“Why does it not surprise me that you’re a morning person?”
Auggie was bent over her oven, her back to the room, and whatever was on the tray she was carrying smelled divine.
“It’s 8:30 in the morning already,” Auggie corrected him, head still buried in the oven.
“As I said,” Josh complained, “And here’s you looking all fresh as a daisy and put together for the day.”
With her back still to him, she set the baking tray on top of the stove and one by one began transferring the golden-brown cinnamon buns she’d baked from the pan to a cooling rack.
“How am I meant to look?” She asked, then turned around, caught a look at him, and grinned. “Oh. I see.”
He wore a rumpled t-shirt and a pair of flannel sleep pants. His feet were bare, there was stubble on his cheeks, and his hair was sticking out at odd angles. If she looked closely enough, Auggie imagined she’d still find sleep in the corner of his eyes.
Last night, he’d been temptation personified in his suit. She’d managed to resist the urge to yank him by his lapels up against her skin and attack his lips with her own. So why, she wondered, with him looking all rumpled and blurry eyed, was she now picturing herself crawling back into bed with him and curling herself up inside his embrace?
She was dressed in what appeared to be an Aran sweater in army green. For his benefit, Josh wondered, then immediately rejected the idea. Auggie was too much her own person to dress for him. There had to be a reason she had chosen the heavy wool sweater, though, and even through the fuzzy maze of jet lag and too little sleep, Josh thought to wonder about her plans for the day. It seemed doubtful that those plans would involve ditching that sweater and spending the morning curling that delectable body all around him -- but that was where his thoughts went.
“There’s coffee,” she said to him now, “Or would you prefer tea?”
Not hers, evidently.
“This morning? Better make it coffee.” He gave her a sleepy smile, and her heart did a smattering of skipped beats. “Otherwise, I won’t be standing long.”
She poured him the java and handed him the mug with her mind flying along to her plans for the rest of the day. Her day was going to require energy, and lots of it.
“Perhaps you might want to relax here today, then?” She suggested. When he laughed, she jolted slightly.
“What?”
“Trying to be rid of me already, fine thing? And here I thought we’d had some fun last night.”
“I’m not. We did.”
His grin spread all over his face, a little cocky, a little teasing, and Auggie stopped talking immediately. She was tripping all over herself. She hated that. Time to start over.
“I have an event I can’t miss. A skate-a-thon, to be precise. I can’t imagine you’d be interested in watching people do laps of the outdoor rink for two hours.”
“No,” he agreed, “Not watching. What’s the cause?”
“We’re raising money for the Upper Room Mission Society. They assist the less fortunate and the homeless with meals, groceries, clothes -- that sort of thing. First, I’m part of the skate-a-thon today, then tomorrow I’ll be serving at their Community Christmas meal.”
“That’s a lovely thing, Augusta,” Josh said. The sincerity in his voice surprised her, but not as much as what he said next. “Find me a pair of skates to strap on, will you?”
“You want to skate? Do you even know how?”
He looked down his nose at her, the only thing that kept the look from being full of disdain was the sparkle of humour in his eyes.
“Find me the skates. I think you’ll find I’m a quick study. And I’ve deep pockets,” he said, dangling the thought. He knew she wouldn’t be able to turn him down. It didn’t occur to him to wonder why that mattered to him. She was lovely to look at, fun to be around. The good karma for helping some less fortunate wouldn’t hurt him, either.
Auggie handed him a plate with a freshly baked cinnamon bun on it. He bit in, chewed, then groaned in appreciation at the flavours on his tongue.
“Mother Mary, but you can cook,” he said in appreciation, and made her smile.
“Another, then?” She asked, scooping a second bun onto his plate. He’d already devoured the first. At his enthusiastic nod, she felt herself flush with the pleasure of sharing her food with a man who let her know it was enjoyed. Her sigh was small as she asked, “What size skates will you need?”
His response was a grin as he chewed his cinnamon bun then chased it with the blessed scald of strong black coffee.
“Have I time for a shower, then, before we find the ice rink?”
Nodding, she smiled at the way his accent made the words sound — mellow and warm and delicious. Not unlike her homemade cinnamon buns.
“We leave in an hour.”
Josh didn’t know where Augusta had gotten the ice skates, but they were waiting for him beside the front door by the time they left the house. He figured she must have some elves on payroll. Although, in that case, they must be mildly evil elves, or at the very least, elves with rather a sick sense of humour, because he had never, in all his life, encountered skates with blades as dull as these. Hard to impress the girl -- or do laps for charity, of course -- when every glide you took was like slugging through a lake of molasses. And trying to keep your balance while doing so.
