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He gave me a last lingering kiss. “We’ll catch up later. Can you do lunch after the show tomorrow?”
“Absolutely.”
“Great. See you soon.”
I strolled back to where Lindsay, Janet, and Isla waited for me. Now I just had to prove how not stressed I was.
Chapter Fourteen
Acouple of hours later I met Tanner at Bainbridge’s dressed in jeans, a casual long-sleeved top, and my raspberry coat which really should have been thicker. I toyed with the idea of shopping for a nice, black coat with a warm lining and thereby becoming more of a New Yorker, but as soon as I wandered toward the store’s collection of outerwear, Faye and Tanner waved me over.
“Hi!” I said as we met halfway between coats and shoes.
“Hi!” Faye replied, beaming at me. “Tanner tells me you two are going ice skating this afternoon.” Her eyes twinkled, and I wondered if there was something more behind her amusement than just good-natured happiness for a friend’s developing love story.
“We are,” Tanner confirmed with a smile. He moved next to me and put his arm around my shoulders.
“How romantic.” Faye clapped her hands. “I hope you both have a wonderful time. Remember to lean on each other.” Her smile was full of mischief. I frowned. Was there some innuendo in there I missed? I shrugged it off.
“We will,” Tanner said, taking her words at face value. “See you later, Faye.”
“Have fun!” She waved again as she headed back to work.
“Shall we?” I asked Tanner with a smile.
“We certainly shall.”
After a subway ride and a short walk later, we were in line to rent ice skates at Rockefeller Center. Tanner still didn’t have his wallet on him, of course, so I paid, my chest bursting with joy to be in this iconic setting for such a classic Christmastime activity.
The enormous dazzling Christmas tree towered above us like a monolith. Its brilliant colored lights blazed with a magical glow. My heart surged with exhilaration, and I breathed deeply as I tried to take it all in. I’d seen this very square dozens of times in movies and television shows, and here I was, actually in it. I was part of the magical Christmas scene myself, arm in arm with a dreamy man whose attention was all on me.
Skaters and tourists stared as Tanner and I put on our skates and took the ice. Tanner had such a following it seemed like every single person we passed would stop and ogle us for a second or two. I wondered if anyone truly got used to all of the attention being a very attractive model brought. I didn’t think I ever would. It was very distracting just being with someone of Tanner’s fame.
“Shall we?” He echoed my words and held his hand out to me. I took it, giggling. He smiled, and together we skated the perimeter of the frozen surface, the cold breeze whipping my hair as we sank into a perfectly matched rhythm.
“Hey! We’re really good at this!” I said, childish delight rising up within me.
He grinned and squeezed my hand. “Well, I could have told you that. We’re wonderful together.”
A father and daughter skating together suddenly stopped on the ice to watch us skate by.
“Is he—” the girl started.
The father shook his head in warning, but I didn’t catch any more of their exchange as we skated out of range. I couldn’t believe that a little girl of what appeared to be ten or so would be such a Tanner fan already.
Tanner chose that moment to smile down at me, his dimples dimpling adorably, and I totally got it. I would’ve been mesmerized by him at any age.
I hadn’t been skating in years, but as Tanner and I made a few revolutions around the perimeter, I felt it all coming back to me. My leg muscles stretched pleasurably, and the almost supernatural rhythm Tanner and I had going was just plain fun.
“Should we give them a show?” he asked, his eyes glinting with amusement.
I had no idea what he had in mind, but a balloon of joy rose in me. “Yes, definitely!”
He led us into the center of the rink and spun around fast, flinging me out and back into him in a wagon-wheel circle.
Other skaters stopped to watch, and a crowd formed a ring around us. Tanner’s eyes sparkled with the attention, and he got more daring as he pulled me in close and we spun around together at a dizzying speed like an Olympic skating pair. When we stopped and threw our arms into the air with broad smiles of triumph, the crowd clapped and hooted.
“Well, I don’t think we’ll be topping that. Should we go?” he asked breathlessly.
