Chapter 3
3
Aaron
“Stop the car.”
I shoot Holly a concerned look. We’ve been catching up on the drive from the airport and everything seemed fine. It’s just started snowing but we’re about five minutes from the inn and are driving past Mr. McGregor’s farm. I pull over next to the small wooden fence that keeps the sheep from wandering into the road. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”
“It’s snowing.” She beams at me, and all the breath leaves my lungs.
Snow is as much part of my life as sunshine is—in fact even more so—so when the flakes began to fall, I didn’t consider that it was the first time Holly is seeing snow. Johannesburg has had sleet once or twice over the years, but nothing like we experience here.
She opens the door and gets out the car, spreading her arms wide and turning her face to the sky, her eyes closed. She opens her mouth and captures snowflakes on her tongue as she spins slowly around. The awe and amazement on her face brings a lump to my throat. Snowflakes flutter around her, landing on her clothes and speckling her brown hair. I don’t breathe. Don’t blink. Don’t move. I simply take her in, afraid any movement will break the spell she’s put on me. Slowly, she opens her eyes and starts laughing. “Oh my god, this is incredible, Aaron. It’s snowing. Get out here. Come play in the snow with me.”
Ask any of the locals what we think of the snow, and I guarantee you every single one of them will tell you it’s a fuckin’ pest—including my mother. But I know without a doubt that from this moment on, I’ll never look at snow the same way again.
Of course, I can’t ever share that with Holly. I lean over to her side of the door. “You forget I see this every day. It’s cold out there.”
She stops spinning. “Don’t tell me Aaron Walker has gone soft.”
I raise an eyebrow and get out the car. “Are you challenging me? Because remember, Trouble, I’m used to this weather, unlike your pampered self.”
“Pampered, huh?” She puts her hands on her hips. “Are you trying to start a war, sir?”
I shrug. “I’m just stating the facts. “What, you maybe get three months of cold a year in sunny SA?”
“So what, you guys are better equipped for the cold here. We aren’t.”
“Speaking of which.” I open the glove box and grab the beanie I have stashed in there. “Use thi—” When I turn around, I see her climbing the fence and making a beeline for the sheep grazing in the field.
Jesus!
“Holly, what are you doing?”
“Oh my god, they’re so cute, Aaron. The sheep are so cute. And there’s a tiny ram!” Her smile splits her face in two, and she starts running toward the flock.
“Wait, Holly. I wouldn’t do that.”
She keeps running like she doesn’t hear me, and maybe she doesn’t because the wind has picked up and the snow is falling heavier.
She turns to face me, her back to the sheep. “Ever wanted to just cuddle a sheep, Aaron?”
I can’t fight the smile that spreads across my face. Jesus, she’s adorable. She makes me want to dance in the snow and cuddle fucking sheep.
But then Basil, Mr. McGregor’s hand-reared sheep, tips his head. He’s the smallest of the flock and the most cantankerous sheep I’ve ever come across. Basil’s been like that since he was introduced to the flock. It was as though he knew he had the disadvantage of being hand reared and had to show them who was boss from day one. When he tips his head, it usually means he’s about to charge. “Oh, shit, Holly. Keep still.”
Basil digs his hoof in the ground, sending mud flying.
She frowns and turns around. Basil is all horns and hooves now.
Fuck my life.
“Are you seeing this? Look how grumpy he looks.” She crouches. “Come here, cutie. I’m not going to hurt you.”
This does not go over well with Basil. He snorts his displeasure loudly. I look from Basil to Holly and back again. Although Basil is tame, he isn’t a sheep from the petting zoos Holly visits back in South Africa.
This is not going to end well.
“Holly, listen to me, stay very still. If you don’t, he is going to charge.”
Of course, she doesn’t listen. She stands, fear on her face when she finally grasps the situation. Basil digs at the ground again, and the next second he’s charging. Holly squeals and runs in the opposite direction. Like her brother, she’s athletic and has played touch rugby with us a time or two, but Basil is a determined fucker. Even though he’s eight years old, he can outrun most of the lambs around here. It’s his attitude that keeps him going. He’s like a grumpy old man on jet fuel. And he’s gaining on Holly.
