Page 44 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

‘The inside of my van is not a place for kissing.’

‘We just kissed inside a half-finished house.’

‘True. I—’

‘Boss. You in here?’ one of his men called, and Avery stepped back, picked up his hat and the plans.

‘Here.’ He only sounded slightly gravelly, not so much that Daisy thought anyone would notice. ‘We’re done with the tour.’

The man took his place at the workbench they’d been standing at a moment ago.

‘Hey,’ Daisy said. ‘I’m Daisy.’

‘I know. It’s great to meet you properly. I’m Omari.’

‘Nice to meet you, Omari.’

‘I’m not in the way?’

‘Not at all,’ Avery said. ‘You crack on. I’ll be off site for a bit, but call me if you need me.’ He tapped his jeans pocket, and Omari gave him a look that said he knew exactly who he would be spending his off-site time with.

Avery led Daisy through the hall, past the other workmen, out into the rain. It sounded harsh against her hat, and she felt it sink into her jumper. He led her past his van, pausing to take her hat off and put it inside, along with his.

‘You can take the jacket off too.’

‘You don’t think we should keep them on?’ she said as she removed it. ‘Warn people that we’re a kissing hazard?’

He laughed. ‘We’re on opposing teams. We can’t be seen to be fraternizing.’

‘What if I want to fraternize?’

He walked past his van and she followed, back down the lane, down the side of the hotel, to a door she hadn’t noticed before. He pulled it open and suddenly she was in the warm and the dry, in a bland corridor that was clearly a ‘staff only’ area of the hotel. ‘I want to fraternize too,’ he said. ‘This much.’

Daisy found herself pressed against another wall, Avery’s warm hands on her jaw. Everything was so much easier without her hat, without the fluorescent jackets putting unnecessary layers between them. She closed her eyes so she could absorb it all, his heat and his stubble and his scent, and the way, this time, his tongue slipped inside her mouth, deepening the kiss. Daisy wrapped her arms around his waist, and let it all happen.

‘Daisy,’ he murmured, when he finally broke the kiss.

‘Avery.’ Her voice was breathy and light. ‘I was worried you were still annoyed with me.’

‘I thought you thought I was ridiculous, being afraid of dogs.’

‘We both thought wrong, then. But …’

‘You think I’m right? That we shouldn’t make this public?’

Daisy was relieved and hurt all at once. But it made sense. What would people say? She wasn’t here for long, she was having dinner with Lars – though that was a business dinner – and Avery had his black door and his hunched shoulders and something going on.

‘We are supposed to be on opposite sides,’ she said. ‘A woman shouted “Team Christmas ball” at me on my way here. I don’t even know who she is.’

Avery smiled. ‘The last thing we want to do is piss off Frank and Valerie. I’ve heard their retribution can be brutal.’

‘And I’m not going to be here much longer than Christmas, so this is more like …’

‘A holiday kiss,’ he finished. ‘I know you’re working, but for the purposes of our … fraternizing, it could be a holiday thing.’

‘A holiday kiss,’ she echoed, melting against the wall when he brushed his lips over the corner of her mouth.

‘A secret holiday kiss.’ He tugged gently on her ponytail.