“Understood. I live in the same town as my parents and I still revert back to a thirteen-year-old girl when I’m at their place.”
He would have liked to have known her as that young girl, a reaction that unnerved him.
“Maybe you should give your dad a chance,” Holly said after a moment. “From an outsider’s perspective, it seemed clear this afternoon that he wants to mend the distance between you. He’s making an effort, anyway. Would it hurt to meet him halfway, even if only for the sake of your stepmother and for Kim and Audrey?”
“I’ll think about it,” he said after a moment.
She nodded, giving him such a radiant smile that he finally gave up fighting the urge. While lights twinkled around them and snow gently brushed their skin, he leaned down and brushed his mouth against hers.
HOLLY CAUGHT HERbreath as his mouth, cool and delicious, covered hers.
It wasn’t a truly passionate kiss or even a long one. They were in a public park, after all, surrounded by others, though there was no one else in this particular corner of the park right now.
While their contact only lasted a few seconds, it was intense enough to stir up a vast ache of yearning.
She wanted to truly kiss him. To throw herself against that long, powerful body and let his muscled arms keep her warm all night long.
She blinked back to awareness.
“What was that all about?” she said, embarrassed at the slight wobble in her voice.
Ryan sent her a look she couldn’t interpret.
“Why don’t we call it practice for our big date?”
If that was practice, she wasn’t sure she could withstand the real thing.
“I am really sorry to drag you into this whole fake-dating nightmare.”
“I’m not. You’ve given me something to look forward to while I’m in town.”
“You can’t really be looking forward to going to a wedding.”
“You know, a week ago I might have agreed with you but now I think it might be fun. I meant to try on one of my dad’s suit jackets while I was over there tonight and I totally forgot.”
They both continued walking and when they reached the parking lot they found Audrey taking selfies with her friends and Lydia under the archway.
Lydia skipped over to them as soon as she spotted Holly. “Guess what, Mommy? We saw a light-up snowman and a light-up Santa.”
“That’s fun.”
“Audrey said we should go on sleds. I want to.”
“That would be super fun, too.”
“Tonight?”
“It’s almost your bedtime, honey. We need to go home.”
“I didn’t mean we would go sledding tonight,” Audrey told her. “But we’ll take you, I promise.”
“Okay,” Lydia said, then gave a huge yawn.
“Let’s get you to your car,” Ryan said, scooping her up in his arms and earning a tired-sounding giggle.
When Holly opened the back door, he set Lydia in her booster and helped her with the seat belt.
“Good night,” he told her.
