Page 31 of She's A Hot Christmas Mess

“You don’t need to whisper,” he murmured, tucking my hair behind my ear. “There’s no one here to hear us.”

“I think that’s kind of the point,” I hissed, unable to drop my awe at seeing the giant space, usually so populated. “You must have...how much did this cost you?” I stared up at him, releasing all those questions I pushed away that should have been asked before I crawled into bed with an incredibly attractive and powerful man I didn’t know.

“Does it matter?” He shrugged as though booking the Rockefeller ice rink at Christmas was nothing at all. Kind of like booking out Disneyland, a stunt usually reserved for royals...or the revoltingly rich.

I got the impression Ford wasn’t the former, though I could be wrong.

“It does,” I said warily as an attendant walked toward me with a pair of customised, brand new ice skates.

Ford slid me a sideways glance. “I cheated. I used your shoe size to guess.”

“You did, huh?” It hit me how much effort he put into the morning’s date, rather than just money that clearly didn’t mean the same to him as it did to me. Time, that is.

“Yeah.” He wrapped an arm around me and nuzzled my hair sheepishly. Or alpacas? “I wanted to have you to myself. Last night...hell, Nisha. I’d repeat that every night if I got the chance.”

“Oh,” I sighed, letting Ford sweep me away in his fantasy land where there were only the two of us, a few staff, and a giant Christmas tree glowing merrily away.

He shooed the attendant away and took the boots, sliding them on my feet and doing the laces up with deft fingers. Naturally, they fit perfectly, just like everything else about him.

“Are you an unlikely alpaca sheikh? I think it’s time you came clean about a few things,” I said quietly, unwilling to pop my bubble, but also needing a few answers.

“Just enjoy it. And alpaca sheikh sounds good. I should put that on my business card. Right next to ‘alpaca stud’.” He grinned and pulled me to my feet. “How well can you skate?”

I stood slightly unsteadily. “It’s been over a year. I wouldn’t say my skills are phenomenal.” But I also wouldn’t be sliding across the ice on my butt any time soon. “Don’t expect me to do pirouettes,” I warned him.

“Dang it and I thought we’d be doing jumps by the end of the day.”

My jaw dropped. “You booked the Rockefeller out for a day?” My voice rose to screech owl level.

Laughing, Ford wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling my wobbling feet into him, along with the rest of me. “How are you feeling?”

I peered up at him. “Is this a trick question?”

His eyes danced, but the line of his mouth softened. “I know I’m a bit much. But I've learned to go for what I want, because these moments, like this one, they’re fleeting.” Ford skated backward for a bit until I found my balance. “Good to see it comes back to you.”

“I thought you didn’t live in the States,” I scoffed. “And I thought you lived in a desert. How many ice rinks do they have in Australia?”

“Never seen one,” he answered me cheerfully, pulling me into a slow circle that grew ever tighter. His hands dropped to my waist, his gaze on my tingling lips.

While my mind was stuck on how heart broken the man before me who could move literal Christmas Tree covered mountains was, he kissed me. After last night and again this morning, I should have been used to the feel of his mouth on mine. But Ford Millhams kisses covered a wide spread of ground and my feet weren’t anywhere near it when I was in his arms.

His lips grazed mine, his mouth settling gently over my skin in the kind of kisses that left me floating. I slid my hands under his jacket, wrapping around the back of his neck and pulled him closer, but Ford didn’t give into my growing need.

For a man who created epic impromptu dates and growled his own need over me all night long, he sure as hell had a great handle on his control right when I wanted it to fray.

His soft laugh against my mouth set my body alight with snowflake kisses. “Eager, little elf girl?”

“Maybe you didn’t do quite the job you thought you did earlier,” I teased him right back, smiling stupidly because–Ford. There was no other reason right now.

“Is that so?” He skated us in a slow, long arc as his eyes darkened. “Maybe I’ll have to fix that later.”

His promise settled between us as he led me close, his arms wound around my body. Like last night, we fit together perfectly, even with the added height of the ice skates. I rested my head against his shoulder as he led us around the ice, skating backward the entire time with no fear of anyone crashing into us. Music played softly around us, winding the perfect CHristmas ambiance over the ice.

I tilted my head back to stare up at the tree as we passed. “It’s beautiful. I’m usually so engrossed with counting my tour numbers and making sure everyone is having a good time that I forget...” I bit my lip, letting my unfinished thought trail off.

I am a sad, sad person.

“Because you never take time to worry about yourself,” Ford said. His fingers played in my long hair that trailed along my back, tugging the strands that shifted beneath my beanie until I looked up at him. “When was the last time you did something for yourself? Something I didn’t organise...or anyone else.” He stared at me and I realised we never did have thatare you singleconversation. The same thought must have occurred to him.

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