I'm Not in Love (Once Upon a Winter Book 2) by Tilly Tennant

Hannah panted.
    ‘What am
I
doing?’ he shouted back. ‘What the hell are
you
doing?’
    ‘Going home.’
    ‘Like this?’ he slowed to stop as he caught up with her. ‘On your own in the middle of the night? Anything could happen to you!’
    Hannah couldn’t help a wry smile. ‘I thought it was just about to. You scared me half to death. Why are you following me? Where’s Martine?’
    ‘At the party.’
    ‘I bet she’s thrilled that you’ve left her sitting like a lemon while you chase after me.’
    ‘She’s alright…’ he said, though he didn’t look convinced of that. ‘She’s safe in a room full of people.’
    ‘Unlike me?’
    ‘Exactly.’
    ‘I can handle myself. Besides, these roads are always deserted so it’s not very likely I’d meet anyone, even if I walked all night.’
    ‘That’s why you shouldn’t be out alone. What if you fell? Or if someone did choose this moment to attack you? There’d no way of getting any help.’
    Hannah didn’t have a reply. She started to walk again.
    ‘You’re determined to walk home?’ Mitchell asked as he fell into step beside her.
    ‘I don’t see how else I’m going to get there.’
    ‘We could have given you a lift if you’d asked.’
    ‘I don’t think Martine would have been happy; you’d only just arrived.’
    ‘She wouldn’t have minded.’
    ‘Hmmmm. Well, I don’t like to take advantage.’
    ‘Where’s your sister?’
    ‘Busy.’
    ‘How’s she getting home? Wouldn’t she have come with you?’
    ‘Like I said, she’s busy. But I think she had the whole getting home thing covered.’
    ‘Does she know you’ve left?’
    ‘Yes,’ Hannah replied, although that did depend on whether she’d looked at her phone or not. Hannah thought it better not to mention that bit.
    ‘And she didn’t try to stop you?’
    ‘No… though… I didn’t exactly tell her to her face.’ She turned to him. ‘What are you doing?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘You’re walking with me.’
    ‘Yes. Well spotted.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because I can’t let you go home alone.’
    ‘Does Martine know this is your plan? And how will you get back to the party? It’s miles away from my house, and Martine has been drinking so you can’t call her to fetch you.’
    ‘I’ll get a taxi.’
    ‘That’ll cost you a small fortune out here at this time of night!’
    ‘Then you’ll just have to turn around and come back to the party with me until someone can take you safely.’
    ‘You might have saved my life once, but that doesn’t mean I owe you,’ Hannah replied tartly. ‘I can do what I like and I want to go home.’
    ‘You don’t owe me, but I owe you. Hannah…’ he laid a hand on her arm and pulled her to a halt. His voice was softer now. ‘I couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to you…’
    ‘Nothing will happen to me –’
    Before she could finish her sentence his lips were on hers. She could pull away… she
should
pull away… but she didn’t want to. His lips were frozen from the chill of the night, but soft and yielding. They kissed as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and there was none of the awkwardness of first date kisses she’d known before, it was as if they’d always known how to kiss each other. It was so, so wrong, and yet it felt so right and so wonderful that she never wanted it to end. Her arms slid around his waist, travelling across his back beneath his jacket, exploring the firm contours of his muscles. He pulled her closer, his kisses more urgent, his hands now at the nape of her neck and in her hair. This was… this was…
    Hannah yanked herself away, all at once burning for him and appalled at her lack of control. ‘What are you doing?’
    ‘I’m sorry… I thought…’
    ‘You thought wrong.’
    ‘But I… we… I sensed a connection…’
    ‘You’re married!’ Hannah cried, choosing to ignore the question in his statement. Of course there was a connection, and she couldn’t deny it, the