Page 44 of The Christmas Tree Farm

‘What?’

‘I’ve been swamped with work. I haven’t had time to drive up to the farm for dog walks.’

It irked her that he knew that was why she was acting so grouchy with him. How dare he be so astute.

‘Why would I care about that? I’ve been busy, too.’ She sniffed.

‘Kira.’ He held out his hand to her and she tried her damnedest to ignore it. ‘Kira, let me help you.’

‘I’m perfectly happy watching.’

‘You’d rather stand there, wobbling on those skates and freezing your butt off than let me help you?’

He had a point. Shewasfreezing, and flailing around for her life as she made her way around the rink would probably work up a sweat. Iris and Jeanie waved to her from across the rink, beckoning her to join them.

Iris thought she was cool for leaving her life behind and starting the farm. She couldn’t let her new friend, heronlyfriend, down.

Ugh.

She took Bennett’s hand. It was comforting and warm and her fingers immediately started to defrost.

‘Okay, we’re just going to take it slow,’ he said, soothingly, like he was talking to a spooked horse, which may have been how Kira looked as she stepped through the opening in the wall and onto the ice.

One skate, two skates. There. She was on. She kept her death grip on Bennett’s hand and he smiled at her.

‘Now we have to move.’

Kira frowned. ‘Are you sure? I kinda feel like this is good enough for my first time.’

‘Kira…’ he coaxed. ‘Come on. One foot in front of the other.’

She glared at him, but slowly slid one skate forward. Unfortunately, the other one did not follow and she nearly did a full split before Bennett hauled her back upright.

She clung to the front of his sweater.

‘I got you.’

‘No. Nope. I almost fell.’

‘But you didn’t.’

‘But I almost did.’

He had an arm wrapped around her back now, holding her steady as a rush of child skaters moved past them, his strong body protecting her from tiny people with hockey helmets and no concept of personal space.

‘I got you,’ he said again but this time his lips brushed the sensitive shell of her ear. A shiver ran the entire length of her body. She pulled away just enough to see his eyes darken and his perfect lips tip up in the corner. Uh-oh. Skating was even more dangerous than she thought.

‘Let’s try again,’ he said, taking her hand in his. ‘Push with one foot and then glide. Push and glide.’

‘Push and glide. Right. Piece of cake.’ Staring at her skates was a good excuse not to look at Bennett’s lips, so that was what she did. Push and glide. Push and glide. There. She was doing it. Well, sort of. Her pushes were very small and her glides were pretty choppy and they were making incredibly slow progress around the rink, but she was upright.

She forgot to keep her eyes on her feet and glanced at Bennett. Damn it, this man was just made for outdoor excursions. He looked rosy and healthy and the stars twinkling behind his head just added to the whole dizzying effect of him.

‘Ta-da,’ she whispered and his smile grew.

‘Very good.’ He dipped his head closer to hers so she could hear him over the music. ‘You continue to impress me, Kira.’

Her sarcastic response died on her tongue as he ran his thumb over the soft skin of her wrist beneath her coat. Suddenly she was very aware of her hand in his, of his long fingers woven through hers. If she had any confidence in her ability not to get grievously injured, she would have let go. But instead, she had no choice but to let Bennett’s body and words warm her.