Candy for Christmas: Hockey Player vs Ice Skater by Novalee Swan Page B

reason she felt slightly helpless
and aware of her femininity in a way that she thought should be
unwelcome, but wasn’t.
    When the tree hit the
ground it sent a cloud of white fluff up into the air. Nolan swung
the axe up behind his neck and gripped it, a hand on either side.
“What now?” he asked.
    Candice looked from
the fir to Nolan and back again. She walked to the felled tree and
wrapped her hands around the cut trunk and lifted. Then she began
to tug it towards her house. It was much heavier than she’d
expected.
    She had assumed it
would be easy to pull through the snow. That it would sort of just
slide along. That didn’t happen. She pointedly avoided looking at
Nolan until she heard him mutter, “Kill me now.”
    Before she knew what
was happening he’d taken the tree from her and began to pull it
through the snow. She stared after him, unmoving. She had a hard
time believing he’d cut down one of his trees for her and now he
was hauling it to her house. She’d only just moved to follow when
she heard him say something under his breath.
    “I’m on your property now , Levine.”

Chapter Two
    Holy shit. He’d come this close to kissing
Candy Divine, as he called her, though never to her face. There was
too much conflict between them already. He’d been on his way to
collect logs from his woodpile when he’d heard the dull thuds and
gone to investigate. He had not expected what he found.
    But he’d sure as hell
appreciated it.
    He probably should
have intervened sooner but he couldn’t help himself. She was a
thing of beauty, even if she couldn’t swing an axe to save her
life. He hefted the tree a little higher in his grasp, pretending
that he couldn’t care less if she followed or not, and turned
towards her cabin.
    Nolan was curious.
He’d never been inside. Their battlelines were firmly draw at the
property boundary, but sometimes even war had a Christmas
armistice. Okay, yeah, it wasn’t her house he was curious about so
much as what it would reveal about her.
    The woman was an
enigma.
    Five-time world
champion figure skater with three Olympic gold medals, Candice
Levine was a household name. A Google search told him she’d lost
her parents in a car accident when she was a teenager and was
notoriously media-shy.
    They called her the
ice princess.
    Then there was what
he’d witnessed firsthand.
    She was strong,
physically and mentally. She had to be, since she was holding her
own against him in their little war. She was beautiful. Long
chestnut hair with waves that he wanted to lose himself in. When
she’d shaken the snow free they’d swung loose about her slim
shoulders. Down her back. Tempting him. But her blue eyes, cold as
frostbite whenever she looked at him, were a constant reminder that
he’d lose a hand if he touched.
    Except, that hadn’t
happened. His fingers still felt the ghost of hers and his arm felt
empty without her waist to span. He tried not to dwell on how that
was possible given the tiny amount of time that he’d held her.
    But he knew that
simmering under all that conflict was raw attraction. Some days he
wasn’t sure if he wanted to strangle her or back her up against the
nearest pine tree, flick open the brass button on her jeans and
take her.
    “I could have dragged
it myself. It’s not far,” Candice said from where she’d caught up
to him.
    “Yeah, in time for
next Christmas, maybe.”
    “Why did you do
it?”
    “Do what?” He glanced
over at her.
    She gestured to the
tree he was dragging.
    He shrugged. “It is
the season…”
    “This doesn’t change
anything.”
    “Didn’t think it
would.”
    They reached the steps
that led up to her log cabin. Cabin was a misnomer. Like Nolan’s,
it was luxurious and spacious, with a pleasing harmony between
modern amenities and traditional charm. As Nolan dragged the tree
up the steps Candice went ahead and open the front door.
    He paused, shaking the
snow from the boughs before dragging the fir across the