CHAPTER 9
Aurora
The Covent Garden Christmas Market is exactly as magical as I'd hoped it would be. Twinkling lights are strung between Victorian buildings, creating a canopy of stars above our heads. The scent of cinnamon and roasted chestnuts hangs in the crisp air, mingling with pine and spiced wine.
A choir somewhere in the distance sings “Silent Night,” their voices carrying over the hum of the crowd. Children dart between adults, their laughter bright and infectious, while snow falls in lazy spirals, dusting the cobblestones and making everything look like a scene from a Christmas card.
I spin slowly, trying to take it all in at once—the lights, the music, the sheer joy of it all. When I complete my turn, I find Cole watching me with his hands in his pockets and an expression that makes my heart do that stupid fluttery thing again.
“What?” I ask, suddenly self-conscious. I reach up to touch my hair, then my cheeks. “Do I have something on my face?”
“No.” His lips quirk up at one corner, and there's a hint of a smile in his voice. “You just look happy.”
A wide smile overtakes me, and I spin about once more in sheer delight. “Iamhappy.”
And I am.
Despite waking up alone this morning with nothing but a note. Despite the little voice in my head that niggled at me, telling me I should've been more hurt than I was. Despite knowing this is temporary. I'm genuinely, stupidly happy.
When I first saw him outside that Pret, my heart had nearly stopped. Part of me wanted to be angry about the way he left. But then he apologised with genuine regret in those green eyes, and I realised I didn't want to waste such a serendipitous meeting.
“Is that a bad thing?” I ask softly as I tilt my head to study him.
“No, no. Not at all.” He steps closer, and snowflakes catch on his dark lashes. His voice drops intimately despite the crowd around us. “It’s nice. Watching someone truly enjoy things instead of just going through the motions.”
“You could try it sometime, you know.” I poke his chest playfully, acutely aware of the solid warmth beneath my fingertip. “Enjoying things.”
“I’m working on it.” Something in his tone has my pulse skipping a beat. “You’re a very effective tutor.”
The way he says it, like I’m somehow responsible for this shift in him, for the softening around his edges, makes my stomach flip dangerously.
I like that I bring out a recklessness in him. That he cancelled meetings and took a risk on spending the afternoon with me, when it’s clearly so out of character.
I’m suddenly very aware of how close we’re standing. Of how his breath creates little clouds in the cold air that mingle with mine. Of how effortless it would be to close the distance and…
“Come on,” I blurt, needing to break the moment before I do something impulsive. “Let's explore before I combust from Christmas excitement.”
He laughs, a warm sound that seems to wrap around me, and I realise it's something I don't hear nearly enough. It’s a sound I could very easily become addicted to. The way it transforms his face and lights up his eyes.
When we pass a stall decorated with evergreen garlands and red ribbons, I stop and tug on Cole's sleeve.
“Mulled wine,” I announce with a gigantic, cheesy grin. “You promised.”
“That was before I could smell it,” Cole deadpans.
“No way. Not happening.” I'm already pulling him toward the stall. “You can't experience a proper Christmas market without mulled wine, Hotshot.”
“Watch me,” he says dryly.
“Where's your sense of adventure?”
“Back at the office with my sanity, clearly,” he mutters, but he's already reaching for his wallet, insistent upon paying despite my protests. When he passes me my cup, his hand lingers on mine for a beat too long to be accidental, his thumb brushing against my knuckles in a way that sends heat skating up my arm.
“See?” I take a sip, letting the spices spread through my chest. “Perfection.”
He takes a cautious sip, his gaze still on me over the rim of his cup. Those green eyes are doing things to my equilibrium that have nothing to do with the wine. “It's tolerable.”
“High praise from Ebenezer Scrooge,” I tease, pressing my lips together but unable to suppress my grin.
