‘Ten!’
‘So there’s something we have to talk about.’ Sam fixed a serious look to her face.
‘Nine!’
‘Should I be worried?’ Reuben took the champagne and brought it to his lips.
‘Eight!’
‘Maybe. Just a bit’
‘Seven!’
His face fell.
‘Six!’
‘Are you going to drink that…?’ He nodded at the glass she was holding.
‘Five!’
‘Will I need both glasses for what you’ve got in store?’
‘Four!’
Sam passed him the glass. ‘Take it. I’m off it for at least nine months.’
‘Three!’
She revelled in the moment Reuben’s eyes widened and his mouth formed an ‘o’.
‘Two!’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
‘One!’
Around them laughter, whoops, clapping and cries of ‘Happy New Year’ lit up the room, but all the joy and happiness combined couldn’t match that which existed between the two of them at that moment.
‘Happy New Year, Reuben, my love.’ Sam lifted herself on tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his waist.
‘Just when I didn’t think I could get any happier, you found a way.’ Reuben shook his head, wonder lighting up his eyes as their lips met, brushed, then deepened into a kiss as sweet as their love, as long as their respect, and as full of life and laughter as their life would be. For now. Forever.
Acknowledgements
To you, lovely reader. Thank you for taking time out of your day to spend a little time with me. Know that I appreciate you more than words can express.
To my family, as always, who put up with general vagueness during the flurry of writing a first draft, deal with beige food during editing deadlines, and love me through the good times and the bad.
To Susie Frame and Steph Matuku. You two are the best writing buddies a girl could ask for. Thank you for your love, friendship and support.
To the fabulous team at Orion - Victoria, Olivia, Charlotte, and Helena. Where would I be without you? Your guidance, creativity and knowledge push me and see me grow as a writer. You have my eternal respect and adoration.
About the Author
At the age of five Kellie Hailes declared she was going to write books when she grew up. It took a while for her to get there, with a career as a radio copywriter, freelance copywriter and beauty editor filling the dream-hole, until now. Kellie lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her patient husband and very entertaining daughter. When the characters in her head aren't dictating their story to her, she can be found taking short walks, eating good cheese and hanging out for her next coffee fix.
Copyright
AN ORION EBOOK
First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Orion Books
Ebook first published in 2020 by Orion Books
Copyright © Kellie Hailes 2020
The right of Alison Craig to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
eISBN: 978 1 3987 0003 1
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London, EC4Y 0DZ
An Hachette UK company
www.orionbooks.co.uk
Snowed In At Snowflake B&B: The perfect heartwarming Christmas romance to curl up with in 2020! Page 22