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Colette’s stammering stopped, and she blinked at him, regarding him for a moment and he could see her trying to work out if he was serious. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d done to make her doubt him, especially after the amazing date they’d just had. But he decided to rectify that situation as quickly as possible.
“I would be honored if you would go to the holiday party with me.” He kept his voice low, hoping that it rang with the sincerity he felt so keenly as he held her gaze.
He was rewarded with a soft, tentative smile tugging up the corners of her lips, and she gave him a slight nod.
“All right,” Colette answered. “We’ll go together.”
“And now we just have to plan what we’ll do between now and then?”
“Oh, do we?” Colette’s eyebrows shot up, and she grinned at him.
“We do. The Christmas party is still a couple of weeks away, and I’d like to see much more of you between now and then.”
“Is that so?”
“It is.” He nodded, rubbing the back of her hand all over again.
Colette chewed the inside of her cheek, and he watched her as she thought about what he’d just said. A moment later, her eyes lit up as they flicked back to him.
“Dog sledding!” she exclaimed. “We can finally go dog sledding!”
Zach paused for a moment. She had told him about the dog sledding multiple times before, but it was something he’d never done. Honestly, he had never so much as considered doing something like that. He wasn’t quite sure if it was for him, but one look at Colette and every bit of doubt was washed from his mind.
For her, he would be willing to try.
He gave her a smile and nodded. “That sounds great.”
She beamed at him as a reward, and his heart warmed at the sight of it. They finished their coffees and pastries, and he listened with rapt fascination as Colette told him more about the town. The more she talked, the more Zach found that he loved the way she described Snowy Pine Ridge. He adored getting to know this place through her eyes, and even more, he adored the way that she seemed to light up from the inside out when she spoke about it.
It was about the time that they had finished their drinks and had yelled their goodbyes to Sarah, who was still in the back baking up a storm, that Zach realized he didn’t want the night to end. They walked back toward their houses, hand in hand. Fat, fluffy snowflakes fell from the sky, filling the air around them and making the world go quiet.
One got caught on Colette’s eyelash, and he reached with an unsteady hand to wipe it off. She leaned into his touch, her beautiful, dark lashes resting against her pale, freckled cheek, and as he gazed down at her, it all came crashing together with a realization that shook him to his core.
Zach was falling for the woman in front of him—or maybe he had actually fallen for her already. But there was something between them, and he knew it. Something that was begging to be looked at closer, to be cultivated and given room to grow. The only question was, could he do that?
By the time they walked past the gate that led to the property, the porch light from the main house shining brightly over the sparkling snow, he still hadn’t arrived at an answer. He walked Colette to her door, brushing a blonde piece of hair out of her face as he leaned down to brush a quick, sweet kiss across her lips. He wanted to kiss her more, wanted to make the kiss last, but he didn’t. There were too many thoughts swirling in his head for him to let himself get distracted.
“Goodnight,” he said when their lips parted, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile when she looked a little confused. “I’ll talk to you in the morning?”
She nodded. “Goodnight. I had a great time tonight.”
“Me too.” He smiled again before pressing another quick kiss to her forehead, and then he stepped back.
His body immediately noticed the lack of her body heat, and Zach shivered slightly as he walked across the grounds back toward his rental house. He opened the door and stepped inside, the door shutting behind him with a snap. He stood in the entryway for a moment, letting the peace and the silence drift over him, before taking off his coat and boots. And as he trudged up the stairs, ready to climb into the shower, he made a promise to himself to not shy away from what was building with Colette. Because maybe, just maybe, it was possible that Snowy Pine Ridge was trying to provide him with even more than just a creative spark. Maybe it was trying to provide him with love as well.
CHAPTERTWENTY
Sarah blinked three times, hard and fast as she tried to clear the sandpaper feel from her eyes. She had no idea how long she had been in the bakery, but she knew it had been late. Zach and Colette had left hours ago, and she had locked up right after they had gone before disappearing back to the kitchen and losing herself to her baking once more.
She was almost glad that William wasn’t there, certain that he would be calling her constant testing of new recipes downright obsessive by this point. But when she looked around at the trays of treats, many of them with only one bite taken out of them before they were tossed to the side, she had to admit that obsessive might be the only word for it.
“I’ll finish the turnovers,” she said to herself, the rasp of her own voice startling her for a moment.
The last words she had spoken had been when Colette and Zach were in the bakery. And now that she thought about it, that had been about the last time she had taken a drink as well. No wonder her throat was so raspy.
She checked the timer on the oven before walking over to where she kept her water bottle. Sarah took the lid off and took a deep, hearty drink. The back door opened unexpectedly, the hinges creaking loudly as someone stepped through it, making Sarah jump.
William stood in the doorway, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement as he looked at her.
