Christmas Wishes

Molly also recognized that these were dangerous feelings. The kind of feelings she’d have to keep to herself, unless she wanted to get her heart broken in two.

Because Molly knew that whatever was happening between her and Nicholas was doomed from the start. Sure, Nicholas had been jealous of Grant back at the store, but how long were his feelings going to last? How long would Nicholas be infatuated with Molly?

Molly’s smile fell from her face as reality passed over her with a less-than-gentle breeze.

Nicholas Kerstman would soon be going back to New York. He had a life there.

And he was going to forget all about his crush on the small-town girl he left behind. She knew she was just a distraction while he sold his store.

“Hmm. This looks like a week at the gym,” Nicholas mumbled, glaring at his walking taco.

Molly tried not to laugh when he took a big bite and closed his eyes with pleasure. “Ooh! You know what goes great with these? Hot chocolate.”

“Molly.” Nicholas sounded devastated at her suggestion. “You’re going to ruin my taste buds. I’ll never be able to properly taste sashimi, ever again.”

“You don’t need sashimi. You need hot chocolate,” she replied. She bumped Nicholas’ hip with her own. “Come on.”

When they’d both secured their drinks of choice (hot chocolate for Molly, green tea for Nicholas), they sat down on a bench in the park, watching the crowd of ice skaters zoom around the rink.

“When was the last time you went ice skating?” Molly asked Nicholas in between bites of her walking taco.

“Years and years ago. Back when I was a little kid,” Nicholas replied. He glanced over at her. “Are you cold?”

She couldn't help the shiver that ran down the length of her again. The jacket she wore was stylish, but not very warm. “A little bit, but I’ll be fine—”

Nicholas took off his wool overcoat and placed it over Molly’s shoulders.

Molly smiled over at him, pulling the jacket up around her chin. Not only was the jacket warm with his heat, it smelled like him, too. She tried not to make it obvious as she breathed in the scent of him. “Okay, but now won’t you be cold?”

“Doesn’t matter if I’m cold, as long as you’re not,” Nicholas said with a shrug.

Molly felt a bright blush creeping up her cheeks.

“Wait, aren’t there like a billion ice skating rinks in NYC? Why haven’t you gone ice skating since you were a kid?” she asked.

“Because I...” Nicholas darted his eyes away from Molly. “I was never that good at it.”

“Nicholas Kerstman, are you telling me that you can’t ice skate?” Molly asked, trying to keep the laugh out of her voice. It was hard to believe there was anything Nicholas would admit to being bad at.

“I didn’t say that. I said I wasn’t good at it.” Nicholas took another bite of his dinner, still not looking at her directly. “Ice skating never really seemed like a useful skill to hav

e.”

“Not everything has to be useful, Nicholas. Some things are just fun,” Molly told him. She thought for a moment and then rose away from the bench, holding out her hand for Nicholas’ own. “Come on. Let’s go. We’ve got to get the concept of fun through your head.”

“I have fun,” Nicholas protested, taking Molly’s outstretched hand. “I read books. I go to bars. I work out.”

Molly frowned at Nicholas’ response. “Juice bars at the gym don't count,” she teased.

She led them both to the side of the ice-skating rink, not letting go of his hand. Even though they both wore gloves, there was a connection there she didn't want to break.

There was a man renting out pairs of shoes in a small shack next to the rink. Once they'd given their shoe sizes to him, he thrust two pairs towards Nicholas and Molly.

As Nicholas went for his wallet, the man shook his head. “Free of charge for the kids' concert.”

“Free of charge? Because of a kids' concert? Probably one of your busiest nights?” Nicholas looked stunned. He brought his hand up towards his face as if he was about to go into a lecture.

Molly nudged an elbow into Nicholas’ shoulder. “No business mode allowed. Not tonight.”