.

No one ever said competing in a three-legged egg-and-spoon race while wearing a rabbit onesie would be easy, but Nina didn’t imagine that defending her precious title would be quite this fraught.

She glanced at her injured partner and tried to hide her annoyance with a sympathetic smile.

‘Don’t look at me like that,’ said Isaac.

‘I wasn’t.’

‘Were so. That was a cranky Nina face if ever I saw one.’ Isaac cast a forlorn look at his ankle, currently plonked in a silver champagne bucket full of ice courtesy of Gratia, one of the local wineries promoting their fares at the Levenham Easter Fun Fair. The leg of his pink rabbit onesie was shucked up to his knee, exposing a rapidly paling but impressively muscle-bound calf. A calf that had previously helped drive Team Bumpkin to glorious victory, with dinner at Levenham’s much-lauded Restaurant Ten and a hamper loaded with local goodies topping off the triumph. ‘It wasn’t my fault I tripped over a tent peg.’

‘We’re the defending champions!’ Nina flapped her arms from the sides of her matching onesie and slapped them down again. ‘You shouldn’t have been raiding a wine tent!’

‘You know your trouble?’ Isaac jabbed a finger. ‘You’re too competitive. It was one glass.’ The jabby finger went upright. ‘One.’

‘Yeah. A very full glass.’ She huffed and looked around. Where in lordy-loo was she going to score another partner this late in the day? Another male partner who hadn’t been raiding the wine or beer tents since lunchtime.

Her gaze flickered to a musclebound figure idling near the chocolate fountain. Cooper Delaney, equal parts love and bane of her life. He of the crooked, heart-melting smile. Of the long lashes and sparkling sapphire eyes, and adorable floppy dark-blond fringe he frequently scraped back with long, sensuous fingers.

He of the unfortunate Christmas-in-July party mistletoe incident six years ago when Nina transformed from pink-cheeked, lovesick seventeen-year-old into a human vacuum cleaner determined to suck his face off, only for Cooper to push her aside in disgust and walk away wiping his mouth.

Nina forced her attention elsewhere. No way was she asking Cooper Delaney to compete with her. No. Way.

She spotted Paige de Bruin at the library stand. Paige might be able to help. She knew loads of people.

‘You,’ she said to Isaac, ‘stay there.’ Nina might need Isaac’s oversized bunny onesie yet.

Isaac saluted her. ‘At your command, Chief Bunnykins.’

Nina rolled her eyes and bustled off, fluffing the neck of her onesie as she went. The fake fur suits were like sauna wraps. She couldn’t really blame Isaac for sneaking off for a drink. She wouldn’t mind one herself.

Why the Levenham Easter Fun Fair organisers made the three-legged egg-and-spoon race the last event of the afternoon was a mystery. By three-thirty most people had had enough and were raiding the drinks tents. To make matters worse, Easter was early this year and the autumn weather was still mild. The sky was a dome of stunning blue, the lowering sun a brilliant, throbbing yellow. With competitors forced to wear costumes, Civic Park abounded with red-faced rabbits, eggs, chicks, and carrots. And, bizarrely, a couple who’d mixed up their Christian festivals and were jollily dressed as Santa and Mrs Claus.

‘You look a bit flustered,’ said Paige, tidying a pile of bookmarks. Though Paige was in her thirties, she and Nina had become solid friends through their shared love of netball. They were also built the same: tall and athletic, with the sort of Amazonian figures that some men found as scary as they did sexy. Nina also admired the librarian’s strength. No one messed with Paige de Bruin. ‘What’s up?’

‘Isaac tripped over a tent peg and sprained his ankle. Now I have no partner to defend my title with.’

‘That’s bad management.’ Paige scanned the park as Nina had done. Like Nina, her attention found Cooper Delaney. Her gaze narrowed.

‘No,’ said Nina. ‘No, no, no.’

‘He’s the right height for it.’

‘No.’

Paige resumed her perusal, her expression turning grimmer with each passing second. ‘It’s not looking promising. All the suitable ones are taken.’

Nina’s shoulders slumped. ‘Story of my life.’

‘Get a grip. Men aren’t that important.’

‘They are today.’ The rules of the competition were that teams consisted of both sexes. Without a man, Nina was done for.