Auggie was on the rink, enjoying the chill of the winter air on her nose. She wore dark jeans and wool socks, plus the Aran sweater which she had matched with a cream-coloured wool scarf, gloves and beanie. Even without a jacket, the rhythm of her skating was keeping her toasty warm. If it hadn’t, she could always skate over to the bonfire that was set up in one corner of the rink or sip some of the free hot chocolate provided by the event coordinators.
The sky was overcast today, and she was kind of hoping for snow. Fresh powder might not help her add laps to her total, but it sure would be atmospheric. It might be an unusual sort of Christmas, but Auggie still wanted it to be a white one.
She came to the short end of the oval rink, and her right leg crossed over her left as she navigated the corner. She maneuvered with ease around a young mother and her child. They were skating together, holding hands, the girl’s slim skating skills slowing down the mother, but the smiles on both faces evidence that the duo were enjoying every moment.
Rounding the corner, Auggie spied Josh halfway down the rink. The man looked good on a pair of skates. He was tall and well-built to begin with, and he had the stance of a man who did indeed, know how to glide. Which made it that much funnier that he was moving at roughly a third of her speed.
When he’d asked about skates, she’d called up James, one of the event organizers, and he’d provided. He’d also warned her that the skates hadn’t been sharpened in several seasons. The blades Josh was skating on were as dull as bread knives.
The thought of it amused Auggie. She’d been saddled with Josh without anyone asking her opinion. Seeing him slip around on skates that weren’t even as sharp as tweezers was a tiny bit of revenge for his being here in the first place.
Except, he was smiling and clearly having a good time, anyway. He’d attracted company and was now skating in a small group consisting of himself and three pretty young women who, judging by the bursts of laughter occasionally coming from the group, found him entirely engaging.
Auggie eased up on her speed just enough that she could cut in front of the little group then spin herself one hundred eighty degrees until she was directly in front of Josh -- and skating backwards. Even in reverse, she could outpace him without breaking a sweat.
“Looking fancy, fine thing,” he said, his smile warm enough to melt the ice at their feet. The blond skating to his right obviously thought so, too, since just the sound of his voice had her giggling and clutching at his arm. The woman’s reaction made a wide smile slip across Auggie’s cheeks.
“Looks like you’re having fun,” she said to Josh, “Making friends.”
“Aye,” he agreed. “Tara here was just telling me why Canadian girls have more fun.”
“I just bet she was,” Auggie said. Her eyes cut to the blond an instant before sliding back to Josh. “It’s nice,” she said with a lot of saccharine sweetening her tone, “That you’ve found friends to skate with who match your speed, at least.”
“Isn’t it just?” Josh agreed cheerfully. His arms slipped around the waists of Tara to his right and the redhead skating on his left. When both women made appreciative noises, he grinned at Auggie. And just like that, Augusta decided against informing him that he could sharpen those dull blades at the nearby washhouse.
“Well, as long as you’re enjoying yourself, I’ll be off.”
With a tiny twist of her waist, she pivoted her body around, and left Josh and his little harem behind her in a spray of snow flying off her blades.
She lapped them a handful of times, then Josh seemed to disappear from the ice. She lost track of him, at least, as she settled into her stride on her skates.
The ice was one place where Auggie was truly happy and at peace. After all, she’d spent half her childhood on the ice, taking lessons from the time she was five years old. She’d even competed briefly, although she hadn’t performed a lutz or a salchow in several years. She was tempted to leap into one now, just to see if she still could, but this crowded rink wasn’t the place, nor would showboating get the laps to add up.
Still, the thought brought a little smile to her face. It even had her whistling -- no one wanted to hear her sing -- along with the Christmas tunes playing over the loudspeakers. Nat King Cole had just finished up some classic or another when suddenly the music changed, became seriously up-tempo.
Delighted by the drumbeat bringing in TLC’s version of the Christmas classic, Sleigh Ride, Auggie felt her speed automatically increase to match the rhythm. Glancing over her shoulder, she tried to make out what was going on in front of the speakers that had been rigged up for the event. There was a crowd gathered, and Auggie was pretty sure she saw Josh’s blond, Tara, in the middle of it.
She felt her shoulders moving to the beat as her blood automatically quickened. The competitive drive to perform grew. In her mind, she could just imagine the routine she could put together to the song. If she had a partner to do lifts and throws it would be that much better.
As if her thoughts had conjured him, Josh appeared, bulleting over from the corner of the rink. He put the brakes on at the last minute, a cocky grin on his cheeks as he sprayed her jeans with snow.
