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‘Harri.’

But I didn’t know what to say. I could feel him waiting. His eyes dropped – just for a second – to my mouth. Then came back up. Heat rushed straight through me.

Fuck.

‘You know what you’re doing,’ I said quietly, but still not edging away.

His lips moved into a lazy smile. ‘Do you want me to stop?’

Shit.

I didn’t.

I felt like he was daring me. I tightened my grip on his hand and he leaned in closer – not fully, but enough. My cold nose skimmed his. I could feel my heart bouncing around, trying to escape my ribcage.

Suddenly, the pod jolted.

Both of us jumped as we began moving again. Jamie sat back, his breath shaky.

‘Unreal timing,’ he said with a nervous laugh, rubbing my hand.

I grinned, grateful for the freezing air cooling me down.

What was that? I wondered. That was close. Too fucking close.

Soon, the wheel lowered us back into the noise and chaos of the Christmas market. But something had shifted between us, and neither of us was pretending otherwise.

Chapter Eighteen

When we reached the ground, a worker pulled open the door of the carriage.

‘Right, out you come, lovebirds,’ she said casually.

I immediately dropped Jamie’s hand, pushing my body away from him as he climbed out.

‘We aren’t . . .’ I began.

The worker huffed, uninterested. ‘That’s what they all say – c’mon!’ She ushered me out before I could start going back up.

I climbed out, shooting a look at Jamie about her lack of manners.

‘God, what was her problem?’ I tutted, walking off and leaning into Jamie conspiratorially. ‘She thought we were a couple!’

Jamie gave me a long stare. ‘Can you blame her?’ He laughed. ‘We were a baw hair away from winching up there!’

My face immediately burned.

‘Jamie, I’m married,’ I blurted.

He stared at me for a second, then lowered his eyes to the ground. I had to say it, because I knew I had been pretty close to kissing him, but I was knee-deep in a midlife crisis on top of a Ferris wheel looking over a gorgeous city – I’d probably have kissed Keir Starmer with that view. And look, I had kissed worse than Jamie. He was not an ugly guy, quite the opposite, actually, despite his tacky dress sense. But somehow it felt different. It felt like the ground was swallowing me up whenever he was around, which seemed to be all the fuckin’ time.

‘I’m a great kisser, by the way,’ Jamie eventually said, one eyebrow arching. Completely ignoring the reminder of my marriage.

I was trying hard not to smirk. ‘I’ll take your word for it.’

He laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, giving me a slight squeeze. ‘Look, I know you’re going through it. Don’t stress, we’re having fun. C’mon, we’ll go for a walk.’

We slipped away near the edge of the market and began strolling along one of the gorgeous cobbled streets, where the noise had dipped enough for me to hear myself think. There were only a few scattered people around now, and I finally felt brave enough to take off my sunglasses. Jamie’s arm was still around me. I hadn’t moved it, and I could feel my neck turning stiff, trying to walk without disturbing it.