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Liam shakes his head. “You need to have more fun in your life, Cerys. You can still be a mum and throw snowballs at hot rock stars.”
“Oh? Is Dylan here?” I make a pretence of looking around for him.
“For that comment...” The snowball narrowly misses my head as I duck.
“Bad shot.”
“As I said before, if I wanted to get you, I would.”
Another ball of snow hits Liam and I’m secretly impressed by Ella’s accuracy but also worried she’s pushing him too far.
Liam turns and holds his hands up in surrender. “You win. But be nice or I won’t help you finish the snowman.”
“Okay,” says Ella and drops the snow from her hand.
Liam gathers another handful and begins making the snowman’s head. “Come on. Let’s show your mum how much better I am at building snowmen than she is.”
“I like you,” says Ella as she watches Liam place the head on the snowman’s body.
“Why, thank you, little lady,” he says in a false American drawl.
Ella suddenly hugs Liam around the leg and he looks down in surprise before glancing at me. Now he’s out of his depth.
“Ella, let Liam go so he can find a carrot for Olaf’s nose.”
“I’ll go! I want to choose!” Ella releases Liam and heads to the house.
Crap, here comes another of those silences that Liam insists on filling with uncomfortable talk.
“Sorry about yesterday,” says Liam. “I was stressed. I forget who I am sometimes.”
“Don’t stress. I understand you don’t want to be seen with me.”
“Not true. I just don’t want you getting hassle.” He wipes the loose snow from my hair. “Sounds weird but being with you feels natural somehow. I like having you around.”
“I’m from your past and you’re in your past right now, that’s why,” I reply.
“There’re lots of people around from my past, but I don’t obsess about kissing them all.”
“Liam, don’t.”
“Just being honest, Cerys.”
Omigod, don’t kiss me again even though at this moment his mouth on mine is the only thing I can hold in my thoughts.
Luckily, Ella returns with a carrot. The snowman is a metre and a half high so I lift her up to push the carrot into the snow. She and Liam set about searching for sticks and stones to finish decorating the snowman while I fight down the affection I have for Liam. He not only heats my blood, but his behaviour around Ella melts my heart.
Liam lifts Ella so she can place two stones as eyes and she grabs his black beanie. “Olaf needs a hat!”
“Ella, no!” I say.
“I agree. He needs a hat.” Liam places his beanie on the snowman’s head and releases Ella.
He grins down at her, his hair mussed from the hat, and I want to scream at him ‘don’t do this to us; don’t make me care about you by playing with us’. But I don’t think he’s doing any of this on purpose—he doesn’t realise Ella is growing attached to him as quickly as I am.
“Will you come to my birthday party?” Ella asks him.
Liam rubs the back of his neck. “Umm. I don’t know. When?”
