AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fair point. Do you want to keep schooling the eighth graders or can we skate together now?” I squeezed her to me, patting her ass.
“I suppose I could slow down. For you.” She looked over at me, her cheeks rosy. She was obviously enjoying this.
“Thanks, I’d appreciate that.” Mercifully, a slow song came on and we skated hand in hand, finding our rhythm. I let Delaney take the lead, just keeping pace with her.
“How’d the photo shoot and interview go this morning?” I asked, stealing a quick sideways glance at her.
“It was good. Pretty quick. The photographer showed up at seven, took pictures for about twenty minutes, Kacie asked me a few questions, and then I sent them away with lattes and complimentary goodies. Hopefully it was enough to get me an excellent write-up inThe Recorder.”
“I’m sure it’ll be great, Delaney. The bakery’s getting a lot of buzz, so that’s good.”
“For sure. Business has been so good, I think I’m going to have to hire at least one or two people to help me keep up with the orders.”
“That’s fantastic,” I said. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks. I just wish my mom were here to see it.” Sadness washed over Delaney’s face, draining the pink flush from her cheeks.
“I’m sorry about your mom. I’m sure it’s tough.” I squeezed her hand, wishing I could do more to make her feel better.
“Thanks, it is.” She gave me a brave smile, pushing her pain away. “This is our first Christmas without her, so it’s really hard.”
“Let me know if I can do anything for you. Or your family.”
She moved closer to me, and I held her even tighter against my body.
“Thanks, Quinn. I will.”
We skated around the rink together, our footwork and breathing perfectly in sync. It was the first time in a long while I’d been relaxed around a woman other than my mother and I savored the moment.
Eventually the song ended and a horrible pop version of the “Twelve Days of Christmas”followed, so I suggested we take a break from skating and get something to eat.
“Sounds good, I’m ravenous.”
Twenty minutes later, we were sitting at a high top in the dining area, eating burgers and fries.
“Maybe it’s because I worked up an appetite skating, but this burger is delicious,” Delaney said, licking a dollop of ketchup from her finger.
“Agreed. And I can make a mean burger, so that’s saying a lot.”
Delaney giggled. “A man who can cook. I like it.”
“I can do a lot of things you’ll like,” I said, sliding my hand up her thigh.
She smiled slyly at me. “I’m interested...”
“In what I can do? Laundry, cooking, basic cleaning.” I ticked the chores off on my fingers.
“Very funny, Quinn.” She slapped my arm, her eyes twinkling under the sparkly white lights.
“The rest really isn’t appropriate for the dinner table.”
She laughed and I leaned over, kissed her on the lips. She kissed back and for a moment everything faded into the background, and it was just the two of us, together under the stars. I wrapped my hands around her waist, let my fingers wander a little farther south as she relaxed into me. It was nice being with her, here in this moment. Comfortable, even. I could get used to this. The fact that this thought didn’t send me into an immediate cold, sweaty panic was something new.
“Quinn?”
I swiveled around to see Nick, a buddy from the station, waving at me and heading in our direction.
“Hey, man. What’s up?”