‘What’s wrong with Cooper, anyway?’

‘Everything.’

Paige regarded her dubiously. Dreamy-eyed Cooper Delaney had been making local girls swoon since he was a boy. Few were immune to his charms.

The librarian shrugged. ‘You either want to win or you don’t.’

Nina did. Badly. At school, she’d won the regional one-hundred and two-hundred metre sprint championships in every age group, and the one-hundred once at state level. Then there’d been her netball career: multiple junior best and fairest awards, country and state team selections, then a two-year stint travelling the country in the national professional league. It had been a dream come true until a persistent injury had seen her culled from the list.

Nina loved to run and she loved to win. The Easter three-legged egg-and-spoon race was hardly the same territory but that didn’t matter. It was a race. She wanted that prize.

‘He’s your only option,’ said Paige.

‘Don’t want to,’ said Nina, sounding like a little kid with a dropped bottom lip. Which was exactly how she felt.

‘Ah.’ The librarian’s face softened. ‘You too, huh?’

Nina stared at the grass. Yes, her. Except it wasn’t just a crush. It was humiliation and rejection on top of a crush. A crush that had refused to ease over the years despite distance and her better sense.

‘How about I sound him out first?’

Nina glanced again at Cooper. He was still loitering by the chocolate fountain, sycophantic gang of mates by his side and a couple of adoring girls hovering nearby. His mouth was twisted up in his famous half-smile and directed at no one in particular. His collared shirt was the same blue as his eyes, the shirt’s embroidered polo pony advertising his privileged life. The bright sun brought glimmers of gold in his dark blond hair, as though anointing a god. His tanned biceps were so big they threatened to split the shirt fabric.

Lordy-loo, he was gorgeous.

Only conscious effort prevented Nina’s deep sigh of longing. Instead, she straightened her shoulders. She was a grown woman, not a teenager and the possessed vacuum cleaner incident happened years ago. Cooper probably didn’t even remember it.

Besides, she really wanted to win this race.

‘Okay. I’ll be over with Isaac at the Gratia tent.’ Ready to drown her sorrows should Cooper reject her again.

‘Any luck?’ asked Isaac. Someone had given him a beer. He held the can up in a cheers gesture and drank, his eyes closing and his face relaxing into pleasure.

‘Paige is going to sound out Cooper.’

Isaac’s lids flashed open. He shuffled a bit more upright. ‘Is that a good idea?’

Arms folded, Nina bugged her eyes at him. ‘Nooo. But what else can I do?’

‘Oh, I dunno.’ He cocked his head one way and then the other. ‘Not compete and enjoy a beer in the sunshine like a normal person.’

‘You don’t understand.’

‘I do. That’s the problem.’

Isaac knew all about Nina’s crush on Cooper and her suction attack under the mistletoe. He was the one who’d found her afterward, on a swing in the garden, quietly sobbing. On hearing what had happened, Isaac had offered to punch Cooper on his perfect nose and when Nina refused, had driven her home and walked her to the door, explaining her sodden appearance to her parents as embarrassment from throwing up after eating a dodgy prawn. Having known Isaac since he was born thanks to their neighbouring farms, her mum and dad believed every word.

Nina had always been grateful for that. For many of Isaac’s kindnesses, which is why they were such close friends. Isaac was funny, sweet, considerate, and as laid back as Nina was tense, yet they matched. Not romantically – though Isaac was attractive in a ruggedly rural kind of way – more like siblings. Certainly they squabbled like brother and sister.

He took another sip. ‘Someone has to save you from yourself.’

‘I don’t need saving, thank you very much.’

Isaac raised an eyebrow.

‘Oh, shut up.’ Arms crossed, she turned her back and grumpily watched the ebb and flow of the crowd.

Thanks to the sunshine, it looked like a record turnout. Which made defending her title even more important. Life had been a touch mundane since her professional netball days. It wasn’t that Nina wasn’t happy – she had wonderful friends and a loving family, her Rebels netball team, and a good job at a local agricultural machinery dealership – it’s just that she felt like there should be more.

Winning things, especially anything sporty, helped her relive the glory days. Though Nina would never admit that to anyone, not even Isaac.

