Still, for thirteen years, he’d dreaded Christmas. So ice-skating with Harper while Pentatonix sang “Mary, Did You Know?” on the sound system was like something out of a movie for him. He doubted she’d be here with him if she knew what he’d done and that he’d only gotten out of prison five months ago, but he pushed that out of his mind. He wasn’t going to ruin this one night. He was going to forget that terrible incident at the party and what had happened to him and Atticus as a result and pretend to be what she thought he was—just a normal guy teaching her how to ice-skate.

“You’re doing great,” he said as he bent to retie the laces that had come loose on her right skate.

“What are you talking about?” She rested her hands on his shoulders so she wouldn’t fall. “You’ve literally been holding me up. I never realized ice-skating was so hard. Hockey players and figure skaters make it look almost effortless.”

“It takes some getting used to, that’s all.”

“If I fall, I’m afraid I’m going to pull you down with me.”

“I won’t let you fall.” Harper’s cheeks were rosy and her breath misted slightly in the air as he stood and took her hands again. “Are you warm enough to keep going?” he asked.

Her gaze flew to his face. “Don’t tell me you’re tired already.”

“Just making sure you aren’t freezing to death.”

“No, I’m enjoying this. I feel—I feel happy, almost like a kid again.”

“Then we’ll keep going.” He smiled and felt his chest tighten a little when she smiled back at him. How had Axel Devlin ever let her go? Tobias couldn’t imagine any man doing that, but he was glad he’d brought her to the rink. They’d been laughing and talking since they’d gotten here. She couldn’t have had much time to worry about her divorce.

“You’re going to owe me some hot chocolate after this,” she said, blowing rings into the air while he guided her carefully across the ice.

He gave her a challenging look. “I thought you didn’t want to go out in public with me.”

“I don’t. But hot chocolate isn’t hard to make. Can’t we do it at your place?”

Surprised that she planned to go back to his house, he shrugged. “Sure. Why not? We’ll have to stop by the store first, though. I don’t keep hot chocolate on hand.”

“You’ve probably never had anyone else ask for it.”

“Can’t say I have. But now that I know you like it, I’ll have some in the cupboard while you’re in town.”

She wobbled and nearly fell, but he lifted her back on her skates before she could hit the ice.