“Thought you were faster than me, didn’t you?” He said, pleased to see Auggie with her mouth hanging open in shock. She shut it with a snap.
“I see you found the sharpener.”
In response, he whirled so that he was now the one skating backwards. He skated in closer, snagging her hands, then to her delight, he started dancing a gig on his blades.
“Dance with me, fine thing,” he said, grinning at her in invitation as her jaw once again dropped open. “You know you want to.”
He was right, Auggie realized, she did want to. So, with a hoot of pleasure, she started jiving with him right there in the centre of the rink.
Their skates flashed forward, sideways, in and out of one another’s legs. It didn’t seem to matter that their moves were completely unplanned, that they hadn’t built a routine, hadn’t practiced, had never done this before. They simply felt the music and read each other.
When his arm cinched itself around her waist, Auggie let him twirl her through the air, landing lightly on a single skate when he brought her back down. When he released her and switched from jive to a swaggy, arm-pumping breakdance, she matched his moves with ones of her own. Laughter poured out of her as her breath puffed in little white clouds. And when the music stopped, he snatched her up off the ice in a giant embrace that had her throwing her arms around his neck as all around them, clapping broke out.
“Kiss her!” Somebody called out, and Auggie’s eyes automatically dipped to Josh’s lips before darting back up somewhat frantically to meet his amused gaze. More than one person had taken up the chant, and Auggie felt her gaze lock with Josh’s. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed when he backed up, took her hand in his own, and did a mock bow that had people laughing even as he tugged on Auggie’s hand until she was skating beside him, her slender fingers interwoven with his big ones.
“So,” she said after they’d done a full lap in silence, “You know how to skate.”
He grinned at her, whipped her around the corner at serious speed.
“I also know how to kiss, in case you were wondering.”
Auggie practically choked on her tongue. Beside her, Josh simply laughed, and bumped her shoulder with his own.
“Well, I wasn’t.”
“You were,” he said, laughing to himself when she sputtered. Any moment now, he figured the toe pick was going down so she could skate her way into retreat. “You were wondering how it would feel if I kissed you.”
“No.”
He grinned again. She was lying, but that didn’t bother him. He kind of enjoyed jamming her up.
“No? I have been.”
She did stop then, but since he’d expected it, he put his own brakes on, too. He didn’t expect the question she asked.
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because, Augusta, when I kiss you for the first time, it won’t be with an audience looking on. Nor will it be with you with a look of panic in your eye. No, when we kiss, you’ll be wanting it as much as I.”
“So,” she said flippantly, tugging her hand free at the same time, “Never then.”
She didn’t wait for him to respond, merely skated forward without him. The man was entirely too sure of himself. It didn’t help that he was one hundred percent, without a shadow of a doubt, completely correct -- she most definitely had been wondering what kissing him would be like. She’d been thinking about it far too much.
Well, that ended now.
The thought ended on a squeak as a pair of strong, male hands settled on her hips. She’d barely even had time to register the sound of his skates rushing toward her when his fingers clamped onto her, his momentum spun them both around.
“What…”
He didn’t give her time to finish the thought.
“Train!” Josh yelled, and before Auggie could blink, people were linked up behind them, hands grabbing purchase on sweaters, fingers snagging in the belt loops of jeans. Behind her, Josh was laughing. He gave her butt a swat that was purely platonic, yet still had her jumping forward in shock.
“Let’s go, little caboose,” he said in her ear, and she was pretty sure he was smiling when she snarled at him.
“Do not call me that.”
But she was the front of the line. She had the option of standing still and disappointing good people who had come out to support this cause or getting over herself. With an internal sigh and a mental glare in Josh’s direction, she started to glide forward. For charity. Not, she reminded herself as Josh’s laughter filled her ears, as his hands flexed at her waist, for the man at her back.
The snow started falling with only fifteen minutes left in the fundraiser. They were the big, fluffy, perfect kind of snowflakes Auggie loved. When she tilted back her head and stuck out her tongue to catch them as they fell, Josh felt the pretty sight she made all the way down to his toes.
That was the moment when he knew. Before he left, he was going to get Augusta Chamberlain naked and fill himself with the sights, the sounds, the smells of her. Until then, he might have wondered if he’d simply been flirting with a pretty girl. When her pink tongue darted out to capture the falling snowflakes, though, he knew that any flirting he’d done had been in deadly earnest.
Simply put, he was going to have her. They were going to enjoy each other for the duration of his stay. It was fact. No point fighting against it once he’d decided, so Josh merely accepted what was to come. And accepted she might need some convincing yet.