Page 20 of A Festive Surprise

‘No point in denying it. Now, come through and we’ll put on some food.’

He followed her into the heat of the living room. ‘Wow.’ He tugged at his neckline. ‘It’s hot.’ Everything in the room was setting him ablaze. Holly’s gaze seared him with an unquenchable desire, but palpations erupted in his chest. What was he meant to do here? He was playing with fire. Being burned would follow… But how? Good burn or bad burn?

‘It just got hotter,’ she muttered. ‘Now.’ She clapped her hands before he could speak. ‘While you’re here, would you like your first lesson about Christmas?’

‘Er… I’m not sure.’

If she plucked out a whip and cracked it on the breakfast bar in front of him, he wouldn’t be surprised. ‘Partridges and pear trees.’

‘What?’

‘Yes. It’s from the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. It’s one of the bizarre songs we churn out this time of year. It goes through the twelve days and each day there’s a more extravagant gift starting with a partridge in a pear tree and ending with twelve lords-a-leaping.’

‘And what is it to do with Christmas?’

Holly threw out her palms. ‘Not a clue. Every year we used to sing it at school and each row in the assembly hall was assigned a line and we had to stand up when it was our line. It’s scarred me for life. I can’t hear that song without panicking I’ll forget to stand up when seven swans are swimming.’

Farid rubbed his forehead. ‘I am so lost with this.’

‘Well, that makes two of us.’

‘And this is why you hate Christmas?’

‘No.’ She dug a corkscrew into a bottle of wine. ‘It’s much more complicated than that. Tell you what, let’s get sloshed and I’ll teach you the lyrics. Then we can stand up and sit down at our turn and see if either of us can stand up after five gold rings.’

Farid buried his head in his hands and laughed. ‘I have no idea what you are talking about.’

A glass hit the table in front of him. He picked it up and Holly held hers out. They clinked. Her eyes burned into his. What should he do now? Make a move? What move?

‘Sláinte.’ She winked. He’d heard that word used since arriving in Scotland but coming from Holly’s lips, it seemed more of a promise than a salute.

‘Fe Sehetak.’ He raised his glass and knocked back a mouthful.

A shrewd expression swept over Holly’s face. Farid held his breath.

‘Let’s get this pasta cooking,’ she said. ‘Then I can tell you about my two front teeth.’

‘Your what?’

She giggled as she pulled out a pan and filled it with water. ‘You did say you wanted to learn.’

‘I think you’re making things up to confuse me.’

‘Nope. I promise I’m not.’ She waggled her eyebrows and he shook his head. Right now, she could tell him Christmas involved skinny dipping in the icy ocean on live TV and he would do it. He was putty and however she wanted him, he would bend.

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