He leaned in, placing a hand on the small of her back, and whispered over her head, "If Kyle's here, you want to have a little fun?"Jocelyn laughed. "It depends.""Upon?""Upon what it is.""Trust me.""Famous last words."He laughed and held the door for her as they walked in. Sure enough, Kyle was standing behind the front desk.Kyle looked at Caden, noticing his hand on Jocelyn's back, and frowned. "Caden. When did you get home?""Yesterday. It's good to see you, Kyle." A devilish smile appeared on Caden's lips.Kyle looked over at Jocelyn and nodded. "How've you been?""Good." Now that Caden was back.Kyle looked over at Caden and narrowed his eyes. "So, I thought you were dating Mallory, Jocelyn's sister?"Caden shrugged. "That was a long time ago." Then he looked down at Jocelyn. "I've moved on to better things."Jocelyn's heart pounded against her rib cage. Although she knew Caden was doing this for Kyle's benefit, her heart didn't seem to know it.Kyle's face con
No one was at the counter, so Caden walked over and Kyle smirked. "Back so soon?""Okay, Kyle. That's enough. Give Caden back his money," Jocelyn intervened. "You know I'd never skied before, but I thought I'd try.""Well, the lesson didn't last long." A knowing grin spread across his lips.Caden plopped the skis down, sending flakes of snow across the counter, melting into tiny pools of water."Hey! Watch it!" Kyle held up his hands as he backed away."Kyle, give him a refund- please." Jocelyn took a step closer to the counter, but Caden stepped in front of her, blocking her way."You heard the lady," Caden said in a low, menacing voice. "We'd like a refund."Kyle looked over Caden's arms at Jocelyn. "Okay." He walked over to the register, pulled out some money after punching some buttons, and then walked back over and laid the cash on the counter. "Here."A broad smile spread across Caden's lips. "Thank you." He scooped up the money and shoved it in his wallet. Then he looked
"What's wrong?" Caden asked, obviously noticing that she was too quiet.But Jocelyn just shook her head, unwilling to tell him. Yes; Caden Scott was definitely detrimental to her heart.Luckily, Caden let it go. "Well, let's head on over to the lake. Is it frozen?""Solid as a rock."Caden chuckled. "Good. That way I won't have to save you again.""Yeah, well, I'm not a kid anymore." She took her eyes from the scenery and looked over at him. A much better view. "I know how far to go now."Caden laughed. "Yes, I'd bet you do."She slapped him playfully on the arm. "Caden!""Well, you walked right into it." He shrugged. "I just jumped right in."Jocelyn laughed. "You're unbelievable.""So, tell me. When is this Christmas pageant?"Thoughts of Mallory rushed immediately into her mind. "A few days before Christmas. Are you going to go? Mallory's going to be on a float in the parade."Caden sighed. "I'm not sure. Are you going?"She shrugged. "Probably."Within minutes, they p
Then she turned around and he took her hands, guiding her around the ice again."You're going to do it.""What? The triple?"He nodded."Oh no I'm not!""Get ready-.""Caden-.""Set-.""You're impossible.""Go!" He spun her around and threw her into the air, sending her into a perfect spin. She twisted three times in the air and then touched down perfectly on one skate. "See? I knew you still had it!""I'm a lot taller now.""Not by much." He took her hands again and guided her around the ice.They skated most of the day away. But when the sun began to set and the bitter cold began to set in, she came to a stop and sat down on the bench. She knew she would pay for this the next day. Her muscles were already sore. But she had a wonderful time. "Well, I think it's time to call it a day."Caden spun around to look at her, skating backward. "So soon?"Jocelyn laughed as she started unlacing her skates. "We've been skating nearly all day!"He skated around to look at her agai
The next morning, thoughts of Jocelyn filled his mind. When Caden walked out into the living room, his parents had already left for the tree lot. He hurried to eat, telling himself that he was eager to see Mallory. But in reality, he couldn't wait to see Jocelyn again. What are you doing? You're an idiot. He enjoyed spending time with Jocelyn, but he had given Mallory his heart long ago. Over the years, Mallory had occupied his mind and had helped him get through some sticky situations. When the going got tough and he didn't know if he was going to make it through the mission, he had thought of Mallory and promised himself that he'd see her again. Then he'd live.But now that he was here, everything had turned upside down. Mallory wasn't the person he had remembered her to be, and neither was Jocelyn. When he had left, Jocelyn was just a little girl that he thought of as his little sister. Now, she was anything but. Jocelyn had become quite a beautiful woman. But what he liked about h
"Oh no! I did enough of that when I was growing up," Caden objected. He looked up and his mother had already seen him. "Why'd you come here?"Jocelyn shrugged. "I just thought I'd volunteer. It's my day off and I like to feel useful." Then she leaned in conspiratorially. "Besides, it looks as if your parents could use the help."Caden sighed, giving her a smile. "Come on. I'll get you some gloves.""Now, that's the spirit!" she approved, climbing out of the car.As they walked over to the tree lot, Caden's father walked toward them. "Hello, son. It's good to see you here. Who's your friend?"Caden smiled. "This is Jocelyn, Mallory's sister."His father's smile faded, but he quickly recovered himself. For some reason, his parents had never liked Mallory. Although Caden knew they hated for his heart to be broken, he suspected they were secretly relieved when they broke up."What brings you two by on such a wonderful day?" Noah asked, motioning around him. "Well, we'd thought we'
"So, what's the verdict? Please tell me, not chicken again," Noah replied as Caden laughed. "Well," Emma replied, "it's either a bucket of chicken or hamburgers. You decide.""Hamburgers," Noah replied without hesitation.Jocelyn laughed. "You like fried chicken?" she asked Emma as both Noah and Caden rolled their eyes."Love it!" Emma replied. Caden chuckled. "Yes, she eats it nearly every day. We'd be rich if we had bought stock years ago.""Yeah, no wonder I'm getting sick of it," Noah added.Caden laughed. "Jocelyn, would you like to go with me?"She stood. "Sure. I could use a little break." Then she turned to Caden's mother. "Would you like anything else?""Um- fries and a Coke." She dug into her pocket and handed her a few bills. "And get yourselves whatever you want. Noah? What would you like?""Get me a cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke." Noah pulled out another bill and handed it to her. Caden knew this was a rarity for his parents to hand anyone money other than hi
He looked into her eyes, his heart wrenching. There was no way that he would ever hurt her purposefully. She was such a wonderful person and vulnerable, it would be like hurting a puppy. And somehow, when she hurt, he hurt. Never had he ever felt that with anyone else before."Everything all right?"When Caden looked up, his father was standing a few yards away, obviously not wanting to intrude on a moment. "Yes, Dad. We're fine. Just a little misunderstanding."Jocelyn pulled back and wiped her eyes and gave Caden a slight smile."Well, pick up the bags and let's eat before the ants get it." Noah turned around and walked back to the tent. There were a few customers on the lot, but nothing that the other workers couldn't handle.Caden and Jocelyn picked up the bags and Caden whispered over her head, "I'd better warn you. My mother has a worried look on her face. Translated, that means that you're about to face the inquisition."Jocelyn laughed. "Come on. Let's go."When they wal