‘Want to take it a step further?’ she asked, with a glint in her eye.
‘And that means…’
‘Setting off on your own and skating a short distance by yourself to…’ Libby looked around the rink consideringly, then pointed. ‘To that red button over on that barrier.’
Guy looked over.
‘You can do this.’
‘Can I?’
‘Of course you can, and I’ll be right behind you.’
‘Okay,’ he replied. He counted to three out loud before setting off and Libby smiled to herself. That’s exactly what she always did as child when she was learning to skate. She had to psych herself up first.
Guy pushed off slowly.
‘Don’t overthink it and keep moving,’ she said encouragingly. It wasn’t long before Guy was picking up speed and Libby was impressed. ‘You’ve got this.’
She watched as Guy pushed his skates harder and harder. He was skating faster and faster. Then, when he was just a few feet from the barrier, he wobbled and, reaching out, hit the round red button on the side of the barrier.
‘Woah! What’s that for?’ he asked, alarmed. ‘Is it some sort of emergency button?’
Libby shrugged. ‘I’m not sure,’ she replied.
All of a sudden there was a whirling sound followed by a clanking noise. They looked at each other before turning their gazes to a large aluminium contraption at the back of one of the huts.
‘Is it some sort of generator to keep the electricity going?’ Libby queried, watching and waiting to see if anything would happen.
With a huge blast, artificial snow suddenly shot from the top of a funnel into the air and began to slowly float all around.
Libby threw her head back and laughed. ‘Just look at that. It’s like the real stuff. How romantic.’
She met Guy’s gaze.
He smiled at her.
‘Come here,’ he said softly, taking off his glove and leaning tentatively towards her. ‘You’ve got snow in your hair.’ He gently brushed the snowflakes from her hair then from the tip of her nose. His eyes never left hers and he watched as she dropped her gaze towards his lips. Her heart was hammering against her chest and her whole body tingled as she took his hand and lapped the rink one last time while the snow was falling all around them. Skating towards the middle of the rink, they both slowed. Reaching into the pocket of his coat Guy revealed a hidden sprig of mistletoe and held it above their heads. Libby closed her eyes briefly and tilted her face towards his. Feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, Guy lowered his lips to hers. Every inch of her body tingled as he kissed her softly on the lips.
Suddenly, there was the sound of rapturous applause coming from the side of the rink. Immediately their lips parted and their heads turned towards the source of the noise.
‘It’s a wrap,’ Flynn shouted from where he was standing next to the camera. He was staring right through the lens. ‘This is amazing footage. You two are superstars!’
Hand in hand they silently skated towards Flynn.
‘How long have you been standing there?’ she asked, knowing full well that he must have seen everything.
‘Since just before the snow machine erupted,’ he replied. ‘And I didn’t know you could skate,’ he said, looking at Guy.
‘Neither did I until your sister talked me into it.’
Flynn touched both their arms. ‘I really can’t thank you both enough.’
Guy and Libby looked at each other, puzzled. ‘What for?’ asked Libby.
‘All this. You know how much it meant to me to get a decent promotional video out of this whole competition disaster … and the footage of you two is just magical. I know this is going above and beyond the call of duty but this is exactly the image I’m trying to create for Starcross Manor. This footage could go viral!’
For a second Libby was speechless. She hadn’t realised the camera was still rolling but as Flynn rewound the footage, there she was with Guy, lighting up the screen.