Movement in the crowd had her lifting her head. Paige was waving, her other hand was clawed over Cooper’s forearm as though he were a prisoner being marched to his cell, likely to attempt escape at any moment.

‘Oh, lordy.’ Nina cast a panicked look at Isaac. ‘I can’t do this.’

‘Then don’t.’

She looked back at Cooper. Those sapphire eyes were on her, his mouth tipped in one corner. For a moment she experienced a shiver of foreboding before it was replaced by a gut-punch of lust. An unhelpful occurrence given she was already sweating up a river in her rabbit onesie. When this was over, Nina was going to give her hormones a severe talking to. And bin the onesie.

‘I bought you a present,’ said Paige, radiating smugness. ‘Cooper says he’ll do it.’

Nina opened her mouth and tried to form words, but her tongue had gone tacky, trapping them like flies on flypaper.

‘Hey, Nina,’ said Cooper in his deep husky-hunk voice. ‘It’s been a while.’

‘Not long enough,’ muttered Isaac.

Nina shot him a glare and turned back to Cooper, forcing a smile that was probably more grimace. ‘It has. Did Paige explain about the race?’

He nodded. ‘I’m up for it if you still are. I don’t have a costume though.’

‘No problem. You can use Isaac’s.’

The two men shared an unfriendly look.

‘I’ll leave you two bucks to it,’ said Paige. With a quick hug and good luck wishes for Nina she jogged off.

Cooper gave Isaac an up and down. ‘Suit might be a bit small.’

‘Yeah,’ said Isaac, playing with his bunny ears. ‘Must be hard to get things to fit your head.’

‘Isaac!’ Nina held up her hand to Cooper who had ruffled up like a rooster. ‘Give me a minute?’

For several tense seconds Cooper glared at Isaac then nodded.

Nina bent close to Isaac’s ear, her voice a hiss. ‘What is wrong with you?’

‘He’s a tool.’

‘Maybe he is, but I can’t win the race without him.’ Her finger went to his chest. ‘And you’re the one who got himself injured. Now,’ she took her finger away and tugged on one of his white whiskers. ‘Will you please play nice? For me?’

Jaw flexing back and forth, Isaac slid his gaze to Cooper before returning it to Nina’s. ‘All right. But don’t expect me to congratulate him if you win.’

She kissed his cheek. ‘Thank you, bunnyman. I’ll go fetch your clothes.’

It took some manoeuvring with Isaac’s swollen ankle but finally they managed to strip him of his rabbit onesie behind a tent flap, and redress him in jeans and a dark brown drill work shirt that made him look like he’d just stepped off the farm but matched his coffee-coloured eyes.

Nina helped Isaac hobble back to his chair and passed him his beer. ‘Do you need anything else?’

‘Nah, I’ve got beer. I’m good.’

A rustle behind them sounded. Cooper emerged from the flap in Isaac’s onesie that fitted just fine.

Nina braced herself with a deeply drawn breath. ‘Ready to be velcro-ed to me?’

Cooper’s smile was slow and lazy and did silly things to her stomach. ‘Sure.’

‘Yes. Okay. Excellent.’ She swallowed, feeling very rabbit in the headlights.

The tannoy sounded. A call for competitors in the final race of the day. This time, the flutters through Nina’s chest had nothing to do with Cooper. She hadn’t realised they’d cut it so fine. Without practice she and Cooper were bound to lose their eggs or trip over. Isaac’s beer in the sunshine option suddenly felt much more appealing.

Cooper looked down at her, crooked half-smile at full wattage. ‘Ready?’

Nina wasn’t, not even a little bit, but it was too late now to pull out.

She returned his smile, feigning confidence she didn’t have. ‘Here goes nothing.’

‘Break a leg,’ said Isaac, holding up his beer.

‘Nah,’ replied Cooper, sauntering off. ‘You’ve already done it.’ He flicked a wave. ‘Later, dude.’

Nina blinked at his furry back. Dude? Really? Did he think they were in a surfer movie or something? She shook herself and wobbled a smile at Isaac. It would be fine. Ju-u-u-st fine.

He winked. ‘Knock ‘em dead, Bunnykins.’

She laughed and grabbed her onesie ears and waggled them in farewell, before bounding after Cooper.

