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‘No! It’s Binks!’
‘Sorry, mate.’
Zach tossed a sympathetic glance at Binks who was sitting with his head on one side, contemplating his likeness like a seasoned art critic. The look he gave his master made Millie giggle. She had to acknowledge that she had a lot to learn when it came to ice sculpture.
‘Come on then, let’s see yours!’
She had taken only a few steps towards the lodge when a snowball flew through the air and landed with a splat on the top of her head, sending a cascade of snow down the collar of her coat.
‘Hey!’
She turned to look at Zach, her eyes wide with surprise. Not being a fan of the snow, she had studiously avoided any encounter with the white stuff throughout her childhood. Therefore, she had never engaged in a snowball fight, and still cringed when she saw the game played out between Lola and Odette from the warmth – and safety – of the conservatory at her sister’s home in Hampshire.
However, as she watched Zach reach down again to gather more ammunition, giving her a very pleasant view of his toned buttocks, a surge of determination blasted through her veins. Zach had encouraged her to discard her comfort blanket whilst they were in St Lucia, and she’d had the most fun of her life by flying through the treetops on a zip wire. This time the challenge was different – and, of course, much colder – but no less exhilarating. She crouched down to gather a snowball of her own and ran towards Zach, her arm raised ready to pitch the icy missile, but at last minute her toe connected with a hidden obstacle and she fell flat on her face at his feet.
Zach roared with laughter, wisps of mist from his warm breath lingering in the air. ‘You never cease to amaze me with your capacity for calamity, Millie!’
Millie rolled over onto her back and flapped her arms and legs to make a snow angel, something she had seen Lola and Odette do.
‘What’s the matter? Scared you’ll get a speck of dirt on that pristine jacket of yours?’
‘No. Why?’
Zach lay down next to her to make his own snow angel and Millie took the opportunity to sling a huge dollop of snow in his face.
‘Take that!’
But within seconds she received similar treatment and found herself pinned down in the snow, Zach holding her wrists and staring down into her eyes, scouring her soul. She was suddenly scared of what he might see lurking there, so she averted her gaze, only to have Binks lick the snow from her face.
‘Euew!’
The moment passed and Zach scrambled to his feet, helping her upright.
‘Fancy thawing out with a mug of the best hot chocolate the Cotswolds has to offer?’
‘Sounds like paradise!’ she laughed, suddenly keen to see the inside of the lodge that Zach called home.
However, much to Millie’s disappointment, Zach didn’t steer her towards his front door, but to the passenger seat of his VW Golf.
‘Hop in!’
Chapter Eight
‘Where are we going?’
‘Into Berryford.’
‘For the best hot chocolate in the world?’
‘Well, in Gloucestershire – yes.’
‘Okay.’
Millie settled into her seat and dragged off her hat, patting down her wayward curls. She glanced across at Zach, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, his hands strong and sure on the steering wheel and tufts of dark hair standing to attention after being freed from the confines of his beanie.
Her heart ballooned and she experienced the familiar feeling of exhilaration that always bubbled to the surface whenever she was in Zach’s company. If anyone had asked her as she got ready for her engagement party eight months ago, with her best friend Frankie making a great job of plaiting her hair into an elegant chignon, she would have insisted that she had no qualms in trusting her future happiness to Luke, that she loved him and that was all that mattered. But Luke had never made her feel such heights of emotions; depths, yes, when he had abandoned her at the hotel ballroom they had hired and left her to explain to both sets of relatives and all their friends why he wasn’t at the party.
It had been the most confidence-draining event of her life, but even she hadn’t suspected that there was worse to come when she eventually discovered the identity of the woman he’d ditched her for. Okay, her identity had no bearing on how hurt she was, she would have been devastated no matter who he had chosen instead of her. She had been shocked to the core, but not as mortified as Frankie had been to discover that Luke had decided to spend his life with her mother instead of her best friend.
