“Need a hand?” he asked, already reaching for the oversized snowball.
“Hey! You can’t help them!” Emma called from across the yard. “They’re the enemy!”
Liam smirked but didn’t stop. “Let’s call it community service.”
“Careful, watch your pants!” Kit called out.
Cassidy stepped back to give him room. Their eyes met for a beat longer than it needed to be. Her heart thudded. There was mischief in his eyes, and a steady confidence that made her stomach tighten and her breath catch.
Liam bent to lift the snowball, the muscles in his arms and shoulders flexing beneath his coat as he hoisted it up with a low grunt that sent a shiver racing through her.
“Here, this way.” Cassidy stepped in to steady it and guide it onto the base.
It landed with a satisfyingthud.
Madison whooped, Zoe let out a cheer, and Kit threw her hands in the air with a “Praise Jesus!”
Cassidy’s pulse was still pounding as Liam leaned in, close enough for her to feel the heat radiating off him, his voice dropping to a teasing rumble meant for her alone. “Think I can get that scarf back now?”
Her breath hitched, her gaze dropping briefly to his lips before darting back up to meet his eyes. “Not a chance.”
His mouth curved into a wicked smile, the kind that made her thighs clench. “That’s too bad. I had plans for it.”
The way he said it left no doubt in her mind that those plans had nothing to do with building snowmen. Heat pulsed low in her belly, and for a split second, she nearly offered it to him just to find out what those plans were.
Twenty-three days until the New Year, she reminded herself, clutching the scarf tighter, even as her mind raced with images she absolutely shouldn’t be having in the middle of a snowman competition.
Cassidy watched him walk away, broad shoulders moving under that flannel-lined coat, snowflakes clinging to his dark hair. She bit her bottom lip, forcing herself to look away.
But it was useless.
Because all she could think about was what it would feel like if he pressed her against the snow-covered fence, those strong hands on her waist, that wicked smile against her mouth.
Twenty-three days.
“Okay, let’s finish this snowman before I do something stupid,” she muttered under her breath.
“Like what?” Kit asked, raising a brow.
“Like tackle him in the snow and make out behind the pine trees,” Cassidy replied honestly.
Kit smirked. “That could be pretty amusing…”
“And probably not fit for a child’s eyes,” Zoe added, motioning to Emma, who was working on the next snowball just out of earshot.
Cassidy sighed. “You’re right.”
She glanced over and caught Liam’s eyes—eyes that said he wanted to kiss her as badly as she wanted to kiss him.
The heat from the barn, from yesterday’s kiss, came flooding back to her. She didn’t have much experience when it came to men. There was really only Jean-Paul. But she knew, knew it one thousand percent, that Liam would be a good lover. The way his hands had moved across her body. The way he’d pressed her up against that wooden beam in the barn.
The man knew exactly what he was doing.
And heaven help her, because she wanted to let him doeverything.
The snowman competition wrapped up as the evening sun cast a soft pink glow over Maple Falls. Children were still darting around the yard, tugging at parents’ hands to show off carrot noses and crooked stick arms, while Mrs. C. snapped photos for the town Facebook page.
In the end, Liam and Emma’s towering snowman, complete with a superhero cape and a lopsided crown, took first place—though Cassidy’s glittery, jazz-hands snowman won “Most Festive” and earned a stack of candy canes.
