Page 29 of Snowflakes and Sparks

I couldn’t help but smile. Alex thought I looked pretty! I almost did a happy twirl, but constrained myself. There was no need to show my crazy side to him. Not yet anyway.

“I should get dressed as well. Mind if I use your bedroom?” he asked.

I quickly made a mental assessment of the state of my bedroom. There were no dirty underwear or wet towels lying around. At least, that’s what I hoped.

“Sure. It’s only fair that you get to see my bedroom after I’ve seen yours,” I said with a wink.

I took my phone and fired off a quick text to Dean, telling him Alex was about to enter my bedroom. I loved teasing him like that.

His reply came mere seconds later.“If that’s true, then why are you wasting your time texting me???”

I selected the selfie I’d taken earlier and send it to him. “Because I’ve already put on my outfit. We’re doing the photo shoot today.”

“Ask someone to take pictures. I can’t wait until the calendar gets printed.”

I put my phone behind the counter and smiled. When I arrived here, I was afraid of running into Alex because I was ashamed of what had happened between us ten years ago, and now I was about to take pictures with him and act as if we were more than friends. Me. With a guy who would unquestionably enter the fantasies of women all over the country. I was one lucky girl.

“What do you think?”

I turned around to see Alex standing there with a modest smile on his face. He was wearing black jeans and a black button-up shirt. His red tie was loosened and hung teasing over the buttons, all of them undone.

He ran a hand through his unruly hair. “Is this the look you were going for?”

My heart pounded so fast, I was afraid it might explode. “I think you nailed it, yes.”

“Since we both look the part, I think we should ask them if we can keep the outfits for Christmas. The Snow Ball’s got a best outfit for couples competition. Might be fun to win it this year. Anyway, let’s get this show on the road.”

Alex walked away, leaving me breathless. He wanted to spend Christmas together? The thought of seeing him on Christmas Eve had crossed my mind, since we were both organizing the Snow Ball. But I figured it would be more of an informal meet-up, not one where we would wear matching outfits and try to win the prize for best-dressed couple.

I tried to shake off all of my thoughts about what this meant and joined Alex and Pam. She had placed one of the store’s stunning armchairs in front of the window, right next to my Christmas tree. A fresh layer of snow painted the background street white. It looked like a fairytale come alive.

“Alex, if you can sit down in the chair? And Suzie, put yourself on his lap.”

We did as we were told. I tried my best not to touch Alex more than necessary, but that seemed to be rather impossible as we were in such a confined space together.

Pam handed Alex a book. “Pretend to read this story together. Oh, and we need more sizzle than this,” she said, waving a hand at us. “Remember, you’re supposed to look like you’re attracted to each other. Right now, you look like you both have some sort of contagious disease and are afraid to touch each other. We don’t want to send out that vibe, right?”

I inched closer to Alex so that we could both look at the pages of the book. I swung my feet over the side of the armchair and hoped he didn’t mind holding me.

Even though the photo shoot was something I’d come up with myself, I had never imagined it would be this intimate.

Pam positioned herself with her camera. “Now, if you could put your hand on Suzie’s leg? A lot higher if you can,” she added when Alex put his hand on my calf. “And smile, smile, smile, folks.”

The more the camera clicked, the more relaxed I felt. This wasn’t too bad after all. I just had to smile and stare at the words in the book. I started reading, to try to distract myself from Alex’s touch. His hand was dangerously close to the seam of my dress and it seemed to burn a hole through my red stockings.

“Great work,” Pam said, lowering her camera. “Let’s try another setting.” She shoved the armchair to the side and threw a white plushy blanket down. She instructed Alex to lean against the armchair and hold me in his arms, then placed stacks of books and fake presents around us before taking a step back. “Perfect. Let’s do this.”

I turned my head to face Alex and stared into his brown eyes.

“This is weird, isn’t it?” he whispered.

“The things we do for charity, am I right?”

“I don’t mind, though,” he said and squeezed me tighter, with a smile that made his eyes sparkle. His thumb gently caressed my arm and I could hardly keep it together anymore. A deep desire sprang to life and traveled all over my body.

I let out a barely audible sigh. As soon as this shoot was over, I would have to head outside and throw myself in the snow to cool down.

“You know, after you left that winter, I thought I’d never see you again,” Alex whispered. “Isn’t it strange to think that you ended up here in a way none of us could’ve ever conjured up in our minds?”

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