“So you do this for other people too?”
“Oh yeah. We have a business in town, down by the ice skating rink.”
Cliff nodded. “Sounds like a good job.” Maybe he’d gone too far with that kiss. He should have held back. But he didn’t know if he’d get another chance, and he wouldn’t have forgiven himself if he let that one slide by. Besides, he’d decided to get into the role of boyfriend/fiancé, and kissing was part of that. If only he knew what Diana thought about the kiss.
“It’s great. I do high school rodeo, and we’re busy most of the spring and fall, so this fits right into our schedule.” He stood a little taller. “My main event is team roping—”
Cliff glanced over at the door. His heart stopped.She’s here!his heart whispered.
Jared’s voice faded off into the distance as he stared. She was magnificent. This morning, she’d bundled for warmth, but tonight she had on a red coat with black fur around the hood and down the front, black gloves, and tight black leggings. Her hair hung over her shoulders in waves that caught the firelight and warmed. But it was her eyes that held him as captive as a child in front of the fireplace on Christmas Eve. Bright. Shining. Welcoming. Accepting. He could almost believe they were wanting, too.
She crooked a finger, inviting him over. His mouth went dry.
“Sir?” Jared asked with concern.
Cliff tore his gaze away. “I’m sorry, Jared. But when a woman like that calls, a smart man goes running.”
Jared looked back and forth between the two of them. “I’ll remember that, sir.”
Cliff laughed and smacked him on the back. “Good man.” He made his way through the crowd and stopped at the bottom step. “You look like a winter goddess.”
She smiled shyly. “Thanks. You look great too.”
“I look like I just got off work. I wish I cleaned up better.”
She took a step down so they were eye to eye. “I like you just the way you are, Cliff.”
The tension below his shoulder blades eased at the same time his chest expanded with what might just be love. He couldn’t be sure—and he was still waiting to see if he felt this way when he got home. Instead of fading, the feelings got stronger with every minute. Not only the minutes they were together, but the ones they were apart too. He couldn’t get Diana out of his mind.
He offered his arm. “Would you like to take a sleigh ride with me?”
She gasped. “I can’t believe you just asked that.”
He looked over his shoulder, remembering what Layla had said about the Mistletoe Mile being a great excuse for a make-out session. His whole body flushed with embarrassment. She must think he was after a quick kiss.
Her eyes glowed. “That’s the exact same thing my great-grandpa said to my great-grandma when he asked her on their first date.”
He let out a quick breath of relief. “That’s a story I want to hear.”
“I’ll tell you while we ride around the lake.” She smiled up at him and slipped her gloved hand over his arm. They made their way to the much shorter line and exchanged a shy smile.
The first sleigh had just arrived back and was ready to pick up another couple. They ended up in a white one with a gray-and-white plaid blanket. There was a warm brick by their feet, and they tucked in the blanket edges so they were warm and toasty. Cliff put his arm around Diana and held her close to his side. She cuddled in there. As much as he enjoyed having her close, a part of him wondered if she was doing it for show or because she wanted to.
He shoved the worry aside and decided to just enjoy the moment. After all, he was practicing being open with a woman, and he couldn’t do that if he didn’t let himself relax.
“So,” Diana began, “the story goes that my great-grandpa didn’t have a lot of money, but he’d fallen in love with my great-grandma. She didn’t know he existed—they ran in different circles, as my mom puts it.”
“Like us?” He nuzzled the fur on her hat, right above her ear.
“Yeah,” she whispered.
He began to wonder if she was affected by his nearness like he was by hers. To find out, a little experimentation was in order. While she told him about her great-grandmother’s love for Christmas and her great-grandfather’s scheme to take her on a romantic sleigh ride, he took off his glove and then hers and laced their hands together under the blanket.
She held on, grinning. “Wait—I forgot to tell you that he started planning this in, like, September. Which was a good thing, because the old sleigh needed a lot of work and he had to train the horse to pull it.”
“Dedicated man.” If Great-Grandma was anything like Diana, she was worth it. Heck, he’d been working on her for over a year. Not that he’d known that was what he was doing at the time.
“He was. I’ve always thought it was beautiful that he put so much work into the hope of returned love.”
