Cast in Ice by Laura Landon Page B

such a violent reaction to him, but she did.
    “Lady Anne. Lord Montroy,” he said, greeting her sister and Lord Montroy.
    They waited for Winnie to catch up to them. When she reached them, they opened their circle to include her. He let his gaze rest on her and her flesh felt as if it was on fire.
    “Lady Winnifred.”
    “Mr. Stillman,” she answered, although she was surprised that she’d found her voice.
    “We were just out for a stroll,” Anne said. “The weather finally cleared and it turned into a perfect day.”
    “Yes, it did.”
    “Would you like to join us? Winnie volunteered to accompany us, but I fear Lord Montroy and I have been remiss in including her in our conversation. You would be doing us a great favor if you would join us.”
    “The pleasure would be mine,” Nick Stillman said, nodding his head.
    Anne and Lord Montroy continued their walk, and their conversation, and Winnie was left with no choice but to turn her attention to Nick Stillman. He stood beside her with his arm extended.
    He expected her to place her hand on his arm.
    Winnie didn’t want to do it. What if the currents that raced up her flesh when she touched him were still there? What if, now that she’d kissed him, her reaction to him hadn’t lessened as she assumed it would? What if her response to him was even more disturbing? What if her flesh tingled like it had before, and he affected her as intensely?
    “Would you like to follow your sister, or should we remain here?” he asked when she had yet to place her hand on his arm.
    “No, we’ll follow,” she said, then risked placing her fingers on his arm.
    Fireworks exploded inside her breast. The day turned unseasonably warm and she wanted to remove her cloak, but she knew the weather hadn’t changed. The man at her side was responsible for the heat that consumed her. She tried to pretend it wasn’t so, but it was.
    Winnie lifted her gaze and found him looking down at her. Their gazes locked, and for several long seconds, they studied each other as if they were both new species the other had never seen before.
    There was a slight frown on Nick Stillman’s forehead, and Winnie knew there was one on her own that probably matched his. There was confusion written on his face, and she was experiencing that same uncertainty. A darkness clouded his ebony eyes that she didn’t understand. And from the way he stared at her, she thought perhaps he saw something he didn’t understand when he looked at her.
    “Are you two coming?” Anne said from ahead of them.
    “Yes, Anne. We’re coming,” Winnie answered, then took her first step at Nick Stillman’s side.
    They didn’t speak for several moments. Walking at his side was both exciting, and disturbing. A part of her felt as if she belonged at his side, while another part of her felt that being with him was like the proverbial fox that rode across the river on the alligator’s back. If she remembered the tale correctly, the fox never made it to the other side.
    She would do well to remember that Nick Stillman was as dangerous to her as that alligator was to the fox.
    “Are you all right, my lady?” he finally said.
    Winnie had wondered which one of them would break the silence. “Yes, I’m perfectly fine. I was just enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful weather.”
    He smiled. “Yes, the sun is indeed out. And the weather is indeed a safe topic to discuss. Should we continue to stay with only safe topics, or should we venture to more hazardous matters.”
    Winnie breathed a sigh of resignation. “I suppose I could feign ignorance, and pretend I don’t know what you are referring to,” she said.
    “You could,” he agreed. “But that is hardly your way of handling challenges, is it, my lady?”
    Winnie lifted her gaze. He was smiling at her. Her heart shifted in her breast.
    “You always face any problem head on, don’t you?” he added.
    “I find that is usually the best way,” Winnie answered.
    “So, the