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She glanced away, her pale cheeks flooding with pink. ‘I don’t see why I should give you anything at all.’

That strange pinching feeling in his chest pinched again. He’d offended her back at the breakfast table with that question about whether she’d had sex or not. He’d pushed her, so no wonder she was angry about it.

But now you know the answer to that particular question, don’t you?

Oh, he did. She hadn’t had sex, he suspected. That’s why she was so offended by the question. Either that or she’d had a lot and was ashamed of it. But no, there was a reason she kept blushing, and it wasn’t because she’d had a lot of sex.

‘I apologise,’ he said, trying a different tack. ‘For asking you about sex. That was rude of me and I’m sorry.’

Slowly, she looked back at him, surprise flickering over her face, and it felt good to surprise her, to do something she didn’t expect. She studied him for a moment, probably wondering if he was telling the truth. Well, he was, so he held her gaze, letting her see it.

After a moment, she said, ‘Okay. Thank you.’ Her breath puffed out in the air, creating smoky clouds, and again he was conscious of the clothes she was wearing and how cold it was outside.

‘You should go back into the lodge,’ he said. ‘Your coat must be still damp and I’m sure your shoes are, too.’

She frowned, chewing on her bottom lip for a second or two. Then she said, ‘Okay. A kiss then.’

A sweet kind of heat licked up inside him. Well, he hadn’t been expecting her to agree, not so quickly, but he wasn’t unhappy about it, not at all.

He opened his mouth, but she held up a finger. ‘Not now. Later. I want the tree first.’

Well, he could deal with that. ‘Done,’ he said, a wicked smile creeping onto his face. ‘Now, go inside and get warm. I’ll find a tree for you.’

Chapter Six

LIBERTY WOULD HAVE preferred to make her point by ignoring him and traipsing around in the snow anyway, but he wasn’t wrong. Her sneakers were damp, and so was her coat, and she was starting to get very cold.

He, meanwhile, looked anything but in his thick down jacket and snow boots. He looked like he could stand around in the snow all day and not feel even the slightest chill.

Agreeing to the kiss had possibly been a mistake, but well… Maybe that was okay. He’d apologised for his question at breakfast, which she hadn’t been expecting, yet had appreciated. Also, she had to confess, a kiss wasn’t something she didn’t want to give him. In fact, in many ways it might even be a good thing. That way he’d know for certain that she was very inexperienced and likely a bad kisser, and that would save them both a lot of trouble.

So, she’d let him go off into the forest to find a good Christmas tree, while she went back to the lodge and divested herself of her damp jacket and shoes. The sneakers had made her socks damp, too, which was annoying, and though it was warm inside the lodge, she did like to have something warm on her feet.

Perhaps she’d ask him about it when he got back with the tree. She didn’t really want to go hunting around in his house, not when even being here had been an invasion of his privacy.

Instead, she sat on the plush couch in the living room, where a fire was already crackling in the fireplace, answering emails and then calling Rachel about how she wasn’t going to be able to make it back for Christmas. Rachel hadn’t minded, though Libby felt a certain amount of worry and guilt at not being there.

She didn’t mention to Rachel anything about Kai’s marriage offer, other than to say that negotiations were in progress for funding, but there was nothing concrete just yet. She’d let her know when there was.

Kai came back an hour later, dragging behind him a giant tree without any apparent effort. Luckily, the lodge’s living area had high ceilings so there was plenty of room for it at least. He set about finding a stand to put it in and settling it so it was firm, and soon the whole room was full of the scent of pine, with an edge of snow.

Libby sat on the couch and gazed at it in delight, the smell making her remember the last few Christmases at Worthington and how wonderful they’d been. How good it felt to give the kids at least one Christmas that they’d remember with joy.

Kai finished settling the tree, then stood back and glanced at her. ‘Is this one suitable?’

She grinned. ‘It’s wonderful. Thank you.’

He didn’t smile back, but something shifted in his icy gaze. ‘You like Christmas.’

‘I do,’ Libby said, even though it wasn’t a question. ‘There aren’t many occasions where we get to simply celebrate with friends and family these days, so I appreciate the ones we do have.’

His silver brows twitched and he turned back to the tree, staring up at it. ‘Neve never celebrated Christmas. She thought it was a pointless holiday.’

Automatically, Libby glanced at the portrait above the fire. The woman in it wasn’t smiling. She stared at the camera as if she were a queen expecting homage to be paid. She definitely didn’t seem like a woman who would want to celebrate anything except world domination.

‘What about birthdays?’ Libby asked. ‘Did she ever celebrate birthdays?’

Kai was looking at the picture too now, his expression unreadable. ‘No.’