Page 30 of Believing in You

“Hey. What are you doing out here?” he asked and wrapped her in a bear hug. His cold lips met hers and she melted against him.

“I love being greeted like this,” she said when the kiss ended.

“Good to know.” He gave her another quick kiss. “It’s too cold for you to be out here. Head back in the house, and I’ll be in shortly.”

“Actually, it’s not that bad,” she lied, wanting to hang out there with him. “If you have another shovel, I can even help.”

“That’s not necessary, but I welcome the company. I’ll make this quick.”

He went back to shoveling, and Nyla stuffed her gloved hands in her pockets as she shuffled her feet back and forth to keep warm. More snow had fallen than she originally thought,and it was heavy enough to make a snowman. Actually, it was perfect for a snowball fight, something she hadn’t done in a long time.

A grin spread across her mouth, and she quickly made a few snowballs while Harrison’s back was turned. His focus was solely on clearing the walkway, and she used that to her advantage.

Six snowballs should be a good start.

Nyla held them all in the crook of her arm, and let one fly, and then another, and yet another. The first two hit him in the back, and the last one splattered on the back of his head. Good thing he was wearing a thick wool cap.

She started grinning when Harrison stopped shoveling and glanced over his shoulder. She threw another snowball at him, and it hit him smack-dab in the middle of his forehead.

Bursting out laughing, she almost dropped her last two snowballs. His incredulous expression only made her laugh harder.

“Seriously?” he finally said, unsmiling and still looking as if he couldn’t believe she’d hit him with snowballs.

Unable to help herself, she threw the last two at him. One hit him in the chest, and the other went wide and missed him. Instead of laughing with her, Harrison dropped the shovel and charged toward her.

“Oh no!” Nyla turned to run but had barely taken two steps before she was tackled to the ground. “Ahhh!” she screamed, then turned over onto her back only to be met with a face full of snow.

It was ridiculously cold, but she couldn’t stop laughing. Not one of those little giggles, but a full-bodied laugh that had her stomach muscles hurting.

“Harrison, this is not how you have a snowball fight!” Sputtering, laughing, and wiggling against him, she almost got away, but he straddled her.

“Oh, is that what we were supposed to be doing? It was an unfair fight since you just attacked me with snowballs without warning.”

“That’s how snowball fights work. You attack, then run, but I—I’m sorry.”

“I don’t believe you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be falling out laughing,” he said, a rare smile on his face.

He grasped both of her arms above her head, then held her wrists in place with one large hand.“So, you want a snowball fight, huh?”

He didn’t give her a chance to respond. Instead, he smashed more snow into her face causing her to scream and sputter some more.

“Wh—what are you doing?” she stammered while still laughing. Moving her head left and right, she tried to keep Harrison from smothering her with more snow. “You—you, this is not how a snowball fight works.”

“Well, this is how I play,” he murmured, shoving more snow into her face and a little inside her jacket.

“Oh, my God!” she shrieked, still trying to get free of him while struggling to breathe because she couldn’t stop laughing. “Okay. Okay. For real, I’m sorry,” she said unconvincingly.

Nyla couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed this hard. Tears leaked from her eyes, probably freezing on her face while her cheeks hurt from all the laughing.

“Okay. Okay. I—I give up,” she managed to say.

“Now that’s what I like to hear,” Harrison said, using the end of the scarf around her neck to wipe her face.

When he smiled down at her, Nyla’s heart pounded double-time. The man was so handsome, it was almost hard to look athim. Add that to his thoughtful and kind nature, and she was officially hooked. She more than wanted him. More than wanted to spend time with him, and that excited her while also scaring her a little. What if he realized she wasn’t enough for him? Would he be like John? Date her for a while, dump her, and then end up with someone else weeks later?

“You’re beautiful,” Harrison said just above a whisper, and her thoughts flew away.

He stared at her for a minute before crushing his lips to hers and thrusting his tongue into her mouth. It was as if time stood still and the cold that had been seeping into her body was replaced with a roaring fire. The intensity behind the searing kiss was different from all their other kisses. This one…this one felt as if he was claiming her. As if he was saying,you’re mine. All mine.Or maybe she was projecting.

---