We followed the crowd toward the far end of the green, where a canopy of warm white lights stretched over the ice rink like a glowing net. The music shifted into something soft and orchestral as skaters circled around, some graceful, some clinging to the sides for dear life or holding hands with their partners trying to stand up straight.
Oliver stopped just at the edge of the clearing.
“Oh,” he murmured.
His breath curled in the cold air as he looked out at the rink, eyes widening slightly. Under the lights, his expression softened again, not the polite, professional version of him…but something unguarded. I watched him without meaning to. And for a moment, I saw him the way the town must see us, two people standing close, snow in our hair, lights reflecting in our eyes.
The thought made my heart stutter.
“It’s beautiful,” he said finally.
“It is,” I replied, though I wasn’t entirely sure I was talking about the rink anymore.
He turned to me then, and the lights above us caught in his eyes, making them glimmer silvery blue. Warmth spread through my cheeks. I hoped he blamed it on the cold.
“Shall we?” I asked, gesturing toward the icy chaos ahead.
He looked at the skaters clinging to the railings and let out a low, resigned laugh. “If I fall, you’re responsible.”
“I’m used to catching falling pastries,” I teased. “Humans can’t be that different.”
He gave me a look, a soft, half-smile that tugged at something deep in my chest. Something new and slightly dangerous. I brushed it off as just the atmosphere that was making me feel this way.
“This’ll be entertaining,” I added quickly, trying to break the moment before it grew too heavy. “Come on. Before you lose your nerve.”
We stepped closer to the entrance of the rink, where a teenager handed out dull rental skates and offered a boring warning about slippery spots. Oliver hesitated only a second before giving in, tugging off his boots. I slipped into mine with practiced ease, years of winter festivals had trained me well, but when I stood up, my knees wobbled just slightly. Nerves. Unwanted and unexpected. He stood too, balancing less elegantly than I had expected for someone so composed. I bit my lip to hide a smile.
“You ready?” I asked.
He looked at me and something warm flickered behind his eyes, soft enough to make my breath catch.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he said, voice low with a hint of nervous humour.
My heart fluttered at the sound, a gentle, traitorous flip I wasn’t expecting. Heat crept into my cheeks, and I prayed the cold would hide it. I stepped out onto the ice first, trying to look confident even though my pulse was tapping a frantic rhythm.Behind me, Oliver followed slowly, cautiously, and I felt every inch of the space between us hum with something I didn’t want to name yet.
I swallowed, forcing myself to breathe, to focus on the ice, not the way my nerves danced just knowing he was right behind me.
Chapter Ten
If anyone had told me a week ago that I would be standing on an ice rink in the Scottish Highlands, holding onto my balance and my sanity purely because a small-town baker smiled at me, I would have asked what they were drinking. Yet here I was. Skates biting into the ice, cold wind stinging my nose, and my heart doing a strange, unsteady flutter in my chest every time Brianna glanced back at me.
She pushed off the ice gracefully, gliding forward with an ease that made her scarf trail behind her like a ribbon. Snowflakes glittered in her hair, catching the light in a way that made her look almost unreal, like something carved out of winter itself.
God. She looked beautiful.
I swallowed hard, trying not to let the thought linger too long. I hadn’t used that word for anyone in years. My life had never left room for romance. Not after university, not after the long nights at the firm, not after every December disappeared under paperwork and end-of-year filings.
Relationships had felt… irrelevant. Unnecessary. A distraction. Even Grandfather used to tease me for it.
“Oliver, my boy, if you bury yourself in work forever, you’ll wake up at sixty and only recognise your secretary.”
At the time, I’d laughed. Now… I wasn’t so sure. Especially now as I watched Brianna glide across the ice, her cheeks flushed pink, her breath fogging softly in the air. Everything about her seemed to tug at something inside me, something I’d kept dormant for years without even realising it.
She looked back over her shoulder, smiling at me. And there it was again. That flutter. Low, warm, unwelcome… and impossible to ignore. I stepped forward. Terrible idea and my legs wobbled immediately.
“Careful!” she called out with a laugh.
“I am being careful,” I muttered under my breath, trying desperately to keep my dignity intact.
