Page 74 of Mistletoe Mistake
She let out another squeal as one foot swerved to the side, but she got it back under control and I could feel her starting to relax, at least until we approached the end of the rink and she called out again. “We need to turn!”
“Lean back,” I instructed. “Lean on me, and I'll get you through it.”
She obeyed, her back pressing against my chest, and I leaned into the corner for both of us, easily making the turn.
“You see? Nothing to be afraid of.”
We circled the ice four or five times that way, our bodies pressed tightly together, and Gemma got more and more relaxed with each pass. “It feels like flying,” she exclaimed as we sped down the inside of the ice, past all the people holding onto the boards at the edges, her red hair flapping in the wind.
I pulled her right to the middle of the ice and spun us around in a circle, and Gemma laughed in delight, her head resting back against my shoulder.
When we'd finally stopped moving, I let her go and moved around to the front of her. She smiled up at me happily, her green eyes sparkling in the sunlight. “That was amazing.”
I couldn't help chuckling. “That wasn't even very fast, honestly.”
“Let me see how fast you can go,” she challenged. “I'll wait here.”
I would be happy to show off for her, but as I looked back out at the sea of slow-moving skaters, it didn’t seem like a good idea. “I don't think I can go much faster with all these people. I'd run into someone.”
Though she pursed her lips in disappointment, she knew I had a point. “Well, then, we'll have to do this another time. We can rent out the whole rink and you can really show me what you've got.”
The idea of it made me smile until I remembered that it was Sunday already and I would be going back to New York in five days. We didn't have all that many 'another times' left. The realization left me feeling strangely empty.
“Are you thinking about her?” Gemma asked, taking hold of my hand. “Your ex-fiancée?”
Where on earth had that come from? “No. At least, I wasn't until you brought it up.”
Her eyes widened with horror. “Oh my God, I'm sorry, Cole. You just got that look on your face, and I thought...”
“Gemma.” I placed a quick, gentle kiss on her lips. “I'm teasing. I'm fine.”
I actually was. I hadn't thought of Samantha since we got on the ice, and even now, when I tried to picture that moment when I had proposed, the one that had always been so vivid for me, I couldn't quite capture it. The picture seemed faded somehow. Blurred. When I tried to imagine Samantha's face, Gemma's features came to mind instead.
Jackson and Holly glided up to us, hand in hand. “No making out on the ice,” Holly teased. “Either get skating or let's get off and get some mulled wine.”
I wasn’t ready to let go of this feeling of freedom just yet. “Do you want to go again?” I asked Gemma, and she nodded enthusiastically. With a smile, I circled around behind her again. “How about a race, Jackson?”
He grinned at me, surprised and delighted by the suggestion, before looking over at Holly. “You up for it?”
She laughed at his eagerness. “To be your dead weight? Sure.” Soon, we were lined up at one end of the ice, me behind Gemma and Jackson behind Holly as Holly counted us down. “Three, two, one, go!”
Shrieks and laughter filled the air as we both pushed off, racing down the middle of the ice, pushing the women in front of us as the other skaters stopped to watch us. Those at the end of the rink moved out of the way as we approached, and Gemma grabbed the boards at the end about a second before Holly did, claiming victory for us.
“Champions!” she yelled, as applause and laughter broke out among the onlookers, most of them smiling at us, amused by the whole spectacle. I couldn't stop grinning either. God, I couldn't remember the last time I'd done something like that, so completely childish and stupid and just plain fun.
We did a couple of more circles of the ice before getting off, trading our skates for our regular shoes once again. As promised, Holly tracked down the mulled wine which she and Jackson drank while I got a beer and Gemma went for hot chocolate again. Gemma invited Jackson and Holly to join us back at the hotel for an early dinner at the hotel restaurant, and though I would have preferred to go straight up to my suite with her, the night was still young. There would be time for what I wanted to do later.
To my surprise, as we started walking back to the hotel, Holly fell into step beside me while Gemma hung back with Jackson.
“So, Cole.” Holly eyed me curiously, and I looked back at her, slightly bemused. In all the time we'd spent together, she and I had never actually spoken directly to each other very much. “Gemma tells me you met the Earl yesterday.”
Ah. She wanted to talk about Gemma's father. “I did. I wouldn't exactly call it a pleasure.”
She sighed in agreement. “The man is a menace. Gem does her best to pretend it doesn't bother her, but it does. She tried for so many years to get his approval and she even almost ended up marrying that waste-of-space fiancé. Edwin leaving her was the best thing that could have happened to her, even if he was a total ass in the way he did it. They should have broken up years ago.”
I didn't disagree with her overall conclusion, but I also didn't understand why she was sharing it with me. “Does Gemma know you feel that way?”
Holly laughed. “I'm not very good at keeping my opinions to myself. Trust me, she knows.”
