If Only by Lisa M. Owens Page B

like a child attempting to walk for the very first time. When he finally reached her, he was out of breath and his face was sweating, even in the coolness of the skating rink.
    She closed her eyes, relishing the crisp smell of the ice and the fresh, fragrant scent of pine needles. She had always absolutely adored winter, and this year was no exception. As long as she could remember, this skating rink, a constant in her youth, had always been decorated like a winter wonderland, and once again, this childhood hometown haunt hadn’t disappointed her.
    In one corner of the rink, out of the way of skaters, stood the largest pine tree she had ever seen. This enormous Christmas tree had its usual place of honor and was completely surrounded by presents of all shapes and sizes. Real presents, which were bought by residents of Mistletoe and would be donated to the local orphanage, hand-delivered by the owner of the rink, who without fail played Santa Claus for the children each year.
    Every year, the tree was decorated in different colors, and the color theme continued with both the decorations and the wrapping paper on the presents. Obviously, this year the colors were blue and silver. Ornaments decorated every square inch of the tree, from simple ones with no adornments, to glitter ornaments with blue and silver winking at Bree as she stared in wonder. Silver bows had been hand-tied on almost every branch, and white icicle lights twinkled as she looked in amazement around the expanse of the rink. There was even a sprig or two of mistletoe scattered, hanging from the doorways and ceiling beams.
    “Whose fool idea was it for us to go ice skating?” Scott grumbled in aggravation.
    She grinned innocently as she raised herself onto her tiptoes and tilted her head up to kiss the tip of his nose. Just to show off, she circled him in her skates before she responded with a sweet smile, “I hate to break it to you, my darling, but you have no one to blame but yourself.” She shoved him playfully, but in her attempt to only tease him, she accidentally knocked him down. She brought one hand up to her mouth, trying to prevent herself from laughing, but she didn’t succeed. Her husband glared at her with annoyance as she laughed so hard she was afraid she would wet herself.
    Scott wanted to be angry at his wife; he really did, because she deserved it after pulling that little stunt. Even if it wasn’t deliberate. The little imp had knocked him flat onto his back on the ice, and instead of helping him, she was standing there snickering at him!
    After laughing until her sides began to hurt, Bree reached out her hands to him. Still chuckling, she pulled him to his feet only to find herself almost falling onto the ice.
    Once he was back on his feet, he was chagrined to discover the seat of his jeans was soaked all the way through, which caused his wife to erupt into another fit of giggles. No matter how hard he fought it, he couldn’t seem to resist chortling right along with her. “You did that on purpose, you little minx!” he accused.
    She shook her auburn head adamantly, unable to speak because she was still laughing so hard. She began wiping tears away as her chuckles began to subside. “Oh, baby, I’m sorry.” She couldn’t help but to giggle one last time, even as she was apologizing, which earned her another murderous glare from her husband.
    “Truce?” she questioned, her eyes still dancing with merriment as she held out one of her hands to him.
    Scott gazed at her and then grinned, his brown eyes softening. “Truce,” he agreed as he clasped his strong hand in her soft one. She giggled when he reached over and began nuzzling her neck.
    Her fingertips stroked the curve of his hand, her emerald green eyes staring up at him. She pulled her body away from him, her hands still entwined with his.
    His body gave a start when he realized she was beginning to skate, her body gently guiding him, her slender frame weaving in a slow