He stopped abruptly, and she did, too, risking a look at his tight face, their gazes locking as he stared at her, his mouth a grim slash. “Possible?” His voice went high and actually cracked. He swore under his breath, taking a step closer, forcing Suzanne to take one back, her ass bumping against the brick. “My problem is that I like you too damn much.” Then he slid a hand onto her cheek, leaned in, and kissed her.

His lips were cold, and his nose was cold, but the kiss was hot and thorough. And it didn’t seem to matter that he spent the last three days ignoring her and acting like he hated her but apparently actually liked her—Suzanne welcomed the press of his body. She clung to his shoulders, savoring the taste of his toothpaste and the deep rumble of his groan and the delicious invasion of his tongue.

Her pulse trembled; the air in her lungs went thick as soup and her blood surged hot and viscous as arousal flushed through her pelvis.

On a ragged groan, he ended the kiss, but he didn’t pull away, just stayed close, pressing his forehead to hers as they both caught their breath. “It’s not hard,” he muttered. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been…”

Horrible? Awful? Dreadful? Completely freaking confusing? Giving her whiplash…?

“Difficult. These past days. I don’t want to hurt—”

Suzanne placed her fingers against his lips. As much as she wanted to hear whatever Grady had to say, they couldn’t have this conversation here, in an alleyway on their way to a Christmas lunch where everyone but his aunt and uncle and the hostess thought they were playing hide-the-salami every night. “Let’s do this later, okay?”

He looked like he wanted to argue but stopped himself with a brisk nod and a smile that was more pained than happy. But when he slowly eased away, his gloved hand reached for her gloved hand hanging loose by her side and gave it a squeeze, which was still confusing but somehow helped.

She expected Grady to release her hand, but he didn’t, and they walked to the end of the alley, side by side, hand in hand, their arms brushing. A little glow of hope found oxygen inside Suzanne’s chest. She didn’t know if it meant anything at all, but who’d have thought something as simple and innocuous as a handhold could evoke such optimism?

They rounded the corner to find the park across the road from the boardinghouse a hive of activity. The day was clear and sunny, with two inches of snow having fallen overnight, leaving a good covering of powder. Several snowmen in varying stages of construction stood sentinel at the front of the park, obviously abandoned in preference to the full-scale snowball fight going on behind them.