Page 21 of Duke, Actually

“Oh, shut up. No off-color jokes allowed during snow-angel-ing.”

He made a show of shutting his mouth as he got himself into position. She adjusted her stance and looked over her shoulder to make sure the ground they would land on was still pristine.

“All right,” she said. “Fall flat and decisively. If you slump back or are tentative, your angel will look sad.”

“How do you know all this? I’m the one who grew up in the Alps. You grew up in an apartment in Queens.”

“My dad used to take my sister and me to the library every Saturday, and it was across the street from a big playground. In the winter, my sister and I would make snow angels, and then we’d inch in along the top and add halos out of rocks or sticks. We had quite the technique developed.”

“Your dad sounds rather wonderful, if you don’t mind my saying. The library, the beach, clamming.”

She smiled. “He is wonderful.” Both her parents were. She felt lucky, both to have them and to be here, now, back to the pre-Christmas excitement she’d skipped last year. “Are you ready?” she asked Max, who nodded. “On three.”

She counted, and they both landed with a muffled thud.

“What now?” he said through laughter.

“Oh my god, that’s cold!” She was wearing a knee-length coat, so her legs were unprotected. “Flap your arms and legs.” His continuing laughter was contagious, and once she started, she couldn’t stop. She was making snow angels in Central Park with an Eldovian baron. How utterly ridiculous.

But also how fun.

See? She could have fun.

Max started to move like he was going to get up. “No!” she said. “Stop! The dismount is critical!”

“Thedismount?” He cracked up again, but he went still. “What do I have to do?”

“Try to lever yourself up without making any marks outside your existing angel, then stand up at the bottom of your leg indentations and take a giant step away from the angel. The idea is to try to keep the outline pristine.”

He did what she said, getting to his feet and taking not a step but a large—and graceful—leap away.

“Yes! Good job!” She, however, was having more trouble. “Ugh, my high heels aren’t getting purchase on the ground. Mine is going to suck.”

“Hang on.” He came toward her but stopped a few feet away and peeled off his coat. He was left standing there in his suit—the same blue one from yesterday, but today he was wearing a lavender-striped tie.

“What are youdoing?”

He balled up the coat—the plush, expensive-looking one she’d been admiring earlier—and said, “Catch” as he unfurled it toward her.

“Oh!” She was too late to understand that he intended for her to grab it like a life preserver. “Do it again! I’m ready this time!” They both laughed as he re-threw the coat. Once they’d each got a good grip on it, he started pulling on his end. “Ahh!” she exclaimed as he levered her up. He didn’t ease off soon enough, though, and she was unsteady on her feet in the snow—oh, her poor shoes—so she didn’t have a chance to catch her balance. She pitched forward, stumbling until she crashed into him.

“Steady now.” His arms came around her. They teetered together for a few seconds. It was as if they were dancing but doing a very bad job of it.

Once they’d righted themselves, he didn’t let go. He was no doubt making sure she fully had her feet before he retreated, but it felt like a hug. Something happened to her body in that moment. It relaxed, despite the cold. It felt sogoodto have arms around her, to have someone help her bear her weight.

When was the last time she had hugged anyone she wasn’t related to? Probably not since she’d been to Eldovia last summer and hugged Leo and Gabby goodbye before she got on the plane to come home.

Oh, but all of a sudden this wasn’t that kind of hug. Now that they’d got their balance, she was suddenlyawareof him. Thesolidity of him. A little bit of bare skin visible on his throat between his scarf and the collar of his coat. She could see his pulse thrumming at that spot.

She stepped away.

It felt too good. This was not something she could have. It wasn’t something shewanted, not beyond the weakness of the moment. She couldn’t get seduced by the momentarily buoying sensation of a hug like that, because ultimately, she had to buoyherselfin this world. And she mostdefinitelycouldn’t get herself into a position where she was noticing things like hard chests and fluttering pulses. Maybe someday, but not yet.

Max stared at her for long enough that she started to feel awkward, but then he cleared his throat, breaking the spell, and turned and contemplated their angels. “Well, that’s not going to win any awards. So much for a pristine outline.”

“It looks like our angels got in a...” She shivered—a big, involuntary one. “Catfight.”

“You’re freezing.” He moved behind her and started brushing snow off her shoulders and upper back. As he made his way down toward the butt zone, he pulled the coat away from her body and brushed the snow off the fabric without touching her body. At the hem of her coat, he crouched with his hands poised over her calves. “May I?”

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