A New Year Marriage Proposal (Harlequin Romance) by Kate Hardy Page B

panic in her eyes, he stroked her cheek. ‘I think we have a circus to attend.’
    He was letting her off the hook.
    For now.
    But at least he didn’t let her hand go. He kept his fingers entwined with hers all the while they browsed through the Christmas stalls, except for the moments when she was picking up decorations and looking at them before making herself resist them.
    And he held her hand all the way through the circus performance—amazing gymnasts on springboards jumping higher and higher and doing more and more complicated somersaults; a juggler; clowns who threw buckets of glitter over the audience and water over each other; a tightrope walker; and daring trapeze artists who timed their leaps to milliseconds. They both found themselves oohing and ahhing with the rest of the audience. But most of all Carissa was aware of the fact that Quinn was still holding her hand.
    ‘So what’s the verdict?’ she asked as they left the circus.
    ‘Are we talking proof, or are we talking Sparkle business?’ he asked.
    There had been moments where she’d seen the magic of Christmas reflected in his eyes. And there had definitely been a moment when she’d experienced the magic of Christmas from his lips; but had it been the same for him? Right now she was too chicken to put it to the test and ask him outright. ‘Sparkle,’ she said.
    ‘I think kids would love it—the rides and the food. The little ones would love the lights and the ice sculptures. Though some of them might find the clowns scary.’
    ‘Are you telling me you were scared of clowns when you were little?’ she teased—and she regretted her words the very next second when she saw his barriers come straight back up and he disentangled his hand from hers. She wished she’d kept her mouth shut. ‘Sorry. I wasn’t prying,’ she said softly.
    He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘I know.’
    But it was too late. The moment had been destroyed.
    They walked back through the park to Grove End Mews. Carissa didn’t quite have the courage to reach for Quinn’s hand, because she didn’t want him to reject her. And the silence between them had become awkward rather than companionable.
    They paused outside her front door.
    ‘Do you, um, want to come in for coffee?’ she asked.
    ‘Thanks, but I have stuff I need to be getting on with,’ he said.
    He’d been polite, but Carissa knew it was just an excuse to save her feelings. She gave him her brightest, glitziest smile. ‘Well, thanks for coming with me. I’ll catch you later.’
    * * *
    Quinn knew a brave, fake smile when he saw one—and he felt guilty as hell that he’d pushed Carissa into that role. He knew that her ex had made her do that, too. OK, so he hadn’t hurt her physically, the way Justin had done, but he still knew he’d hurt her and he hated himself for that.
    But right now he needed some space to let himself think about all this.
    It would be, oh, so easy to let himself fall for Carissa Wylde. To fall for the magic that she saw in Christmas—the way she saw the joy in things, the way her smile brightened up a room. And he hadn’t been able to resist kissing her in the middle of the Winter Fantasia. Especially with that song playing. Because he’d realised right at that moment that what he really wanted for Christmas was Carissa Wylde.
    But.
    She’d been hurt in the past. Physically as well as emotionally.
    And Quinn didn’t think he was the one who could rescue her. Particularly as he knew he’d already been guilty of hurting people who’d wanted more from him emotionally than he’d been prepared to give. He could still see the look on Janine’s face when he’d told her it just wasn’t working and he didn’t want to mess her about—it was his fault, not hers, but they needed to break up. The light in her eyes had just drained away, and she’d looked crushed. He didn’t want to hurt Carissa like that, too. But he didn’t know how to change.
    He let