Page 8 of Spooks & Specters

Connie kissed Kit on the cheek too. “I knew he planned something, but not what. Our mate has a hidden romance streak a mile wide.”

Hudson cleared his throat, glancing away. “Yes, well, don’t spread that around. I do have a reputation to uphold.”

That was the most adorable thing ever. As a reward, Kit hugged Hudson. “It’ll be our secret. Now, let’s go ice-skating!”

No sooner than he said that then the door to the limo opened, and they got out. He immediately felt bad when he saw Nelson standing there.

“Oh no, Nelson!” Kit hadn’t stopped to think about who’d driven them. And it was Valentine’s Day to boot.

“No, no, it’s okay. I have plans later,” Nelson said. “So don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” Last thing Kit wanted was to ruin somebody else’s Valentine’s Day.

“I’m going to chill here. It’s all good.”

“It’ll only be ninety minutes, remember? We’ll be home at a decent hour, and Nelson will have plenty of time for whatever he has planned,” Hudson said.

“Okay, good.” Kit was relieved to hear that.

Connie leaned back into the limo long enough to grab their coats and then they were on their way.

The ice-skating rink was man made, of course, and open aired, meaning it wasn’t in a building with walls and such. So anyone walking down the beach could see the three of them, but that also meant they had the perfect view of the ocean and the sunset.

There were several palm trees strategically placed around the rink—it was California after all. The street side of the rinkhad red patio furniture for people to sit and enjoy a drink or roast marshmallows in the fire pits.

Once they had their skates on, the joking and ribbing commenced. Kit had forgotten how impossible it was to walk on those thin blades.

Grabbing their jackets, they made it onto the ice. And it was pretty obvious that neither Connie nor Hudson had ever been ice-skating before. Good thing they were inherently graceful. Was it a paranormal thing? Or was that a dragon thing?Orwas that a Hudson and Connie thing?

Or maybe it was all three.

They’d barely made it onto the ice when music started softly playing, and of course it was all romantic songs. It took a couple laps around the rink before Kit felt comfortable, but it was all coming back to him.

After a few spills, Connie and Hudson were whipping around the rink like professionals. Sometimes Kit couple skated with Connie, other times he skated with Hudson. The three of them skating side by side while holding hands ended up with all three of them down on the ice when Kit went down.

The windmilling arms and shocked look on Connie’s face as Kit dragged him down was hysterical. He couldn’t help but poke fun at Connie over it. Hudson, of course, shut Kit up by kissing him. Unfortunately, the ice was beginning to get a little wet so that didn’t last long.

They took a break, and a waiter brought them out hot chocolate.

“Mmm, this is good.” Seriously, it was the best Kit had ever tasted. There was no way this came from a packet.

“Nice and warm,” Connie said, holding the mug. “Good thing you insisted we bring jackets.”

Hudson nodded. “When I reserved the rink, it was suggested that my guests and I bring one. Honestly? I thought it was a bit much, but the person on the phone was correct.”

Kit stared out over the ocean at the setting sun. The sky was a blaze of oranges, yellows, and reds, with purple clouds traveling across the horizon. “We definitely need to come back here around Christmas.”

Connie pulled his cell phone out, unlocked it, and started typing. “And done. Note made. I’ll make sure to reserve tickets when the time comes.”

“The job of the right hand of the king is never done,” Hudson joked as Connie slipped his phone back into his pocket.

Connie blew kisses at Hudson.

After they finished their hot chocolate and cleaned up their trash, they turned their skates in and walked hand in hand in hand back to the limo where Nelson waited.

With a flourish, Nelson opened the limo door. “Welcome back. How was it?”

“Fabulous. I highly recommend it. Seriously, best date ever,” Kit said, bouncing on his toes.

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