Christmas Ever After (Puffin Island 3)

Rain was falling steadily now, landing in droplets on his jacket and her hair.

‘Paige—’

‘The kiss the other night—’

‘Was a mistake.’

‘But it was real. It wasn't because I was a pair of red lips in an elevator. All these days, months, years I've been telling myself you didn't feel anything. All the time I've been confused because my instincts were so wrong and I couldn't understand why. But now I do. They weren't wrong. I wasn't wrong.’

‘Maybe you weren't.’

‘So why let me think that?’

‘Because it was easier.’

‘Easier than what? Telling me the truth? Newsflash—and, by the way, I thought you knew this—I don't want to be protected. I want to live my life. You're the one who's always telling me to take more risks.’

‘Yeah, well, that proves you shouldn't listen to anything I tell you. We should go inside before you catch pneumonia.’

He eased away from the railings and she caught his arm.

‘I'll go inside when I decide to go inside.’ The rain was soaking her skin. ‘What happens now?’

‘Nothing. I know you don't want to be protected but that's tough, Paige, because that's what I'm doing. I'm not what you're looking for and I never have been. We don't want the same thing. There's a car waiting downstairs to take you and the other two home. Make sure you use it.’

Without giving her a chance to respond, Jake strode away from her towards the bank of elevators and left her standing there, alone in the glittering cityscape, watching the entire shape of her life change. Another twist. Another turn. The unexpected.