Page 73 of The Christmas Highland Lodge

A jab of something took me by surprise. ‘Oh. Right. Of course.’ I was struggling to look nonplussed. ‘She’s very pretty.’

‘I suppose so. She’s texted me a couple of times, but I’m not interested.’

I huddled further into my coat as the spray of stars winked and blinked above our heads. A frisson of happiness crackled inside me, and it took me by surprise. I tried to ignore the relief coursing through me. ‘I see. Can I ask why?’

Blake’s pace slowed. I could see the white spirally tendrils of his breath in the dark. ‘She’s not my type.’

We both drew up together at the same time. Don’t ask who his type is, screamed an invisible voice in my head. Play it safe. You don’t need awkwardness or distractions right now.

I wanted to continue the conversation so much; the words felt as though they were burning the tip of my tongue.

‘Well, this is me,’ I exclaimed, pointing to the communal flat door with its entry system.

I reset my thoughts and tugged at my gloves. Pictures of Ben Linn, packed with treacherous ice and mottled with freezing winds, rampaged through my head. Blake had only been living here for a short while. He hadn’t grown up in the shadow of that striking but dangerous mountain. I had.

‘Blake, you’re going to roll your eyes again at me, but I’m going to say it anyway. I’m concerned about you doing that climb tomorrow. Why don’t you postpone it? Just for a day or two until some of this snow melts?’

Blake read my face. ‘Please will you stop worrying, Lottie.’

I chewed my lip.

‘Look, tell you what, if the weather gets any worse tonight, I promise I will cancel it.’

‘Promise?’

He twinkled down at me. ‘Scout’s honour.’

I angled my head at him. ‘You weren’t in the Scouts, were you?’

Blake pretended to be offended by my accusation for a few seconds. ‘Yes. All right. You rumbled me. I got thrown out for being a disruptive influence.’

‘Now, that doesn’t surprise me.’

We both lingered for a few more moments, our breath mingling together into smoky white spirals.

Blake’s attention travelled to my lips. My breath felt like it was trapped at the base of my throat. Then he reached up to his woolly hat and clamped it further down over his ears. He made no move to go. ‘You sleep well. No doubt I’ll catch up with you tomorrow up at Rowan Moore House, once that hike is done.’

‘What time are you setting off?’

‘Seven o’clock tomorrow morning,’ he replied. ‘The sun disappears much quicker at this time of year up there and the light fades faster.’

There was a prolonged silence again, where we just stared, studying the details of each other’s faces. My imagination took off again, wondering what his lips tasted of; how they would feel, grazing against mine; what his skin would feel like. I tried to throw those images to the back of my mind. Oh, for goodness’ sake! It wasn’t working.

‘Thank you again for all your help today, Lottie. You were amazing.’

My cheeks shone and not just with the biting effects of the cold. ‘You’re going to give me a big head.’

‘What, even bigger than normal?’

I playfully smacked him on the arm and we exchanged silly, lopsided smiles at one another. Was he going to kiss me? No! No! You don’t want that to happen. Don’t I? No. Too many complications.

I fished my flat key from my bag and jabbed in the entry code. ‘Well, I guess you’d better head home before you freeze on the spot.’

Blake nodded and jerked up the collar of his long coat. ‘Thank you for your help today.’

‘My pleasure.’

I typed in the code and the main door whooshed open. I stepped inside and turned. Blake held up one hand.