He didn’t say anything when she bounced alongside. Just granted her a look and kept striding for the warm-up area.

Nina’s Rebels Netball Club teammate Chrissy James was in charge of competitors. After greeting Nina warmly, she checked her tablet. ‘Nina and Isaac. Oh, hang on, you’re not Isaac.’

‘No,’ said Cooper, winking at her. ‘I’m much better looking.’

Chrissy pursed her lips and hummed a noncommittal ‘mmm’. Nina wondered if it was age that made her netball friends immune to Cooper. Neither Chrissy nor Paige seemed impressed by the sapphire eyed hunk. Then again, Chrissy was dating that total honey Nick Burroughs. Immunity to Cooper was understandable. As for Paige… well, she was just Paige.

‘Isaac tripped on a tent peg and hurt his ankle.’

Chrissy’s eyes widened. ‘Has he been seen by medical?’

‘Yes, and he’s fine. A minor sprain and nothing that a few beers won’t fix.’ She jerked her head at Cooper. ‘Cooper has volunteered to help defend the title.’

‘You’ve plenty of competition this year. Alice has entered with Eddie.’ Alice was another Rebels teammate, currently dating giant-sized sweetheart Eddie Argyle. ‘Eddie reckons all Alice needs to do is hang on to his thigh like a monkey while he sprints to the finish.’

‘Is that legal?’ Alice was tiny enough to get away with it, but it was meant to be a three-legged race.

She laughed. ‘Probably not, but that won’t stop the big galumph from trying.’ Noticing the queue forming behind Nina, Chrissy reached into the cardboard box beside her and extracted a bright green Velcro strap. She pushed it across the table to Nina and checked her watch. ‘You’ve ten minutes to practice. Good luck.’

The warm-up area was ten metres square and already busy with costumed competitors. Nina regarded the Easter eggs, other bunnies, chicks and the Clauses with dismay. There was barely enough room to practice walking let alone a run.

‘Have you done anything like this before,’ she asked Cooper, who seemed more intent on flashing his cute half-smile at Mrs Claus than concentrating on the challenge ahead.

‘Nah. But I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it. I’m good like that.’

Nina frowned. A three-legged race might sound easy but it was bloody hard when you’d never worked with a partner before. It wasn’t just how fast you could travel either. They’d be balancing eggs in shallow spoons as well. A dropped egg by either team member meant instant disqualification.

Confidence in a man could be a sexy thing but Cooper’s was bordering on arrogance.

‘I’m sure you are, but we still need to practice. Stand close so I can strap us together.’

He pressed his thigh against hers. With nothing but their bare legs beneath their onesies, Nina couldn’t miss the hardness of his muscles, or the deliberate flex he gave them. Was he warming up or showing off? She had no idea, but the feel of it made her fumble with the strap.

‘Want me to do it?’

‘No, I’m good.’

She pressed the Velcro into place and straightened.

Cooper held her gaze. ‘Like being under the mistletoe again. No escape.’

Nina’s stomach plunged. He did remember. Brilliant. Just brilliant. ‘Yes. Well.’ She cleared her throat. ‘That was a long time ago. I’ve grown up since then.’

‘Yeah,’ he said, eyes drifting down to the lowered zipper of her onesie. ‘You sure have. I imagine you’re more experienced too.’ His smart-arsed expression revealed exactly to what he referred.

Nina bunched her fingers. Funny how that look made her want to punch instead of kiss him. Anyway, two could play the confidence game. ‘I am. Much more. Come on. Let’s see if we can coordinate a walk. It’s easier if we wrap our arms around each other.’

It was weird having Cooper Delaney holding her waist. Nina had dreamed of moments like this, yearned for them, yet instead of excitement, she felt kind of flat. At five feet, eleven and a half inches, Nina was only a fingerbreadth shorter than Cooper. They should have matched. Instead, they were stiff and awkward, their strides out of sync. Nina began to long for the familiar comfort of Isaac’s body.

‘We need to feel each other better,’ said Nina.

‘That can be arranged.’

She shot him a look. Lordy-loo, he was choosing to flirt now?

The crooked smile was in force. ‘I’ve always liked you, Nina.’

‘Right.’

