Snowkissed: Christmas Kisses with Her Boss / Proposal at the Winter Ball / The Prince's Christmas Vow

Ethan’s lips straightened to grim as he strode forward but before he could get there Ruby had put herself directly in the girl’s path and Ethan’s gut froze. The girl looked feral, her pupils wide and he could only hope that she wasn’t doped up on anything.

The knife glinted in her hand. Behind Ruby, the dark-haired boy had tensed and Ethan knew any second now the situation would blow. No way would that boy be able to keep face if he backed down to a girl—the only reason he hadn’t launched yet was the fact that Ruby was in the middle.

She held her hand out to the girl. ‘Tara, give me the knife. No one is going to hurt you. Not now and not later. Not Max, not anyone.’ Ruby’s voice betrayed not a flicker of fear. She swept a glance at Ethan and gave a small shake of head and he slowed his stride. Ruby clearly didn’t want him to spook the girl. Instead Ethan ducked round so that he could manoeuvre Max out of the equation, saw the boy open his mouth and moved straight in.

‘Quiet.’ Max took one look and kept his mouth shut.

‘Come on, Tara,’ Ruby said. ‘It’s OK. Look round. You’re safe. Look at me. You have my word. Now give me the knife and it will all be fine.’

Tara had shaken her head. ‘It’ll never be fine,’ she stated with a flat despair that chilled Ethan’s blood. Then the knife fell to the floor, the clatter as it hit the tiles released some of the tension in the room. Ruby put her foot over the weapon, then stooped to pick it up.

‘You want to keep going?’ she asked Tara. ‘It’s OK. No repercussions.’ She turned to Max and there was something in her stance that meant business. ‘No repercussions,’ she repeated.

Next to him Ethan saw the social worker open his mouth as if to intervene and he stepped into action. ‘I second that. No repercussions from anyone. This is not what this all about. You guys want to make a difference to your lives. It starts here. And this incident ends here.’

‘Now back to baking,’ Ruby said.

Looking back now, it occurred to Ethan how seamlessly he and Ruby had acted together, so attuned to the nuances of the scene, the risks, the threat, the best way to defuse the tension.

Ruby picked up her mug and cradled it. ‘You know what she told me?’

Ethan shook his head. His chest panged at the pain sketched on Ruby’s features.

‘She told me she wished there had been repercussions. That if she’d ended up inside it would have been better for her than her life now.’

Ruby’s voice was sad and heavy with knowledge.

‘I don’t blame her for having that knife. Her home life makes mine look like a picnic in the park. Her dad is a violent loser and she is so damaged no carer can cope. That’s why she’s in a residential home. That’s why she reacted to Max like that—he was in her space and she panicked. Oddly enough after the incident Max tried to befriend her.’ She glanced at him. ‘Your doing?’

‘I did talk to him.’ He had tried to tell him there were other ways—told him that there were consequences to actions.

‘That’s fab, Ethan. Maybe they can help each other. I hope they’ll all come back in September. Once they let their guard down they were all so full of potential—I mean, did you see them after surfing? They had a blast.’

So had he. All the teenagers had been stoked to be in the water and he’d watched them—some of them carbon copies of himself and Rafael. Tough...so tough...and always out to prove it. Because if they didn’t there was the fear of being taken down. All swagger, all bravado—but up against the waves, up against the spray and the sea salt, they had met an element stronger than themselves that they could challenge with impunity. And they’d loved it. Enough, he hoped, to incentivise them to keep out of trouble until September.

A soft sigh escaped her lips. ‘I wish... I wish I could help. Take them all in and house the lot of them.’ She placed her empty plate down with a thunk. ‘Maybe one day I will. No—not maybe. Definitely.’

‘How are you going to do that?’

Her chin tilted. ‘I’m going to adopt,’ she said. ‘That’s my single parenthood plan.’

Maybe it shouldn’t surprise him—after all, Ruby had been in care and he understood why she would want to help children like the child she had been. Hey, he wanted to do that. But adoption by herself...

Her eyes narrowed. ‘You don’t think it’s a good plan?’

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘Then what? You think I can’t hack it?’

‘I didn’t say that either.’

‘Then say something. What do you think?’

‘I think it’s a very, very big thing to take on.’ He raised a hand. ‘I’m not saying you couldn’t do it. I think you would be a fantastic person for any kid to have in their lives.’ And he meant that—he’d seen the way she’d interacted with all the kids, seen her capacity for care and love. ‘But taking on older children... It’s a huge commitment—especially on your own.’

‘I know that.’

There was no uncertainty in her voice and he couldn’t help but wonder at the depth of her need to do this even as he admired her confidence in herself. The idea of anybody—let alone a child...let alone a child who had already been through the system—being dependent on him for their well-being made his veins freeze over. To those kids Ruby would be their salvation, and he knew that saving wasn’t part of his make-up.

But concern still niggled. ‘You said you’d decided on single parenthood because you can’t pick good father material. Don’t you think you should rethink that strategy?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean why not open yourself up to the idea of a relationship? Find a man who will support you emotionally and be a great father to your family. You’re too young to give up on having love and a family.’

‘You have,’ she pointed out.

‘That’s because I don’t want love or a family. You can’t give up on something you’ve never wanted in the first place. You do want love—you’d never have been sucked in by Hugh or those other two losers otherwise.’

‘See?’ Tucking her legs beneath her, she jabbed her finger at him. ‘That’s exactly it. Three out of three losers. That’s a one hundred per cent miss rate. I can’t risk what is most important to me—having a family—by taking a side quest for love. Plus, if I pick wrong it could have a terrible effect on any children. I need to stay focused on my ultimate goal. I thought you of all people would get that. You want Caversham world domination and I want children. I won’t be sidelined by anything else.’

Well, what could he say to that?

‘I can see the “but” written all over your face, Ethan. I know it will be tough but it will be incredibly worthwhile.’ The finality in her tone suggested that any argument would be futile. ‘Like these past two days have been.’

‘Two days is one thing. A lifetime is another.’

He pressed his lips together. Ruby was right—she had her goal and he had his, and hers was none of his business. What did he know? It was not as if he thought love was a good idea, so why push Ruby towards it? He didn’t want the bright light of hope to be extinguished from those eyes by some idiot. But that wasn’t his problem or his decision to make—it was Ruby’s. So...

‘You’re right I think the past two days were a success—and a lot of that is thanks to you. The tree, the gifts, the food...and the karaoke carols were superb. You did a great job.’

Relief touched her face at the change of subject and he wondered if she regretted telling him of her plans.

‘So did you. Thanks muchly. And thanks for letting me be part of it.’ A glance at her watch and she straightened up in the chair. ‘Right. I’ll start the clear-up procedure and then I’ll be on my way. Leave you to your Christmas plans.’

Her voice was a smidge too breezy, and her eyes flicked away from his as she rose to her feet.

‘Don’t worry about clearing up,’ he said as he stood, his eyes fixed on her expression. ‘You’ve already spent so much time and effort on this—I want you to start your break as soon as possible.’

Deliberately casual, he stepped towards her.

‘Where did you say you were going, again?’

‘Um...’ For a heartbeat she twisted her finger into a stray curl, then met his gaze with cool aplomb. ‘I didn’t.’ As she moved towards the door she gave him a small smile. ‘Any more than you shared your plans.’

Her pace increased to escape speed and instantly he moved to bar her path.

‘That’s easily remedied. My plan is to stay here.’