Sarah gave him a look that said not to argue, but to just do what the woman wanted. “Guess you have to kiss me again.”

Bodie sighed. “Guess I do.”

“Slower this time, so she can get the picture and we can go help with clean-up.”

Bodie leaned in, touched his mouth to Sarah’s again. This time, he lingered long enough to fully register how soft her lips were.

He kissed Sarah.

And she kissed him back.

He really was lying in a hospital bed somewhere dreaming, because no way was this real.

No way could Sarah be kissing him the way she was.

As if the kiss wasn’t staged but was something magical, something she wanted and was enjoying.

“Oh! That’s perfect,” Mrs. Harvey interrupted the moment. “I got it. All the photos will be available for pickup at our place on Monday morning.”

Slowly, Bodie and Sarah parted. Sarah looked at him with the same wonder and awe as she’d looked up at the snow.

As if he enchanted her and filled her with happiness. As if she trusted him completely.

His promise to Maybelle rang through his mind, causing him to swallow the lump in his throat. He shouldn’t have kissed Sarah, shouldn’t have let them get into a situation where the kiss could even have happened.

He didn’t want to hurt Sarah. Couldn’t let himself hurt her.

He needed to protect her. Even if that meant protecting her from himself.

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Watching Bodie and a handful of others work to break down the tent, Sarah stood in the lightly falling snow, holding Harry’s leash and her stuffed elf.

Maybelle joined her. “How was the sleigh ride?”

“Good,” she said, keeping her eyes trained on Bodie.

They’d sold out of ornaments. Maybelle, her father, and the other volunteers were just packing everything up when Sarah and Bodie returned. They’d had plenty of volunteers. Bodie had asked Sarah to stay back with Harry while he went to help. She hadn’t argued. She’d needed a few moments to contemplate her and Bodie’s kiss.

He hadn’t wanted to kiss her. Why had he been so reluctant to play along with a quick, staged kiss beneath the mistletoe?

While Bodie helped the men take down the tent, was he thinking about their kiss, too? Wondering what it meant?

“Good,” Sarah repeated without meaning to.

Sarah didn’t have to look at Maybelle to know her brow had lifted. She could feel that arch.

“That’s all I get? A one-word answer twice over?”

Rubbing her gloved hand over her elf to smooth down its floppy ears, Sarah fought grimacing. What would Bodie say if he could even hear them—if she told Maybelle the truth, that the sleigh ride ended with a kiss that had her head spinning?