‘The mistletoe thing…’

‘Not really the time,’ she said, grunting as they stumbled.

‘Guess not.’

For a few steps they were on song, then Cooper spotted a mate behind the bunting and stopped to wiggle his fluffy tail. Only Nina’s grip on his waist kept her upright.

‘Look, can you just concentrate for minute?’

The bum wiggling ceased. Cooper did his crooked smile thing, clearly certain it would earn him immediate forgiveness. ‘Sure.’

For the next five minutes he stayed true to his word and knuckled down to business. Though it was difficult in the small space, they found a rhythm and even managed a short jog.

‘We’ve got this nailed,’ announced Cooper.

Nina wasn’t so sure, but at least now she thought they might be in with a chance.

The tannoy rang out. All competitors for the three-legged egg-and-spoon race please report to the start.

They hobbled to the starting area where Chrissy was handing out spoons and numbered eggs while her assistant recorded who got what and double-checked their leg straps. In previous years the organisers had used plain eggs, but a few incidences of cheating had caused the organisers to decorate the eggs with numbers, preventing substitution.

Nina scanned the sidelines, hoping for Isaac, and found him parallel to the finish line. He’d borrowed a stool from somewhere and was perched against the bunting with a beer in his hand, a makeshift ice pack sticky-taped to his ankle, and a pair of glittery pink bunny ears on his head. When he saw her watching, he waved.

Nina’s eyes prickled. Why did he have to go and hurt himself? She and Isaac were a team, a good team. Now she was stuck with Cooper, who not only remembered the humiliating vacuum cleaner pash incident but was proving to be a bit of a twat. Albeit a ridiculously handsome one.

‘Matching up okay?’ asked Chrissy as she passed them their spoons.

‘Not really,’ said Nina.

‘Perfectly,’ said Cooper.

Chrissy laughed. ‘It’s all good clean fun.’ She handed over their eggs. ‘As long as you don’t trip over and drop these.’

‘Not a chance,’ said Cooper, grinning at Chrissy and winking at Nina. ‘Got it in the bag.’

Nina stared back. Had he always been this in love with himself? As for his onesie being too small, what a load of rubbish. Isaac filled it much better and unlike Cooper, Isaac looked cute when he wagged his pom-pom tail.

She leaned forward and peered across the line of racers. Eddie and Alice had dressed as carrots, with bright orange bodies and sprouting green tops. Santa and Mrs Claus were alongside, already poised for launch with their backs bent and spoons at the ready. Another pair of rabbits had game faces on, while a pair of eggs were bopping up and down in some sort of funky warm-up routine.

Nina swallowed and grimaced at Cooper. ‘I hope you’re right.’

‘Of course I’m right.’

She glanced again at Isaac. He set his can between his thighs and gave her a double thumbs-up.

Isaac had faith. Isaac always had faith. Why hadn’t she realised that before?

She gave him a single thumbs-up back and flexed her shoulders. She could do this. They could do it.

‘I really want to win this,’ she said to Cooper. ‘Like, really.’

‘Don’t worry. We will.’ He nudged her. ‘You have me.’

Would competitors in the three-legged egg-and-spoon race please take your starting positions.

They hopped to the line, spoons and precious eggs held in front, arms locked around each other’s waists.

Nina swallowed. Her stomach was crazy with nerves, flopping up and down like her bunny ears. A rivulet of sweat was creeping down her back, making her wish she could lean against a tree and rub herself like a cow. Her egg wobbled as a tremor started in her hand.

She clenched her jaw and forced her hand still. She’d been in tougher competitions than this and emerged victorious. Today would be no different.

Ready, steady… And go!

Nina and Cooper lurched off and immediately stumbled. Nina’s egg rocked dangerously.

‘Don’t you dare!’ she growled at it, manoeuvring the spoon to stop the egg tipping out. Cooper was in similar strife. Then suddenly they were set and racing forward.

‘Now we’ve got it,’ said Cooper, laughing.

If it weren’t for her egg, Nina would have elbowed him in the ribs. This wasn’t the time for laughter. Especially smug laughter. The first bend was fast approaching. They needed to concentrate.

