Page 101 of Christmas with the Denton Billionaires

Once they’d cleaned and stored everything again for the evening, they high fived.

“Thanks, Chris.” Mara beamed up at him, feeling a little giddy. Probably because it was almost nine p.m. and she wasstillat work. “You really helped me out. I didn’t get a chance to be with my family, but at least I’m not going to be behind by an entire day next week.”

Chris checked his phone, and then a smile lit up his face. “I have an idea.”

“What?”

“Can’t say. Just follow me.”

He strode to his coat and jerked his head toward the door. She hurried to grab her things and followed him. Except when they left the multipurpose room, he didn’t head for the main doors heading out to the parking lot. Instead, he hung a left down the long corridor leading to the back of the community center.

“Where are we going?”

He shook his head, keeping his fast pace toward the side exit. When they burst through the doors, the chilly December night air sent a shiver through her. She tightened her coat around her, resisting the urge to nuzzle into his side.

“Are we heading into these darkened woods? Seems like a great time.” She snorted as he led her down a winding stone path.

“Just wait and see.”

Their steps crunched over the brittle leaves littering the pathway. Through the bare limbs of the trees, lights twinkled up ahead. As they neared, she saw strings of lights lining a long glass half-wall. When she realized what she was looking at, she gasped.

“The community center ice skating rink!” She grabbed his forearm, looking out at the small icy arena happy to see a few people were still skating. In all the stress of the collapse and remaking of her church, she’d completely forgotten that they could get there via the woods. “This is great! Are they still open?”

“For another half hour,” Chris said, showing her the time on his phone. “I figured if you couldn’t skate with your family, you could at least skatea little.”

She tried to hide her grin behind the collar of her coat, but it was hopeless. She was smiling like a fool. This was impossibly sweet, but she was hesitant to admit it.

“We never come to this one,” she said, practically skipping alongside him. “It’ll be nice to try a new spot.”

She reached out for his hand automatically, as if it were the most natural gesture in the world. They held hands for a few paces before Chris looked over at her, which jarred her awareness.

“Oh.” She dropped his hand as they came up to the rink. A few tall light poles placed around the perimeter made the rink as bright as day but caused the surrounding woods to fade into obscurity. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“I didn’t say you had to stop.”

A nervous laugh slid out of her, and she directed her attention to the small booth for skate rentals. “What size are you?”

“Eleven.”

She lifted a brow, though he couldn’t see it. So many inappropriate responses came to mind, and every single one of them had to do with the huge package between his legs. She requested their sizes from the attendant, who also asked for a selfie with Chris, and a moment later they were sitting on a steel bench booting up.

“Size eleven, huh?” She couldn’t keep it in after all.

“What?”

She rolled her lips inward, trying to keep in a giggle. “Your dick is size eleven too.”

He smirked, eyes flashing. “And you’ve loved it every time you’ve had it.”

His smooth response sent heat curling through her. God, she couldn’t deny it. It was as true now as it was back in high school. But his response reminded her of her own resolve. However fine his dick was, getting back on it was not the goal.

Keeping work and pleasure separate was.

Even though ice skating was sort of blurring the lines.

This is just a nice thing he’s doing. And after spending so much of his time as a huge asshole, it’s okay to let him be nice for once.The rationalizations flowed freely as she laced up her skates and they wobbled their way into the rink.Besides, it’s not like this means anything. You’re just two work colleagues blowing off steam after work. This is fine. Everything is fine.

Mara pushed off into a steady, straight line. Within ten seconds, Chris was flat on his ass, looking up at her with one eye pinched shut.

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