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“Don’t look so shocked. I used to do a lot of things before I became a busy executive. When I was young, my mother would take me to a local ice rink. And when I got older, I would go skate with a friend on their pond.” When he saw Alina staring at him with surprise in her eyes, he said, “You surely didn’t think I was born in a three-piece suit, did you?”
“No. It’s just that you’re all about business 24/7. It’s surprising seeing you in a different light.”
With her hand still in his, he said, “Let’s go rent skates.” When he turned to start walking, she didn’t follow. He turned back to her. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t skate.” When a smile lifted his lips, she said, “It’s not funny.”
“I’m not laughing. It’s my turn to be surprised. Who’d have thought there’s something you don’t know how to do.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you, my darling, are a jack-of-all-trades.” It wasn’t until he finished speaking that he realized he’d called her “my darling.” Where in the world had that come from?
“When you lose a parent, you learn to help out. When you lose the other parent, you learn really fast how to provide for yourself—even if it means slinging a toolbox.”
He gave her hand squeeze. “I’m sorry you lost both of your parents.”
“I am, too.” Her voice was so soft it was more like a whisper that floated away in the breeze.
As they stood in line to get skates, Graham said, “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you to skate.”
“You might regret making the offer. I can just see me falling face-first and taking you down with me.”
“It won’t happen.”
She arched a fine brow. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’ll be there to make sure it doesn’t.”
Once they had their skates laced up, Graham helped Alina out onto the ice. This time she was the one reaching for his hand. She wrapped her fingers around his and squeezed like a steel vice. His fingertips started to lose sensation.
“Relax,” he said.
“I can’t.”
“Listen to the music. It’s a Christmas song. And we all know how you love the holiday classics. Maybe you could sing it.”
She frowned. “What does a song have to do with me skating?”
“Because if you don’t relax a little, my hand is going to lose all blood flow.”
Her mouth formed an O as she eased up her hold. “Sorry.”
He stretched his fingers. “All I’m saying is that you can’t skate when your muscles are tense. I promise this isn’t that hard.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You keep saying this is easy, but I still haven’t seen you skate.”
“Is that a challenge?”
She eagerly nodded. “It is.”
“Are you fine staying there against the wall?”
She nodded again.
“I’ll be right back.” He took off around the rink. Luckily it wasn’t too crowded.
