Page 66 of Christmas at the Castle
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Physically, yes. Emotionally, she wasn’t so sure.
Heat radiated from him like a furnace. Whatever chill she’d felt from the cold temperature and snow had disappeared. Being held like this felt way too good.
And it shouldn’t.
Not with him.
“Kat?”
She looked at him.
Big mistake.
His face—make that his lips—were right there. So close she could see the lines of his mouth. And boy, did that mouth look good.
Gill stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. No smile, but no frown, either.
Kat had no idea what she was doing, except she wasn’t in any hurry to have him let go of her. But they couldn’t stand here like this forever.
A few more seconds might be too much.
Too dangerous.
She swallowed around the lump in her throat. “I’m okay. Thanks.”
Her voice sounded deep and raw, not normal.
She backed away, but he didn’t let go of her.
Gill kept his arm around her. “Make sure you have your balance, so you don’t fall.”
Kat felt off-kilter, but she had a feeling that had to do with him, not the slippery path. She straightened. “I do.”
Gill let go, and she felt a sudden chill.
“Snow turns the grounds into a winter wonderland, but there’s still ice to watch out for.”
She nodded. “I’ll pay better attention to where I step.”
“Not just out here,” he said. “You’ll have to scout out the locations of the mistletoe before the reception starts.”
“That’s too premeditated.”
“And finding someone to kiss under the mistletoe ahead of time isn’t?”
“I think I’m going to be more spontaneous about that.”
“Spontaneous.” He pronounced the word slowly, as if it were a foreign term. Maybe for him, it was.
“Yes. If everything is planned out ahead of time, that will take the fun out of it.”
“And the element of fate?”
“Exactly.”
“But what if no one else wants to be spontaneous and kiss under the mistletoe?”
