Page 81 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

Daisy took her phone from him, navigated to the video and pressed play. Avery watched, his eyes glued to the screen while it ran, and she thought that – just like she had, earlier – he had forgotten how to breathe.

‘Holy shit,’ he whispered when it had finished.

‘I’ll send it to Mo. He’s given you a plan, hasn’t he?’

He looked up at her, his eyes bright. ‘He told you, right? It’s a known scam, and he’s going to connect me to this specific team who tackle operations like this. I didn’t know about them. I didn’t even realize it was a scam at first. And your video could really help.’ He gave her such a fond, incredulous look that Daisy wondered how much support he’d had in the past. She knew May was always there for him, but what about his parents, who had sent him off to boarding school at the first sign of trouble?

‘I’ll get it over to Mo right now.’ She attached the video to a message, typed a quick note along with another thank you, and pressed send.

‘I can’t believe this,’ Avery said. ‘I can’t believe it might be over soon. I can’t …’ He laughed. ‘Daisy, how can I ever repay you?’

‘You don’t need to repay me. You’ve been dealing with this all by yourself for months. That’s not happening any more.’ She pressed her palm against his cheek, his stubble grazing her skin. ‘You’re not on your own. I just wish you’d let me in earlier.’

‘I didn’t want to drag you into it,’ he whispered, putting his hand over hers.

‘You’re my man.’ She repeated the words she’d said to Mo, loving how they sounded. ‘We’re in this together, OK?’

‘OK.’ Avery gave her the first proper smile she’d seen all afternoon. ‘Now we wait for Mo’s contact to get in touch and take it from there.’

‘We do.’ She finished her hot chocolate, stood up and held out her hand. Avery took it, and she pulled him to his feet. ‘Then hopefully we’ll have something big to celebrate alongside Christmas.’

As they left The Forum, Daisy’s gaze was drawn to the snowflake cannon, the large cardboard photo frame. She dragged Avery over to it.

‘What are we …?’ he started, but there was no queue, so she led him into the space behind the photo frame. The young woman manning the stall, dressed in an elaborate, multicoloured elf outfit and looking entirely happy about it, grinned and took Daisy’s phone when she passed it over.

‘Ready?’ the elf said. ‘Smiles or kisses, whatever you want.’

Daisy turned to Avery and, as the woman pressed the button on the cannon, went up on her tiptoes and kissed him. Paper snowflakes rained down on them, and after a second where he seemed frozen, Avery put his warm palm on the back of Daisy’s head, holding her possessively in place while he returned the kiss for all he was worth. The young elf whooped and cheered, and Daisy heard the artificial camera click of her iPhone snapping photo after photo.

‘Beautiful,’ the elf gushed as she handed Daisy her phone.

‘Thank you,’ she said breathlessly, then led Avery to the exit, stepping out of the stream of shoppers and opening her camera roll.

‘You have snowflake confetti in your hair,’ he murmured, his fingers sliding through her messy, frizzy strands. ‘But that was a very good kiss.’

‘I thought we could do with lightening the mood.’ She held her screen up so he could see the results. Avery slid his hand around her waist, and together they looked at themselves, lips locked, in a clinch worthy of a Hollywood romcom.

Daisy swallowed, because she already knew she wanted this again and again: not just this photograph, which was about to become her lock screen, but kisses with Avery, his hand around her waist.

She waited for his verdict, wondering if she’d taken it too far, kissing him so publicly – and especially after everything they’d just talked about. But then he said, in a low voice that did nothing to settle her nerves, ‘I love this. Send it to me, OK?’

‘OK.’ She turned and reached up, running her fingers through his chaotic hair then down his cheek. ‘You have confetti snowflakes too,’ she explained. ‘In your hair and stubble.’

‘Thanks.’ He gazed down at her.

They stayed that way, while people bustled around them, until an old lady with a tartan shopping trolley stood next to them and harrumphed loudly, as if they were standing in her favourite spot and she was mad about it.

‘Home?’ Avery said with a smile.

‘Home,’ Daisy replied. She couldn’t wait to get back there.

Chapter Twenty-six

‘Goodness Avery, Daisy. This is so horrible.’ Sophie sank onto the sofa next to them, the multiple lamps in the manor’s main living room giving it an inviting glow. There was ball paraphernalia stacked around the edges of the room: Daisy’s fabric swags, the piles of paper chains, a box with their dance cards and some vintage cake stands that Sophie had found at a second-hand shop that they were going to use for the mince pies. It was all so festive, and Daisy tried to shake off her lingering tension.

‘I would still be in the middle of it without Daisy.’ Avery put his arm around her, pulling her close, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

‘Reckless, much?’ Harry had his arms folded, but when she caught his eye, he smiled at her.