Her giggle was half-embarrassed and half-playful. She grasped his upper arm and squeezed, her hand unable to get even half the way round. “I take it you want me to call you Thor from now on?”
“I’ll stick with Zack. If you start calling me Thor, Jake’ll insist on Captain America and that’ll piss everyone off.”
“What would Scott be?” she asked. She had mentioned Scott a lot and it was starting to bother him.
“Some form of mountain man,” Zack said. “Do you like him?”
“Scott? Yeah, he’s been really nice while I’ve been settling in here.”
He stuck his hands in his pockets. “I meant as something… else.”
He saw her try to bite her lip and stop from laughing, her eyes dancing with amusement. Then she turned to face him and placed both her hands on his arms, just above his elbows. “I’m not interested in your brother, Zack. I’m not sure I should be interested in anyone right now.”
“Why?” he said, keeping his hands buried, otherwise he was unlikely to be able to keep them to himself.
“Because I should’ve been getting married in four weeks.”
“How long is it since it was called off?”
“Three months,” she said.
“Don’t you think that’s long enough?”
She looked up at him with moss green eyes that reminded him of the forest in summer.
“I was meant to be spending the rest of my life with him. How can I be over him in three months?” she said in barely a whisper.
He pulled his hands from his pockets and placed them on her waist, pushing inside her coat that was unfastened. He felt the heat of her skin as his hands moulded to the curve from her hips to her waist.
“Maybe it’s because you were swept away by what was happening on the surface rather than what you actually felt,” he said. “But he isn’t here now.”
Her eyes hadn’t left his.
“No. You are. I’m glad it’s you.”
He kept his hands on her waist as he leaned down, first to rest his forehead against hers and then, when her arms slid up his and wrapped around his neck, to press his lips to hers in a kiss sweeter than the cakes she’d made.
She tasted of cinnamon and sugar and something that made him want to carry her out of there and into his bed.
“Oh my, you two look just so romantic standing there.” An American accent made them part, their hands still holding each other. Zack cursed in his head and prayed for the nearby tree to collapse on top of their disturber. “I took a picture; I hope you don’t mind. I’ll send it to you.”
Sorrell’s cheeks were flushed and her lips pinker than before. She looked at him, her expression unreadable. His reaction was to wrap an arm around her back and pull her gently into his side.
“Can we see?” he said.
The American stretched out an arm to show him her phone, the photo up on screen. She was right, the picture looked like it should’ve been on the cover of a romance novel, the sort he’d seen Rayah read and Jake try to find the sexy parts in. The largest tree in the room was just behind them, the million lights twinkling, making the gold and silver decorations look as if they were actually metallic. Their lips were pressed together, eyes closed and their bodies were close.
“The one before it is sweet too,” the woman said, swiping back.
She’d captured the moment just before they had kissed, when the only thing in the room for him had been Sorrell and she was looking at him like she felt the same.
Zack glanced at her and saw her smiling at the photo, automatically feeling relief. She didn’t hate it.
“It’s a really good photo,” she said. He felt her fingers press into his back. “It looks so Christmassy.”
“And so romantic,” the woman said. “I thought for a minute I was about to witness a proposal but then figured you were probably saving it for Christmas Day or New Year’s. Let me send them to you.”
Sorrell fished her phone out of her bag and accepted the photos, quickly looking at them again. The American gave them another wide smile and wished them all the best, fluttering her eyelashes at them as she and what was probably her husband headed into the next room.
