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My eyes snap open, my snow-filled hands come together either side of his face, my grin is triumphant. ‘Gotcha!’
‘You minx!’
I laugh, wild and free, and he shakes the snow off, showering me with it, his eyes returning to mine, blazing and full of teasing. But then he stills. The world stills. Our breaths come in short, heavy pants. Puffs of steam fill the narrow gap between us. He’s so close. Only inches away.
I swallow, unable to fill my lungs, and even Rufus scoots back onto his haunches with an intrigued whine.
‘Summer...?’
It’s a groan, a growl, a plea, and then his hands are in my hair, displacing my beanie as he kisses me. And, heaven help me, I’m drowning. Drowning in a sea of sensation. So much cold beneath me, so much heat above, and my hands are in his hair, tugging him closer, anchoring my body higher, pressing against him.
I’m scared that he’ll suddenly evaporate...stop kissing me...that this isn’t real...it’s a daydream...a very real-feeling daydream.
And what about when he wakes up and regrets it? Shuts you out again?
I shove against his chest, break the kiss. ‘I can’t do this. Not again. You shutting me out—it hurts too much.’
‘I’m so sorry, Summer. I never wanted to hurt you.’ He cups my face, sweeps his gloved thumbs across my cheeks, his eyes mesmerising in their intensity, their sincerity. ‘I just didn’t know how to behave...how to move forward...’
‘Do you ever think you overthink everything?’
He laughs deep in his throat and it resonates through me, warming and thrilling in one.
‘Do you ever think you don’t think enough?’
‘Hey!’ I try to shove myself out of his grasp, but he has me held fast. ‘You want more snow flying at you? Because I’m ready to go round two.’
‘There’s only one kind of round two I’m interested in, and it has nothing to with the bed of snow beneath us and everything to do with the warm variety indoors.’
My breath hitches. ‘Are you serious?’
‘I’ve never been more so.’
Panic, excitement, want... It all flutters up, choking at my throat. Can I trust him? I trusted him not to run two weeks ago and look what happened.
‘I mean it, Summer. I’ve been an arse of the highest order. I don’t know how long I’ll have you back in my life—a week, a month, a year—but I’ve been so focused on you leaving, on this ending, that I’ve lost sight of what we can have right now.’
A smile builds with the relief inside me. ‘What kind of idiot focuses on the end without enjoying the story first, Edward?’
His eyes glitter...his chuckle deepens. ‘What kind, indeed?’
And then he’s kissing me, and I’m kissing him, and our bodies are rising up, moving as one.
‘Although I think we owe someone a walk,’ I murmur against his lips, and Rufus barks his approval.
Edward presses his forehead to mine, slips his hands around mine. ‘Okay. Walk and then...?’
‘Walk and then...’ I give him a flirtatious wink in confirmation and tug him towards the trail. ‘I can fill you in on the plans for the ball while we walk, if you’re finally ready to listen, that is...?’
He squeezes my fingers. ‘I’m all ears.’
‘Well, for starters I’ll have you know I have the budget in control.’
He grimaces. ‘I know. I trust you. I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘No, you shouldn’t have.’ And then I let my excitement for the event take over... ‘I’m so excited about it, Edward. I’ve been using Katherine’s old plans as a basis; I want it to pay true homage to her and all that she did. The ice sculptures are an added feature, but the weather is so perfect—and can you imagine the faces of the children as they come up the drive to see horses leaping, princesses dancing, glittering in the moonlight? And the fairy lights I have planned... It’s going to be so magical and...’
He’s looking at me strangely and my cheeks start to burn. ‘What?’
