Page 28 of The Heart of Winter

That’s when I saw a tall figure crossing the lot diagonally—not far from me.

Winter.

Hoping he wouldn’t notice me, I slowed my steps. He got into his car. I was just about to walk past, pretending to look the other way, when I saw him try to start the engine.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Nothing.

I hesitated.

Shit. This was risky. He could get pissed.

Winter stepped out of the car, and only then did he see me standing nearby.

But… his expression didn’t change. Same as always, distant, unreadable.

And then, for some reason, I felt compelled to speak.

"Car trouble?"

He looked at me like a bug had just spoken to him.

No response.

He lifted his phone, about to make a call.

But before I knew what I was doing, I said, "I can give you a ride. I don’t have any plans right now."

Still, no response.

He started typing something into his screen.

Even from a distance, I recognized the Uber app.

"Wait," I said, struck by sudden intuition. "I have jumper cables in my car. Might just be the battery, I can help you get it started."

Winter slowly lifted his head. The 'bug' had caught his attention? I wasn’t expecting the reaction I got. His expression was… somewhat annoyed and a little bit surprised. I honestly hadn’t thought his visage was even capable of looking any different than haughty and aloof.

"I thought we had an understanding, Lowen," he said. "Was I not clear enough?"

I scoffed, a little bitterly. "Yes, you were, Director. But this could be an easy fix, I’m just trying to help."

He kept staring at me. His white lashes were long, so long they curled slightly at the ends, giving them this effect… like frost had settled on them.

"I know. Rich kid. What could I possibly know about jump-starting a car?" I waved a hand toward my head. "Just the thought alone is probably short-circuiting your brain, huh?"

I tried to smile to lighten the mood. I did this a lot, joking about myself out loud. Why not? I just said what everyone was already thinking. Usually, people reacted the same way: ‘Oh no, that’s not true, I wasn’t thinking that!’—even though they obviously were.

But Winter surprised me. His face barely changed. Except, at the corner of those beautiful, full lips, a tiny smirk of contempt appeared.

He didn’t bother reassuring me that he didn’t think that way. Instead, he just folded his arms across his chest, challenging me now. I looked at them. And damn. They were solid. His biceps tensed, noticeably defined beneath his sleeves. His build was better than mine. And I was supposed to be the one alpha-presenting here.

"Well then, be my guest," Winter said, making a brief gesture toward his car’s hood.

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