“Ah, shit.” I hop the fence and sprint diagonally across the field, hoping to intercept Basil before he reaches Holly and does some serious damage. I’m thankful for all my rugby training because it all comes back to me, and I reach Holly seconds before he does. I scoop her into my arms and swing her out of Basil’s way mere moments before he can ram her.
I turn to look at him. “Basil, rest,” I bark, thankful I’ve seen Mr. McGregor interact with him enough to know his command words.
He turns his head, snorts once, then starts grazing as if he wasn’t just charging Holly at thirty miles per hour.
“Are you, okay?” I ask, searching her face to see if she’s all right.
Jesus, she’s gorgeous. Even with her makeup streaked under her eyes from the snow landing on her face, and her hair frizzy from the moisture, she’s beautiful. Her cheeks are flushed from the cold and the exertion of running away from Basil, and those soft pink lips are slightly parted as she breathes heavily. It looks like she’s inviting me to kiss her. Of course, she isn’t, and I should definitely stop letting my mind wander off with itself.
Get a grip, Aaron.
“Holy crap, the animals in South Africa are tamer than that sheep.”
She still has her arms wrapped around my neck. “Yeah, because you’ve only ever been around petting zoo animals. Basil is actually quite tame. He was hand-reared. But this isn’t a petting zoo.”
She grins. “He has a name?”
“Don’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but...okay, yeah, I guess it makes sense. I though you said he was hand-reared. Doesn’t that imply he wouldn’t try to kill me for no reason?”
I chuckle. “He didn’t try to kill you.” My heart is still racing out of fear for Holly. I’m hoping the banter between us will be distraction enough to calm me because if I put her down, I have no doubt she’ll see how badly my hands are shaking. I fight the urge to bury my face in her neck and breathe her in. That was too damn close for my liking. “And he had a reason. You were on your way to molest him.”
“Are you serious? All I wanted to do was hug him.”
“Holly, surely you should know about getting consent,” I tease. “You didn’t even ask him if it was okay. You charged at him.”
“Do you realise how ridiculous you sound?”
“More or less ridiculous than someone trying to hug a sheep while he’s eating lunch?”
Holly’s stomach rumbles, and a blush spreads across her cheeks, deepening the already-present flush.
“You’re hungry.”
“I see you’ve been working on your powers of observation,” she says, her lips curling into a sassy smile. And all I can think of is bending her over the log fence so I can smack the sass out of her. But, like the gentleman I am—or should I say sucker—I start walking back to the car with Basil hot on my heels.
Holly seems to realise she’s still in my arms and starts wiggling. “Oh my god, Aaron, put me down. I can walk.”
“I don’t think you want me to do that.”
She slaps me on the chest. “Seriously, this is ridiculous, put me down.”
“Holly…”
“Aaron, didn’t we talk about consent five seconds ago?”
“If I put you down, Basil is going to try ram you again.”
“Trust me, I have no plans to hug him. I just want to walk to the car. Please put me down.”
“I will, the minute we get around the mud puddle.”
She looks at the soggy ground. Snow is beautiful when it starts, but when it stops, it’s a messy pain in the arse. Same goes for during too, if I’m honest.
“Seriously, Aaron, I’m quite capable of getting around a puddle.” She’s getting pissed. Her nostrils are flaring. God, she’s cute as fuck when she’s mad.
“Fair enough.” I place her gently on the ground. She turns her back on me and straightens her coat. Like I said, cute as…
Her agitation is evident, and Basil gets that look in his eye. He silently moves toward her. She’s about to go around the puddle when he lowers his head. Yeah, this is not going to be good.
I cross my arms over my chest. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Huh?” Holly turns to me, a frown creasing the skin between her eyebrows.
I bite my lip to stifle my laugh, but it bursts out of me as Basil gives her the gentlest nudge.
Right into the pool of mud.
With a snort, he walks off again.