Page 31 of A Winter Wedding Adventure (Adventure Weddings #2)

Mattia – a light sheen of sweat on his forehead and his coat discarded to reveal those wide, bony shoulders – placed the axe blade carefully onto the piece of wood on the chopping block, matching a crack in the grain. Standing back, a firm nod was all the encouragement she gave him.

His words were on repeat in her mind: It’s just me . He accepted her, trusted her, liked her. But that statement was more dangerous to her state of mind than anything any other man had ever said to her. Mattia Bentivoglio wasn’t just anything.

Taking a deep breath, he raised the axe over his head and let it fall back down as she’d shown him, the weight lodging the blade into the wood. He tried to haul it out again, but it was stuck.

‘Oh,’ he said with a disappointed flick of his eyebrows.

‘That’s fine. Just lift the whole piece and drop it down again.’

With a grunt of effort, he hauled up the axe – and the wood with it – and slammed it back down, rending the wood with a creak and a clang. He jumped in surprise and dropped the axe, the handle landing on his foot.

‘Cazzo!’

‘There, you did it,’ Kira said placidly.

Lifting his gaze to hers, his eyes bright with disbelief, he said, ‘But that was—’ Taking in the wood, neatly split into two pieces along the crack, he cleared his throat and tried again. ‘I did it.’

Picking up one of the pieces and setting it onto the block, she fetched the axe for him and pressed it into his soft hands. ‘It needs one more split.’

The way he stared at her as he nodded seemed to open up a world she’d refused to acknowledge.

She nudged his waist. ‘Stand a little farther back and keep your arms straight.’ Her hand seemed involuntarily drawn down his arm to his wrist and she was glad he was the one holding the axe, because her knees were unsteady.

It’s just you . When he nodded again, his hair fell over his forehead, tempting her fingers, but she forced herself to step back. He wanted to learn to chop wood. He certainly didn’t need her to teach him anything about kissing. He was very good at that already.

Concentrating with his bottom lip between his teeth, he regarded the wood earnestly as Kira studied him, quietly falling apart.

Setting the blade onto the wood, he set up another swing and brought the blade down.

He flinched again, powerfully, but the wood split obediently into two.

The sound must have been ringing in his ears.

He looked up with a grin, the sun winking off the hoop in his ear and highlighting his angular features, and Kira tumbled, sprawling through her mess of feelings.

It’s you. While part of her wallowed in the burn of recognition, the sensible part panicked, warned her not to get caught up in this whirlwind. She was stressed, that’s all. Not in love. That would be ridiculous.

He seemed thankfully oblivious to the tectonics inside her. Lifting a fist, he tensed the muscles in his arm with a pout. ‘There! I can keep everyone warm! My first survival skill.’

She chuckled. ‘You can keep everyone warm for about an hour. Well done.’ Taking his hand, she rubbed her thumb over his palm, enjoying the way his smile dimmed and that brightness lit his gaze again at the touch. ‘But don’t give yourself blisters.’

Before she could take her hand away, he slipped his fingers between hers and her stomach swooped.

‘Are you suggesting I have soft hands?’

Very soft . She untangled her fingers while she still could. ‘I don’t think I’m supposed to be letting the wedding guests do this,’ she said over her shoulder as she went to fetch another chunk of wood.

But before she could get there, a gentle blow to her shoulder stopped her in her tracks and a shock of cold seeped down her neck. She whirled around, her mouth falling open in surprise.

‘Did you just?—?’

His studied, innocent look wasn’t convincing in the slightest.

She inclined her head. ‘Seriously? How old are you?’

Up went his shoulders, hands out in a picture of blamelessness. ‘I never got to throw snowballs as a child. You’re my first target.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry for your deprived childhood,’ Kira said, feigning thoughtfulness while she snaked a hand behind her to scrape some snow off the tarpaulin protecting the wood. ‘In that case, allow me to?—’

She hurled the snowball at him, catching him square in the chest. He jumped in shock, swiping at the patch of snow left stuck in his pullover.

‘—be the first one to ever hit you with a snowball,’ Kira finished with a grin.

‘You have an unfair advantage!’ he called out as he crouched, scooping up more snow. He flung it at her before he’d packed it down properly and it showered over her rather than hitting.

‘You’ll have to learn under pressure,’ she quipped, her snowball glancing off his shoulder as he moved.

He did learn – quickly. After several minutes of flinging snow at each other and squealing – although Mattia’s baritone squeal was much more appealing than her own choked, laughing one – she had snow in her hair and down her back and her collar was damp and cold.

Mattia had fared worse, without his coat on.

‘You know if you caught a cold and damaged your precious vocal chords because of this, I’d probably lose my job.’

He rolled his eyes and took a step closer. ‘That’s not how viruses work and besides, I started it.’ His pointed look made her wonder if they were still talking about the snowball fight.

‘I’m glad we didn’t harm your expensive coat, though. I know it’s much warmer than yesterday, but don’t you think we should go ins?—’

‘You’re surrendering?’

How had he suddenly got so close?

‘A-a truce. Snowball fights don’t end in surrender.’

‘Are you sure?’

Her heart thumped against her ribs. ‘I am the more experienced one here.’

Leaning close, his lips were a breath from her ear when he whispered, ‘But I’m the one holding a snowball.’

She only had a moment to brace herself before he brought it down right on top of her head.

With a shriek, she prioritised shoving him over clearing the freezing snow from her hair, but he caught her, laughing, and then helped her, his fingers gentle on her head and then the organ failure seemed to be spreading to her lungs, because her breath would only come fitfully.

Staring at his mouth, she knew exactly what could cure this illness.

His small smile when he caught her looking suggested he wouldn’t mind administering the treatment.

Being snowed in at the chalet was so much better than being at the wedding.

She hoped it would be another few days before they could go back down again.

She’d just snaked a hand around the back of his neck when the door swung open with a creak and Mattia jumped.

‘Are you both all right? We heard a shout!’ Alessandra’s voice sounded, along with the rustling and shuffling off footsteps.

Kira just had time to wrench away from him before the bride and seemingly every other member of the wedding party arrived around the back of the building. ‘What are you two doing?’