"Just one walk-" Her expression turned pleading, and he had the sinking feeling that he was going to succumb to her. "You know how deprived I was because of my childhood."
His eyes narrowed as he stared at her. "That's pretty low even for you."
Her innocent arched look did not fool him one bit.
"You're playing me."
She turned up the innocence a notch and lifted her eyes to his. "Would I do such a thing?" she asked softly. "I just want to feel the snow on my skin. I promise that we'll come back and make love by the fire. All day long." Her tone dripped with honeyed promise and had him going weak.
"You're good," he growled. "All right, fine. But you'd better have a full pot of coffee brewing by the time I get downstairs."
"Already on that." Leaning over, she pressed her lips against his in a kiss that had his blood pressure soaring. His hands went around her waist as he deepened the kiss.
She pulled away from him reluctantly. "Later," she promised.
With a sigh, he released her and watched as she made her way across the room. Stacking his hands behind his head, he pleasured himself just watching her hips swaying in the skin-tight leggings she was wearing.
When the door closed behind her, he contemplated briefly just persuading her to stay inside so he could make love to her. But her very effective ploy aside, he knew that she had been deprived of simple pleasure growing up in that home and could not deny her this one.
Sighing deeply, he shoved off the bed and set about getting ready to face the icy cold.
The things we do for love, he thought wryly as he stepped into the shower.
*****
He had to admit that her insane plan was spot on. The snow was slowly drifting from the sky, turning everything into a blanket of white that was remarkable to see.
She had presented him with a huge to-go cup of coffee that he sipped with slow precision. He had no idea how long she wanted them to stay outdoors, and it had to last him the duration of the walk.
But he was enjoying the briskness of the air and specifically the woman who had her gloved hand in his.
"I remember staring out the single window of the tiny room I shared with two other girls," she mused as they made their way toward the frozen lake. "I used to dream that my mother would come for me and she would have some very valid reasons why she had left me there in the first place." She laughed softly, not a hint of bitterness in her voice. "She would burst through the doors, crying and apologetic and on her knees as she hugged me. And she would explain that she had been forced to give me up because a bad man had made her. She had escaped, clawing her way through a locked room so that she could come back for me." She shrugged, shaking her head at the look on his face.
"You never told me that before." Drawing her into the gazebo, he put his cup aside so he could rub his hands up and down her arms.
"It just surfaced. Seeing the snow and the freedom of walking through it without having a bunch of laws laid down just brought it all back. There was this mean girl. Her name was Billy. She was Wilhelmina, but she preferred to be called Billy. She was huge and angry all the time.
"She would make our lives a living hell, sniping and cussing at us. She threatened to put a knife through me, and I remembered being so scared that I would sit at the window afraid to sleep."
"Where the hell were the people in charge?"
"The home was underfunded and understaffed. I'm not making excuses for them. They were lazy-ass employees, and the administrator was a very unsightly woman who was overweight and mean as hell. I would go to her, and she would promise to 'look into it.' She never did."
His fingers bit into the soft cashmere of her jacket. "Where is this Wilhelmina now, and the goddamned administrator of that hellhole?"
Eliza had to bite back a smile at the furious look on his face. She had glossed over the story of the time she had spent at the home, mostly because she hadn't wanted to burden him with her past issues, and partly because she had been intimidated by the fact that he was from a very old and established family.
"I took care of it myself. When I started making money, I went back. Mrs. Hall, that's her name. She was still there, old, decrepit, and still mean. I reminded her who I was and told her to resign before she was forced to. I also threatened to bring criminal charges against her."
His fury evaporated to be replaced by a look of sheer admiration.
"What did she say?"
"Oh, she sputtered and simpered a hell of a lot, but in the end, she left. I invested some money in the place, and they had a complete makeover. Wilhelmina died in a drive-by shooting two years after she left the home."
His hands moved up to cradle her neck. "So, there's basically nothing for me to do to avenge you."
"It's sweet you wanted to." She moved into him, locking her arms around his waist.
