Read Kiss Me on This Cold December Night for Free Online Page B

the finest dining in the country. ‘You go ahead. I’m sure we’ll bump into each other again for a quick goodbye before you fly out.’
    Five minutes later, Tom was following her out through the revolving doors into air so clear and cold it felt like breathing in cut glass. Grit scraped beneath his boots on the pavement where it had been scattered to disperse any ice and the snow had stopped for now, leaving crispy clear conditions and the possibility that his journey might be back on track in the very near future. For some reason the delay no longer irked him as much.
    Their breath puffed out ahead of them in soft clouds and it turned out inclement weather had its advantages. The buzz of people at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland was still there, but it wasn’t overcrowded. Unfortunately it also meant the ice rink hadn’t sold out. He attempted to dig his heels into the frosty path as she dragged him eagerly towards it.
    â€˜We could get a drink?’ he suggested.
    â€˜We can do that afterwards.’
    She turned back to him, the tip of her nose pink from the cold, her eyes sparkling and frost clinging to her hair in the silver glow of the fairy lights strewn overhead and all around them, and he felt his resolve falter.
    In the centre of the rink was a Victorian bandstand and live music drifted across the ice. Parts of the UK might be at a standstill due to the blanket of snow but there was no sign here in the city of the fog that was blighting the airports. They seemed to have escaped the worst of it and there were plenty of people out enjoying the novelty of the bizarre weather.
    â€˜I don’t do ice skating,’ he protested. ‘I haven’t done since I was about six.’
    â€˜So what exactly is that you
do
do?’ she asked, totally ignoring him and leading the way to pick out skates. ‘Michelin-starred restaurants and family parties? What are you, fifty? What about the fun stuff?’
    â€˜That IS the fun stuff.’
    â€˜What size are you?’
    She held his gaze belligerently until he grudgingly said ‘Twelve.’
    Five laborious minutes later and he was laced into a pair of plastic skates. For Pete’s sake, it felt as if his ankles were in a vice. He struggled after her toward the rink, doing his best to stay upright. She sailed past him and did a neat little turn, then slowed down so he could keep up. Small children and couples holding hands bombed past them on both sides. The twinkly Christmas-ness of it added a surreal unreality to the situation. A couple of hours in her company and anything seemed possible.
    And in a flash of déjà vu he understood. Hadn’t that been the thing that was most intoxicating of all about her?
    ****
    â€˜You need to relax your knees a bit,’ she said as he clumped awkwardly along next to her, upright and straight backed, as if he were on the conveyor belt walk at Heathrow with a suitcase and a manbag hanging off him. ‘It’s easy really, just all about balance.’ The fact he’d given it a go despite his reluctance pleased her. The flash of a grin in spite of himself as he picked up speed gave her a glimpse of the guy she’d met back on the coast. The one who’d paddled in the freezing cold sea that late afternoon before Christmas, lifting her in his arms and threatening to dunk her in while she’d squealed with laughter. Afterward, they’d found a pub with a roaring log fire and he’d ordered them both coffee with a side of brandy to warm them up.
    She moved smoothly ahead of him, keeping her balance easily. She hadn’t skated for ages, but there’d been a rink in Bristol where she’d lived with her mother and gone to school. She’d done it often enough in the past to pick up the knack again pretty quickly. She was rather enjoying the superiority of it all, staying just in front of Tom so he could get the full benefit of her prowess, when a small child with