All's Fair in Love and Chocolate (Marietta Chocolate Wars #1) - Amy Andrews Page 0,43
my parents couldn’t afford to keep them up but I got a job at the rink for a while during my freshman year, so I went a lot then. I loved the sense of freedom it gave me, like I could just keep on skating all the way out of town. I always felt like I was flying on the rink but out here, among all this—” She looked all around from the confines of his embrace. “It feels like I’m soaring.”
Reuben laughed. “Yeah, I know the feeling.” And he kissed her again, the giddiness returning with a vengeance.
“Come on.” She pulled away, sliding from his arms. “Race you to the other side.” Then she pushed off, a red streak amidst all the white, her skates shushing.
Reuben’s body was barely capable of staying upright for a beat or two let alone coordinating his limbs to skate. At the moment it was desperately trying to reroute blood from his dick to other muscles groups that needed it more.
Like his quads. And his brain.
She looked over her shoulder at him and called, “Afraid of having your ass whopped by a girl, Officer Take Charge?”
A light breeze interfered with the delivery of her challenge but Reuben just caught it before it was snatched away. It tugged at him hard, she tugged at him hard and, giddy or not, physically ready or not, he could no more have not chased her than flown to the top of Copper Mountain.
“Let’s see what you got,” he called as he pushed off.
Her squeal was followed by a wicked little laugh that set Reuben’s heart to pounding quicker than the strain on his quads and calves. And she kept grinning and laughing as she checked behind her, marking his progress. Reuben didn’t catch her straight away—where would the fun have been in that when she was such an utter pleasure to watch? He just followed close behind and enjoyed the view.
It was only when the urge to touch her became overwhelming he caught her up, sliding his hand in hers and racing with her across the ice side by side in a quiet kind of synchronicity that spoke of things far deeper than pleasure.
*
They were almost all the way across when the tinkle of bells reached them and they both turned their heads to the east almost in unison. In the distance, near the skate shack, two fine, chestnut mares stood hooked up to a large antique sleigh with polished brass fixtures and red runners. Sitting in the front seat was old man Henry in the same huge coat he’d worn, it seemed, since Reuben was a kid.
Reuben bet he still had that hip flask, too. The one he took an occasional sip from toward the end of the day when he’d been out in the cold giving sleigh rides around the lake for hours to locals and tourists alike. Just to, warm my old bones.
Slowing his pace, Vivian matched it until they both drew to a stop, panting a little from their exertions. “I’ve never been on a sleigh,” she said.
Reuben heard the wistfulness in her voice loud and clear. “Really?”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “I’ve been on a carriage ride in the snow a few times at the local park when I was a kid and once in New York a few years ago. But not on a proper sleigh with bells.”
Well now, that was a tragedy. “You want to get a lift back to our stuff?” he asked.
“Oh.” She glanced at him. “Could we? Would he take us? I don’t mind skating back.”
He laughed at the hope and excitement shining in her eyes. “Of course. Judd Henry’s been giving sleigh rides around Miracle Lake for as long as I can remember—he’ll be delighted.”
Then he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled to get the old man’s attention. When he looked over, Reuben pointed to the shore where they were heading and he nodded, the horses moving quickly to their master’s command.
By the time Reuben and Vivian had skated to the shore and made their way the short distance through the wood to a snowy, well-worn trail, the sleigh arrived. “Hey up, there,” Judd ordered and the sleigh pulled to a halt. Streams of foggy breath puffed from the horses’ nostrils.
“Hey, Mr. Henry.”
“Reuben.” The old man still had that same long, gray beard.
They shook hands. “This is Vivian.”
“You’re the new chocolate shop owner,” Judd said in that matter-of-fact way of his.