Natalie’s gaze snapped to his but the glint soon shifted into something he didn’t recognize, as though maybe the wheels were turning in her head. “Fine,” she said. “But, first, rules. You have to hold the tube in your hands until the count of three. At the bottom of the hill, the winner is the first person to stand up.”
She was being crafty. While he got a lot of momentum going down the hill, he wasn’t the most graceful person trying to get out of the tube once it stopped. On this front, she had the advantage, and this race was becoming more interesting. Although, if he wanted the kiss, he had to win.
“Ready?” she asked, putting her body in a runner’s position with her tube clutched to her side. With a grin, he put himself in a similar stance and nodded. He didn’t care if she ran marathons, she was going to lose this race.
“Okay, good luck. One, two—” She smacked his tube hard, sending it bouncing to the ground. “Three!” She sprinted off, jumping on her tube and flying down the hill. A wicked cackle followed in her wake.
“What the fu—” Mason barely had time to react as he scrambled for his tube and then made his own dash to the hill’s edge. Natalie got to the bottom of the hill first, pushing herself to stand. She was in the process of raising her arms in victory, when Mason realized he was on a trajectory straight for her. He was only able to get the word “Watch—” from his mouth before his tube knocked hers out of the way and crashed into the back of her legs, sending her flying into his lap. Instinctively, his arms wrapped around her, as she grabbed his jacket, her initial shocked gasp turning into peals of laughter as his tube glided to a slow stop.
“You bumped into me on purpose!”
“You cheated!”
She threw back her head with laughter, eyes sparkling, as she raised an arm to point toward herself. “Villain, remember? Don’t ever forget.”
“Oh, I won’t ever forget. I have a feeling that’s what makes it fun.”
Her giggles tapered off as she seemed to realize their position, how close they were to each other, the atmosphere growing heavy around them. Though they were stopped at this point, she didn’t make a move to scramble off his lap and his arms remained around her. Her teeth scraped along her bottom lip as one of her gloved fingers traced along his jawline.
“Do you grow a beard because it’s hard to shave here?” she asked, her finger touching the center of his chin.
“No.” He was finding it hard to breathe evenly. “I grow a beard because it’s an easy way to keep my face warm when it’s cold.”
“Oh.” She continued stroking a finger along his jaw.
The tension was getting to be too much, but Mason hadn’t won the race. He’d take whatever this consolation prize was. “I suppose that even though you’re a cheat, you’re still expecting me to deliver your winnings.”
“Yup,” she said, her focus dipping to his lips. “Too bad for you.”
It would have been too bad, except she pressed her lips to his, and torturous villain that she was, her kiss was sweet and tender. He let her lead, only too happy to follow her into this blissful activity. His arms tightened around her as she adjusted the angle, pushing the kiss deeper, a slow slide of their lips in lazy play as if Natalie had all the time in the world to kiss him. This ranked as the best kiss he’d ever had in his life, like experiencing the fiery burst of rock candy on his tongue, one that tasted of peppermint.
To his regret, she stopped, her brown velvet gaze slowly lifting to his. “Still feel like a sore loser?” she asked.
“No,” because this was the only thing his brain could manage to say. Her kiss had stolen every clever and non-clever remark from him, leaving nothing but the sensation of her behind.
“Good,” she replied, brushing another soft kiss on his lips, before pulling herself from his lap.
Mason simply lay in the tube for a moment, trying to recover from the absolute shattering of his world.
“I better get going. It’s getting late,” Natalie said after a minute.
His moment of elation broke in sobering reality. “I have to say that was the best way to end a snow-tubing race.”
She smiled but looked away as though she’d grown shy. He found it adorable.
They each grabbed their snow tube and walked in silence to the barn where they both were lost in their own thoughts. They stopped by the barn to drop off their tubes, and for Natalie to grab her bag. Mason escorted her to her vehicle.
She turned to him while removing her keys, her eyes glancing at him from beneath her eyelashes as though her impulsiveness to kiss him had fully settled into her mind and she wasn’t sure how to treat him anymore. “Goodnight,” was all she said.
He didn’t have the same problem. Mason stepped nearer, one hand sliding along her waist while the other went to her chin, tilting it to a more pleasing angle. His hand and mind were in complete synchronization with each other. He took a moment to breathe in her space before pressing a kiss on her lips, giving it to her as tenderly as she had given it to him, his mouth moving over hers leisurely as though she was something to appreciate and revel in.
He wanted to torture her a bit, same as she had done. But he could feel himself getting caught in his own trap as his cravings for her became stronger. He stepped away in time, his hand coasting from her nape down the side of her body.
“Goodnight,” he said.
Those deep brown eyes were glassy with a hint of bewilderment, and she fumbled to get into her car before driving away without a further glance.
On his side, Mason was in a dream. After he was alone in the parking field, he considered allowing his body to flop into the snow, resulting in snowflakes bursting around him in a puff of magical swirls in the shape of hearts. Instead, he approached his own vehicle, pulling out his phone in the process.
