Page 30 of A Sudden Romance

A silence passed as they gazed at each other. Her eyes were soft, entrancing. She swallowed, then whispered, “Now who’s the worst driver?”

“I blame you for my bad driving.” He reached out with his gloved hand and tapped on her nose. “You were a distraction.”

Her face was red from the cold, and their breath billowed in wispy clouds around them.

“Next time, I get to drive,” she said, her eyes taking him in.

Their gazes caught and held. Something flickered in her golden-brown eyes, and his heart raced. He couldn’t look away if he tried, and why would he want to when she was looking at him in a way he’d only dreamed of? Or was he imagining things?

He wanted to touch her cheek, but the gloves were in the way. By the time he took them off, she’d have come to her senses and stood. So he touched the lock of her hair sticking out from her knit hat and tucked it back in.

“Sabastian.” Her voice was barely a whisper, drawing him closer, and he scarcely resisted the urge to lean in and kiss her senseless, just to relieve all the years he’d dreamed of doing so.

But this moment could only end two ways. With him kissing her and putting an end to the good time they were spending together, then dealing with awkwardness until she left. Or with him being patient and letting things fall into place the way they should.

His breath hitched when she touched his jaw, her gloved fingers trailing through his stubble.

He had to be dreaming Iris was touching him in a way that could drive a man out of his mind. A woozy rush left his head mushy as longing overswept him.

Then her hand paused on his cheek. “Are you and Paulina—?”

“No!” He spoke too fast, a frown squeezing his forehead. “She’s not my... It’s not mutual.”

If only he could tell her why he wasn’t drawn to any woman the way he felt drawn to her. Perhaps that would solve their problems.

“Do you think we’ve been spending too much time together?”

“Yeah.” No. He meant to say he loved it. “It’s not a bad...” Here he was again, struggling to form a sentence. This was his moment. Now was the time to tell her that each day spent in her presence felt like he was living his fullest life. That he wanted her more than the mountain air. That he ached to ask her out. How would he even start? He’d never asked a girl out. Forget his teens when he did whatever he felt was right in his eyes. Not many teenagers in their right mind knew anything about dating.

He opened his mouth to say something. But staring into her eyes and absorbing her affectionate gaze rendered him speechless.

While he might be closer to pursuing her, he needed to work on his speech. He needed to graduate grade school where Iris was concerned.

“Can we build a snowman?” she asked as if she, too, wasn’t ready to process this spark of attraction.

He could only nod.

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