With space limited by Civic Park’s layout and the fair’s avenues of stalls and stands, the race couldn’t follow a straight line. Instead, it wound in and around the trees and gardens before finishing close to where it started. Their stumbled start having cost them several metres on the leaders, Nina and Cooper had some catching up to do.

‘Faster,’ she urged, pulling on Cooper’s waist, her eyes on Eddie and Alice. The couple were laughing uproariously as Eddie practically hoisted tiny Alice every second stride. Santa and Mrs Claus were a pace or two in front of Eddie and Alice, and from their expert co-ordination looking to stretch their lead even further.

Nina and Cooper hopped around the park’s ornate marble fountain, cutting it as fine as they dared and startling the pond’s overfed koi population, then swung off toward the rose garden. Cheers began to rise as the Clauses gained another metre, but Nina wasn’t panicking. She could feel her and Cooper gelling, their limbs moving in tandem. Centre leg, outer legs, centre leg, outer legs, the smooth rhythm keeping their arms and eggs steady.

In front, Alice let out a cry as Eddie stumbled and fell sideways into a rose bush, dragging Alice with him. An ominous crack sounded the death of the bush as a hundred-plus kilos of muscled farmer flattened it to the ground and exploded white petals around them like confetti.

‘Are you all right?’ yelled Nina, slowing. That was quite a tumble and rose bushes were spiky things, and Alice was a key member of their netball squad.

‘Don’t worry about them,’ gritted out Cooper. ‘Move it!’

Nina’s jaw tightened. Isaac would have stopped, but Isaac was a darling like that.

‘We’re good,’ called Alice from the tangle, panting as she struggled to sit. ‘You get your butts to that finish line!’

Nina surged on. Three strides later she and Cooper were back in the three-legged Zen zone. Two more and they were narrowing the gap to the Clauses.

‘We’ve got you, you bastards,’ said Cooper.

Nina frowned. No question she had a highly competitive nature, but this wasn’t the Battle of Britain.

They looped through the rose garden. As they gained on Santa and Mrs Claus, so did the foot-pounds of the pair behind them. Alice dared not look back in case she lost her balance but a flash of colour to her right revealed it was the eggs of the weird bouncy warm-up.

Another bend around an old oak and they’d be on the home stretch.

‘I’ll get them on the turn,’ growled Cooper.

‘We,’ panted Nina. ‘We’ll get them on the turn.’

‘Whatever. Just hurry up.’

Except Nina wasn’t sure she wanted to anymore. The fun had gone out of the race.

As Cooper predicted, they hit the heels of Santa and Mrs Claus at the oak. Cooper’s teeth were bared, his heart-fluttering half-smile eclipsed by a snarl.

‘Out the way, losers.’

‘Piss off, Delaney,’ said Santa, almost cannoning off the trunk they hugged it so tightly.

Cooper’s lip drew back even further. He yanked their bound legs forward, lengthening their stride.

Nina grunted at the tug on her groin as it overstretched. ‘Steady, Cooper.’

But her warning was ignored. He powered on. In a stride, they were neck and neck with the Clauses. Pain tugged at Nina’s groin. She couldn’t ease off though. The finish was in sight and the eggs were on their tails.

They could do it. They could win. All they had to do was hold their rhythm.

The crowd was whooping with excitement. Calls for Santa and Mrs Claus mixing with yells of ‘Go, Nina!’ and ‘You can do it, Nina!’. The three-legged race hadn’t been this close in years. Nina took her eye off her egg to hunt for Isaac. He was easy to find. The only person not cheering. He was smiling at least, but it was a bit sad.

Nina’s pounding heart stuttered.

She glanced at Cooper. Smug triumph lit his face. An ugly look for an ugly man. What was victory worth with a person like that? Nothing. Nothing at all.

Her eyes found Isaac again. She smiled and with a twist of her ankle, brought Cooper and her down.

‘What the—’ Cooper lost his breath as Nina’s elbow accidentally landed in his stomach. For a moment all he could do was cough, then with a thrust of his arms he pushed her off. ‘Look what you did!’

‘Sorry,’ said Nina, with not a trace of sincerity. Her chest heaved as she stared at the magnificent sky, the air cacophonous with cheers for Santa’s and Mrs Claus’s win. Her groin hurt, her ankle was worse, yet she couldn’t prevent a grin from splitting her face.

