Page 64 of Puppy Love & Snowflake Kisses
However, when they reached their table, she found there was a partial roof collapse. Belle gasped. This wasn’t good. Not good at all.
When she looked over at Parker, he glanced back at her. And then the corners of his lips lifted. And the next thing she knew, he was laughing. How could he? This wasn’t funny. All of their hard work was for naught.
Her gaze moved to the sad little house. And then she glanced back at him as he continued to laugh. The corners of her mouth lifted upward, and then she broke out in a laugh.
People gave them dirty looks for disrupting the award ceremony. Belle pressed her hand to her mouth to hold in her merriment. She felt good to be laughing. It felt as though she were expelling all of the negativity, and she was letting in the good. She felt lighter than she’d felt in a long time.
After they’d gathered themselves, she leaned over and whispered, “So, what happens to our bet when we come in last? Does it nullify it?”
He whispered back, “Doesn’t matter. I’ll treat you to a cocoa anyway.”
It wasn’t a good idea, but when she opened her mouth, she said, “Sounds like a plan.”
“Good. Are you ready to quietly slip out of here?”
“Yes.”
He reached out and took her hand in his. It felt good to have his fingers wrapped around hers. She told herself it was no big deal. It was something friends might do.
As she walked him out of the community center, Belle felt the protective walls around her heart coming down. She had missed him so much.
The Kringle Cup Café was just down the street. It wasn’t worth driving there, since it would be hard to find a parking spot with so many people in town for the contest. She didn’t mind walking, especially with their fingers laced together.
There was a light snow falling from the darkened sky. She watched the flakes flutter and dance through the air. She had a feeling she was going to remember this evening for a very long time. But would she remember it as the evening she passed up a chance to be happy for the rest of her life because she was too afraid to take a chance with her heart? Or would she remember this night as a time she was brave enough to go after her heart’s desire?
“Parker, wait.” She came to a stop.
He turned to her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I mean, I need to apologize. I…uh, I freaked out after Odie came home. Until that moment, I had refused to acknowledge how scared I’d been. It… It brought back bad memories about my parents’ accident. And I’m sorry I didn’t handle it any better.”
He reached out to her. The breath stilled in her lungs. As the snow continued to fall around them, it was like the world fell away. It was just the two of them in a snow globe.
And then his fingers lightly traced down her jaw as he stared into her eyes. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
She couldn’t look away from him. She felt as though she were drowning in his chocolate-brown gaze.
And then he lowered his head and claimed her lips with his own. His touch was gentle, as though he wasn’t sure if she wanted this. Her heart pounded. It was so loud it echoed in her ears.
As his mouth moved over hers, she kissed him back. At the same time that his kiss exhilarated her, it also scared her. Putting her heart on the line wasn’t something she’d allowed herself to do in the past.
And then Parker came into her life, and those protective barriers she’d kept firmly in her life were blown away. Now she felt as though her heart was naked and exposed. He had the power to love her or reject her. It was a precarious place to be, but she wasn’t going to back away—even if it meant the pain of rejection.
The loud rumble of an approaching snow plow had them drawing apart. When he looked into her eyes this time, he was smiling. She smiled back at him.
“Still up for some hot cocoa?” he asked.
“I am.”
He took her hand in his like they’d done it a million times before, and they continued along the sidewalk that now had a trace of snow over it. She lifted her gaze to notice the rooftops were also covered with snow. The street lamps all had big red bows. And every storefront had their picture window decorated for the holidays. That was one of the things she loved about her hometown—they were passionate about the holidays.
A block later they came to a familiar building with red-and-white-striped columns on either side of the front door. They looked a bit like candy canes. A wooden sign above the door was painted white with red lettering that read:Kringle Cup Café.
She peered through the large picture window next to the door, and the place didn’t appear to be busy at the moment, but she was certain once the contest was over that people would flood the place.
They both ordered hot cocoa with little marshmallows. Once they were seated at one of the tables by the window, she didn’t know what to say. She figured this must be what it was like to be tongue-tied. Still, she had to say something…
“I just…” she said.
