“Are we sure this isn’t a person?” Lana raised an eyebrow. “I feel like this level of Christmas-themed disgruntlement is overboard for an animal.”
“Have you met my cat?” Rick asked drolly, earning a small chuckle from Easton.
“We’re doing a thing tomorrow out on the lake,” he told them. “Ash feels bad about missing your cookie thing and wanted to make sure you knew you were invited. So…you two want to come?”
“Together?” Lana asked, wondering if they were at this point. The point of no return, where she wasn’t hanging out with him in a pool hall, lost in his arms when no one was looking. The town didn’t like her, and a single gingerbread municipality wasn’t going to change that. She’d understand if he wasn’t ready for that step yet in a town that never missed a thing.
Lana would never tell him how much it meant to her when Rick wrapped his arm around her waist, never hesitating. “Absolutely.”
Chapter 13
It took a brave group of people to build a bonfire on a frozen lake.
“I may be showing my out-of-townness here, but isn’t this a dangerous idea?”
Rick got out of her SUV, heading around to the back to grab the folding chairs they had brought along.
“Naw, it’s fine.” He tucked the chairs beneath one arm and hooked a cooler with the other. “The ice is more than thick enough to handle this.”
“Even with people parking on it?” she asked, gathering up the few items Rick hadn’t already taken. A heavy knit blanket big enough for two people in lawn chairs to share if they sat close enough together. Enough paper plates and bowls to feed the mass of people out on the lake.
“That’s a bad idea.” Rick followed her line of sight. “The ice is thick enough to handle the weight, as long as they stay close to the shore. Kids get reckless sometimes. Don’t worry. We’ll make them move. Just stay away from the area past those orange cones. That’s where the ice gets thin.”
Lana threaded her arm through Rick’s as they headed across the ice. “I wasn’t worried at all. Not about your ability to handle an unruly teen. I should have brought something to eat though. It seems wrong to go to a potluck and not bring something in a pot.”
She’d been fretting about that all morning. She’d fretted her way through fifteen outfits, four different hats, and far too many websites about proper potluck offerings. The result had been cute jeans and a fluffy cream sweater, a lime-green naughty reindeer sock hat, and Rick promising her no one was going to care if all they brought were paper products. There would be chilis and cheese dips to spare.
“Next time, we’ll figure out what to bring,” Rick told her.
Next time. A flush of warmth filled her chest. He’d said it so easily, as if it was assumed there would be parties after this, and they’d be attending those parties together too. Her fingers gripped his arm tighter, because she knew it wasn’t that easy. A holiday fling was one thing. But at some point, Lana would have to go to her other jobs, attend to other accounts, and put out other fires.
Would it be enough, knowing she would be back eventually? Was it wrong to ask him to wait?
Long distance never lasted. Walking away from her family wasn’t even on the table and not because of the money. Montgomerys were loyal if nothing else, and loyal to a fault to their own. No. Leaving the company, her career, and everything she’d worked for wasn’t an option.
“You okay?” Kind hazel eyes gazed down at her. “No one will give you a hard time. I promise.”
The man was sweeter than he realized, and the way he was looking at her made Lana’s heart twist in her chest.
“I’m better than perfect.” Lana leaned her cheek into his shoulder. Rick flicked the fuzzy ball on the end of her hat.
He’d been in a great mood all day. Apparently, if everyone was out on the water, no one would be interested in playing a game of pool. Besides, the tournament had been a huge—and lucrative—success. By default, he was getting a day off. They’d spent a lovely morning together, in which Rick tried and failed to convince her that trout and toast was a terrible excuse for a breakfast. They’d taken snowmobiles—snow machines, if she wanted to be a local—out in a half-hearted attempt to locate the Santa Moose, but they’d spent more time making out and playing in the snow than actually trying to find the animal. Rosy cheeked from the cold and from sheer happiness, Lana succeeded in convincing him that sneaking into the dry sauna was a perfect way to hide from her growing email inbox.
She’d been tempted to steal Rick away for an entire day of only the two of them, but Lana wasn’t the type to admit defeat. Instead, she was soldiering on, hoping that a new day might bring new results.
Besides, it was hard to stay discouraged with her hand in Rick’s, especially when he kept catching her eye, shooting her smoldering looks. They were lucky the ice was thick on this lake. The growing heat between them was liable to leave them both sloshy messes as they melted right through the ice beneath their feet.
True to his promise, Rick and Ash forced those parking too far out on the ice to move their trucks back to the shore where she’d left her helicopter. When most people arrived in regular vehicles, Ash was going to fly.
Yep, Lana definitely wanted to grow up to be her.
There was something about knowing they were on a giant ice cube that made the party even more fun. She was still getting worried looks, but the hostility had gone down a few noticeable notches, especially when everyone was focused on enjoying themselves.
Zoey and Graham were in their own world…or at least they were attempting to be. Their newly elected mayor was trying very hard not to be in charge, despite constantly having people come up to him, asking for help or advice. In their moments left alone, the couple kept sharing inside jokes and little touches that meant nothing to the people next to them and everything to each other. Easton had settled off to the side, quietly chewing on a sandwich and participating in the activities only when forced. Jake had abandoned them all for Rick, draped in Rick’s arm and his tail thumping relentlessly against Rick’s shoulder.
“I think the dog in the fedora stole my date,” Lana told Ash, watching the pair playing together.
“I think your date doesn’t mind.” Ash’s gaze lingered on Lana, then flickered to Rick. “So you ignored me completely. How’s that working out for you?”
“So far, pretty well.”
Ash sighed. “You know, when these big lugs get their hearts broken, I always have to drag their drunk sorry asses into a snowbank to sober them up.”
“What if I end up the drunk one with the broken heart?” Lana asked wryly.