Page 39 of When Ivy Met Mr. Holiday
I caught sight of Sienna a few feet away. So smug. Waiting and ready to check the king and win this game of chess.
No. I couldn’t let that happen. I had one move left. A move I’d sworn I would never make. But desperate times called for desperate measures. I had to prove to my sister and everyone else that while I was a liar, I was a dang good one.
I grabbed Jack’s coat and pulled him to me, the slick ice threatening to make us crash. Jack, without missing a beat, adeptly wrapped his arms around me to steady us before we fell, at least physically. Figuratively, I worried my next move would be the end of us if we weren’t careful. I was blowing up the door I’d said I would never open.
His eyes widened. He knew. He knew what I was going to do, and he, too, was wary.
Hadn’t it been just moments ago when we’d agreed to keep our relationship safe from this kind of reckless behavior?
But I wouldn’t allow Sienna to win. And I couldn’t tell my family I’d made up a romantic relationship with Jack. They would be zero percent impressed with that. My parents had taught me that love was sacred. You didn’t use relationships for personal gain.
It was better this way. Better if down the road they simply believed Jack and I had broken up after realizing we were better off as friends.
I wanted to whisper to Jack that I was only kissing him for show and I was sorry, but I couldn’t risk anyone overhearing us. My only hope was that he didn’t gag and . . . that I didn’t like it. Or worse, love it.
Oh, please don’t let me enjoy it.
I flashed him a grin, trying not to giggle while I slowly erased the distance between us. I feared it wouldn’t appear like anauthentickiss between lovers. Lovers were usually quick to get lost in each other. This was too tentative.
Jack must have agreed, so he took control of the situation. His hands moved slowly, deliberately, up to my face, cradling my cheeks and grounding me for what came next. His eyes said,Let them watch. Let them wonder about us.Oh, were people ever going to wonder after this.
His thumb grazed my jaw, and dang it if it didn’t send a shiver through me that had nothing to do with the cold. I knew he would be a pro at this. I’d seen him in action on the screen and admittedly swooned over his kissing scenes like everyone else. But never did I think I would experience one, and I was in no way prepared for it. Especially when his lipsmet mine, warm, urgent, not staged, and definitely not careful. It was as if we’d acted this scene out dozens of times.
He was steady and certain.
I was anything but.
Yet the rink, Sienna, my family, the world—it all blurred. It was just Jack and me.
Jack tilted his head and deepened the kiss as if he knew I wouldn’t deny him. He owned my lips and knew exactly what to do.
Alarms blared in my mind, telling me to back away. Warning me that this was dangerous. That we were crossing a line we might not be able to come back from.
But Jack didn’t heed the caution signs—he only intensified the kiss. His tongue swept through my mouth. Tasting. Exploring. He wasn’t just going through the motions. No, it was as if he were memorizing me.
I gripped his jacket, fingers clutching the fabric because I wasn’t sure if my legs would even hold me up anymore. And worse—I wasn’t sure if I wanted them to. Part of me wanted to melt right into him. Especially when the kiss slowed and shifted from urgency to something more deliberate as his mouth softened against mine and he eased the pressure. He wasn’t just exploring anymore; he was savoring me. Or so it seemed. I knew this was just an act. Regardless, my body was so here for it.
Never had anyone kissed me like this before.
Unfortunately, the rumors about Jack’s kisses were all true. I lost all sense of space and time. Did I forget my name as I let my best friend ravage my lips in themost intoxicating manner possible? Maybe. I had a sneaking suspicion this moment had raised the bar to a height that no other man was ever going to be able to clear.
Jack heightened the torture when the kiss halted, but his lips lingered and his forehead rested against mine. Our breaths slowed and mingled together, making me believe he was just as affected by me as I was by him.
For an insane second, I wondered if this could be real.
No. I couldn’t think like that.
Jack didn’t want that. He’d admitted I was right about women and men being friends. And we were the best of friends. Our friendship deserved for us to fight for it.
I would just have to forget this. Shove down these feelings deep inside of me. Even though . . . every part of me wanted to kiss Jack again.
“Ivy,” Jack whispered against my lips.
My name, so tender on his lips, snapped me out of the trance his kiss had lulled me into. Reality came crashing back, reminding me we had an audience. This moment wasn’t really ours. It was a show.The Mr. Holiday Show.
I leaned away from Jack to find a stunned audience. Eyes wide, mouths parted.
They’d bought it.
