My Merry Marquess (Wallflower's Christmas Wish #3) - Annabelle Anders Page 0,23

drawn together. Seeing his determination to master something—simply because she enjoyed it—had Eve melting inside.

And although he relied on her less and less, he did not remove his arm from her shoulder, and he seemed to be intentionally holding her closer.

He leaned close and spoke near her ear. “I rather like this activity, after all. It has certain… advantages. And of course, afterward, I’ll have to find some way to warm you up.”

She wasn’t cold at all, in fact, she was warm from her exertions, and yet a shiver of anticipation ran through her.

She could imagine herself falling for him all over again.

If she hadn’t already.

“All right.” He dropped his arm. “I will hold my own for a few moments. Show me how you skate when you are not moving along at the pace of a tortoise keeping me from toppling over.”

His eyes twinkled at her in encouragement.

“You are sure?” Although she felt a little reluctant to leave his side, her feet itched to fly along the surface.

“Show off for me.” He nudged her away from him with a smile.

Eve smiled to herself at such a thought, but then nodded, and with one confident stroke, and then another, sent herself whirling across the ice. With the cold wind on her cheeks and causing her scarf to fly out behind her, she easily maneuvered herself around the other skaters.

Even as she skated, she was quite aware of him watching her. Nicholas made no attempt to do anything other than watch her. She flashed him a grin and turned her body so that she was skating backward.

Her heart raced and for the flash of an instant, she felt something she’d thought she would never feel again.

She felt…

Happiness? Joy?

How was this possible? She examined the emotion as she made her way around the ice.

Nothing was settled in her life. Noelle was entering a precarious engagement. Holly was one bad decision away from ruining herself. Mama was gone and her papa was slowly killing himself at home alone.

And there was no guarantee that Nicholas would ever love her again.

Her feet suddenly tied themselves into knots and, unable to regain her balance, she tripped and, on hands and knees, slid headfirst along the ice and into a large drift of snow.

Although she would have liked to climb under the snow and hide, she didn’t want other skaters to be concerned that she’d been hurt. Scrambling, she pushed herself to her feet just as Nicholas arrived at her side.

“Are you hurt?” He ran his hands along her arms and then brushed the snow from her legs.

“I am embarrassed,” she answered honestly.

He held her eyes as though to reassure himself and then tucked her mittened hand into his elbow and led her to where a very small sleigh was parked.

“Not exactly the sleigh I had in mind, but if you are finished, I’ve made arrangements for you to ride back to the village in style,” he announced with a grin.

“I admit freely that I would like nothing better than a hot cup of tea.” She had no doubt that he would have remained for as long as she wanted. “But… where did you find this?”

He flicked his gaze to a young man who was carrying a small child upon his shoulders. “The father asked if I’d mind pulling it to the bakery. His daughter has quite had enough of the snow, and he was going to have to make a return trip.”

It was then that Eve realized he’d removed his blades and had them draped over his shoulder once again. She shook her head at the contraption sitting in the snow.

“But it’s meant for a child. I’m too big—”

“If you don’t allow me to pull you along, I’ll insist you drag me. Now, climb on, young lady, and prepare yourself for a thrill.”

Eve laughed at his mock attempt at being stern. “Let me remove my blades first.”

As he pulled her back to the village, Nick managed to keep her laughing so much that her side hurt. He ran with her and then slowed to a snail’s pace and then burst into a sprint, nearly sending her tumbling off the back.

“Not fair!” She giggled. “It doesn’t count if your passenger falls off.”

“You’re going to be the death of me.” He held one fist to his heart, toggling his eyebrows, smiling.

Eve arranged herself into as much as a lounging position as was possible. “Faster, driver! Faster!” And then nearly flew off the back again when he ran faster than