled nipple.

(The traitorous part of her mind that never quite shut up couldn't help but wonder whether Alex's date with Clara had also ended this way, in spite of her best efforts to banish any and all thoughts of her competition and focus solely on that moment and the gorgeous woman before her who was clearly far from satiated just yet...)

And, later that night, when Ethan innocently asked Alex how her day had been, she couldn't help but share a secretive smile with Emily who couldn't seem to resist a raking her teeth across her bottom lip rather lasciviously, the action making Alex blush. (Good, she'd told Ethan, It was good. Not a satisfying answer for a nosy seven year old, but it was all he was going to get.)

Derek, of course, missed nothing and couldn't help but smirk at their less than subtle flirting. And, when Emily glanced over at him, he waggled his brows, mouthed a lewd comment, making Emily blush as well...