Cooper sat up. Liquid egg dripped from the top of his onesie and down his chin. Another splodge covered his right chest, a shard of shell clinging to its centre. He swiped it away and fumbled angrily at their Velcro fetter. ‘What’s your frigging game? I thought you wanted to win?’

‘I did.’ Nina sat up and pushed his hand aside, releasing the strap with a scratchy tear. She flashed him a grin. ‘Just not with you.’

‘What?’ Cooper’s eyes bulged like a chameleon. ‘What?’

‘You heard. Bye, Cooper.’ Nina eased to her feet. She tested her ankle and hissed at the throb but was relieved to find it stable.

‘Don’t you know who I am?’

Nina laughed. Oh, she knew all right.

Leaving Cooper to his outraged spluttering, Nina hobbled her way to the sidelines. Isaac was on his stool, his expression yo-yoing between concern and unrestrained glee.

He reached out for her arm to hold her steady. ‘You’re hurt.’

‘It’s nothing. Anyway, I just wanted to match you.’

He chuckled. ‘Is that right?’

She bit her lip and nodded, too overwhelmed to give voice to all the things she wanted to say.

His hand slid down her furry arm until it reached her hand. His fingers were gentle, his gaze tender. ‘You did that on purpose.’

‘I did.’

‘Why?’

She shrugged. ‘It didn’t feel right without you. And you’re right. Cooper’s a tool.’ Nina threw a look over her shoulder. Cooper stood alone on the grass, glowering. She returned her attention where it belonged, with Isaac. ‘Sorry about your onesie. It got egged.’

‘Doesn’t matter.’ He reached for her other hand and drew her closer, fitting her between his strong legs. They’d been close before, hugged and kissed and danced and played, but not like this. This was intimate. Special. They were in a bubble of them. No park sounds. Just their unsteady breaths and longing looks, and the frisson of knowing that this moment would change them forever. ‘I’m sorry you didn’t win.’

‘But I did.’ She squeezed his fingers and hauled in a deep glug of air. ‘I won you. That’s the only race that matters.’

Isaac’s expression froze.

The joy bouncing inside Nina collapsed. Lordy-loo, he was going to reject her, just like Cooper. Heat prickled behind her eyes. Her throat went tight. Life leached from her. Head down, she tugged on her hands and tried to step back but Isaac held fast.

She took in his lovely face. The frozen expression was gone, replaced with soft brown eyes full of warmth and an encouraging smile. Even his silly sparkly bunny ears seemed to nod their approval. Life took hold again.

‘I think I did?’ Her voice trembled. ‘Maybe?’

Isaac shook his head. ‘Bunnykins, you’ve had me won since we were kids.’

‘Bunnykins?’ Relief had Nina laughing while her insides performed cartwheels. ‘Is that going to be your pet name for me?’

‘I could make it Snugglebum if you want. Or Babybear.’ His nose screwed up. ‘I suppose there’s always Honeybunch.’

‘Urgh. I think I’ll stick with Bunnykins.’

They stared at one another. Around them, the crowd was dispersing. A few patted Nina’s back and offered commiserations. So much was her concentration on Isaac, she hardly felt them.

‘So,’ she said.

‘So indeed.’

‘Maybe you could give me a commiseration kiss?’

‘I could.’ He looked at her from beneath his lashes, eyes loaded with amusement and a certain heavenly something that made Nina’s heart balloon and threaten to float right out of her chest. ‘But there’ll be nothing commiserating about it. Just so you’re warned.’

Nina grinned and draped her arms over his broad shoulders. ‘I’ll take that on notice.’ Then with a last check of his handsome face, she lowered her mouth to his.

The kiss went on and on, a lifetime’s worth of love and longing in it, and not a scrap of possessed vacuum cleaner.

Nina was thinking of coming up for air but couldn’t bring herself to break the toe-curling thrill of their kiss when something blanketed them. A heavy, slightly sticky and smelly something.

‘Get a room,’ growled Cooper.

They pulled apart and grinned at each other from beneath their furry tent.

‘Happy Easter, beautiful girl.’

‘Happy Easter, Bunnyman,’ whispered Nina in return.

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© Cathryn Hein 2021

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