“It’s fine. I understand you had to… “ I gestured towards the skates. “I just wanted to come down and see that you’re okay.”
“Better now that you’re here.” He leaned down, cupping my face in his gloved hands. His lips were cool against mine, the kiss gentle and sweet, so different to the raw hunger of last night.
When he pulled back, he studied my face. “Do you skate?”
I shook my head. “Not unless you count hanging onto the rail and inching around the rink at the Christmas carnival once when I was twelve. If I got out there now, I’d spend the whole time on my ass.”
“That’s easily fixed.”
Before I could ask what he meant, his hands moved to my waist, then lower, cupping my ass as he lifted me clean off the ground. I yelped in surprise, instinctively wrapping my arms around his neck.
“Legs around my waist,” he instructed, his voice a warm rumble against my ear. “And hold on tight.”
I did as he said, locking my ankles behind him, my thighs gripping his hips.
“What are you doing?” I laughed as he stepped backward onto the ice, still holding me securely.
“Skating with you,” he answered simply, beginning to glide backward with surprising steadiness despite my added weight.
The initial fear of falling melted away as Jack moved with confident strokes, carrying me across the ice as easily as if I weighed nothing. Wind rushed past my ears, cold and exhilarating, as we picked up speed. I let out a giggle, tightening my arms around Jack’s neck. His answering smile had my heart fluttering.
“So this is very clever of you, but I’ve got a challenge for you.”
“What’s that?”
“Can you kiss me and not fall over?”
“Now?”
“Right now.”
For answer, Jack slowed our momentum just slightly, his eyes locking with mine for one heart-stopping moment before his lips found mine. The kiss was gentle at first, then deeper, more insistent, all while he continued to glide effortlessly across the ice. I felt the cold air whipping around us, creating our own little bubble of warmth as his mouth moved against mine. His strong arms kept me pressed firmly against his chest, not missing a single skating stroke even as his tongue worked its magic.
When he finally pulled back, just enough for us to catch our breath, a small, satisfied smile played at the corners of his mouth.
His voice was low and husky when he murmured, “Challenge accepted. And I believe successfully completed.”
“Yeah, you win.”
Jack glided back toward the shore, his arms still wrapped securely around me as if I weighed nothing at all. The warmth of his body against the winter chill made me want to burrow closer, to steal more of his heat, and maybe steal a few more kisses too.
When we reached solid ground, he carefully set me down, steadying me as I found my balance on the snowy bank.
“Should we head back to the house?” he asked, his breath forming little clouds between us in the cold air. “You must be freezing.”
I glanced at the pristine winter wonderland surrounding us. The snow-dusted trees, the morning sun glinting on the ice, the absolute stillness that seemed to wrap around us like a blanket.
I tugged my scarf tighter. “Actually, I’m not quite ready to go back yet. Would you mind if we walked around the lake for a bit? It’s so beautiful out here.”
I didn’t add that I wasn’t ready to give up this time with him, this version of Jack that seemed softer around the edges, so much sweeter than the stern businessman I’d first met. The man who’d just kissed me senseless while skating backward deserved a few more minutes of my undivided attention.
It was maybean hour later that we returned to the house, hand in hand, with our cheeks flushed from the cold. As we approached the house, I spotted Nan sitting on the covered veranda in a rocking chair, a thick plaid blanket draped over her knees and a woollen scarf around her neck. Despite the cold, she seemed perfectly happy to watch some of Jack’s cousin’s kids building snow people in the yard.
The moment she saw us, she smiled. “There you two are! I was beginning to think you’d eloped to escape this circus.”
“If this were real, that’s exactly what I’d do,” Jack murmured, just loud enough for me to hear.
If this were real… Okay, let’s just ignore the weird flipping of the heart and give Nan a big smile.
