Christmas In A Small Town. Kristina Knight

her other foot left the dock.

      And then they were both falling.

      Frigid water splashed over Levi’s head, and he gasped, taking in a mouthful of lake water as he did. Levi kicked for the surface, sputtering and coughing when his head found the air.

      Camden surfaced just after him, coming up just a couple of yards from Levi, spluttering.

      “You okay?”

      “What the heck was that?” she asked angrily. The ball cap had come off under water, and long, dark, saturated hair hung over her face. She pushed a mass of it away, but the darkness hid her face from him.

      She kicked toward the dock, and Levi followed. She was mad at him? “I was trying to keep us both dry,” he said, hauling himself up on the dock while she used the ladder.

      “Nice job,” she said, and there was a note of sarcasm underlying the anger.

      Well, she wasn’t the only one ending a chilly November night with a dunking in the lake. “What the hell were you doing watching your camera screen instead of watching your step?”

      “I was taking a video of the lighting ceremony, thank you very much.” She made it to the top of the ladder, and Levi held out his hand to help her onto the dock. “Granddad and Grandmom stayed home, and I wanted them to see what the lights looked like from the docks.”

      She ignored his hand and stepped onto the wood, water streaming off her clothes to puddle on the dock around them.

      “I’ll never find my hat,” she mumbled as she gathered the hem of her shirt in her hands and squeezed out some of the water. The camera dangled from a string around her wrist.

      Lights were strewn intermittently around the dock, and in the dim light, he could see her bottom lip tremble. Not in fear or hurt, but from the cold. Camden gathered her hair in her hands and wrung out the excess water. He should do something. Offer her his coat. Of course, it was soaking wet, along with everything else he wore.

      “I have a blanket in my truck,” he said. He shrugged the soaked denim jacket off his shoulders and twisted it in his hands as water streamed onto the wooden slats at their feet, then hung it on a dock post and stripped his shirt over his head.

      “What the—What are you doing, Levi?” A hint of panic edged into her voice.

      “I’m wringing out my shirt. Don’t worry, the feminine virtue of a woman who wanders around strange towns in a wedding dress is safe with me.”

      “I wasn’t wandering around town, I was getting directions. And I told you, the gown wasn’t exactly my choice.”

      “And yet you were driving across Missouri wearing it.”

      “I needed to clear my head.” She frowned.

      “Looks like you finally found some nonwedding attire to wear.”

      “I picked up a few things at Julia’s store on Thanksgiving. And thankfully ordered a few more things online, because these clothes are probably done for.” A tremor shook her body as she spoke.

      Levi wadded the shirt in his hands until no more water dripped out, then held it by the hem, snapping it between his hands. He put it back on and shivered. He grabbed his soaked jacket from the post. “Come on, let’s get you somewhere warm and dry,” he said. Levi didn’t wait; he caught Camden’s elbow in his hand and led her toward downtown. For the first time, his skin didn’t tingle at her touch. Good—maybe the other night had just been a fluke and he wasn’t as hard up for sex as he’d imagined.

      He slipped the damp shirt back over his head and shivered. He needed to get out of these clothes, pronto. Camden shivered beside him. So did she.

      “A little cold water hasn’t hampered my ability to walk, thank you,” she said, pulling her arm from his grasp. But she continued walking beside him. After a moment, she blew out a breath. “Do you make a habit of knocking unsuspecting women into the lake so you can offer them a warm blanket?”

      “It’s probably not much warmer than we are at the moment, but it’s dry. And I didn’t knock you into the lake, you stepped right off the dock.” They crossed from the dock to the main road, and Levi pointed. “My truck’s right over there.”

      “Because you grabbed at me.” He hadn’t expected her to fall to her knees in gratitude, but this was a little much on the annoyance side of things. All he’d done was tell her to watch out and then try to keep her from falling. She was the one who overreacted to the situation.

      She kicked her legs and stomped her feet as they walked, as if either would do much to get more of the water off her. Her tennis shoes made squishing sounds as they walked. So did his. Levi held back a grin. She looked ridiculous. He probably did, too.

      “I grabbed at you because you were flailing around like a bass in the bottom of a boat.” He unlocked the truck and grabbed the blanket out of the back seat.

      “I was just fine until you—”

      “You’re welcome,” he interrupted, handing the soft throw to her.

      She narrowed her gaze at him and didn’t take the blanket. “That wasn’t a thank-you.”

      “It should have been.”

      Streetlights threw a cozy glow on the downtown area, brightened even more by the Christmas lights around the buildings and in store windows. Only a few people were still outside; most had gone into the Slippery Slope or the grandstand, where a local band was playing holiday music. Camden pushed her hair out of her eyes, and Levi’s hands tightened into fists.