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“Alice. Alice. Alice,” Maggie said, her voice filled with excitement.
“Take a breath. Give her a second to sit. And it’s Miss Alice.”
“She’s fine,” I said as I sat next to her. “She’s just excited to see me.” Which never failed to make me feel good.
“Do ya think I’ll be able to skate?” Maggie asked, looking from me to Sam.
“Mmm. I don’t know. I think they have those things that you hold on to that help you stay upright.” I pulled up the pictures of the outdoor rink and showed her the blue whales that other kids were holding on to.
“Cool,” she said simply.
“Are you nervous?” I asked her gently.
Her eyes went round before she shook her head slowly. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
She was so excited for our day together she was practically bouncing on the stool. I smiled despite my nerves and exchanged a knowing look with Sam.
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you.” Sam cut a pancake into pieces and poured syrup over them before giving it to Maggie.
Every time he reassured his daughter he’d be there for her, it never failed to hit me straight in the sternum. “Have you been?” I asked him, curious to know more about him and to stop comparing him to my father.
“Growing up here, you learn to ice-skate early. At least with two brothers you do.”
“At least one of us knows what they’re doing,” I said as Sam slid me an empty plate.
“I’ll keep you ladies on your feet,” Sam said with a wink.
Where had the quiet, gruff contractor gone? In his place was this sweet single dad who could flirt. For the umpteenth time, I wondered if this outing was a good idea. I was already teetering on the edge of attraction. One misstep and I’d go tumbling over.
I busied myself placing blueberry pancakes on my plate and digging in. I’d need my energy and wits about me to deal with Sam.
I could only hope his focus would be on Maggie and helping her. Maybe I could hang out on the bench and watch them interact. I’d enjoy that too, even if my heart longed to do something fun. When was the last time I’d done anything like that?
Sam insisted that we ride together despite my protests. I wanted an escape plan if I made a fool of myself or did something stupid, like admit how much I liked him.
I attempted to reason with myself. We were going ice-skating with a bunch of families. Surely, I could control myself. Sam parked in the lot, paid for us, and we requested skates in our size. Sam helped Maggie while I pulled on the heavy skates and tied them.
My heart practically stopped when Sam knelt in front of me to retie my laces. “You want them to be tight. No give in the ankles.”
“Really?” I asked as I wondered if any blood was getting to my toes.
“Trust me.” His gaze met mine and held.
As always, that connection sizzled between us with a promise of something far hotter than the crisp air.
I stood abruptly, needing to get away from him, and almost toppled over. Sam quickly stood to steady me with a hand on my elbow. He stood tall and strong in front of me, and I wanted to lean into him and breathe in his masculine scent. Instead, I gestured to the kids, who were expertly walking toward the gap in the fence and gliding onto the ice. “Those kids make it look so easy.”
“By the end of the morning, you will too.” His voice was low and comforting.
My cheeks heated as I looked up at him with his hand still wrapped around my elbow, wishing we were here by ourselves and his focus was one hundred percent on me.
“Can we go?” Maggie asked as she stood without a wobble and hobbled away from us.
“I’ve got her,” I said as I attempted to follow her.
Sam sat on the bench. “Wait. I need to get my skates on.”
“Can we go now?” Maggie whined while Sam laced up.
