Page 56 of A Spell for Midwinter's Heart
“Must have been the wind?” offered Rowan, all the while struggling with two competing feelings—pleasure at being so close, and distress that, once again, she’d lost her grip on her magic.
“Some wind,” murmured Gavin, but his eyes turned back to her, heavily lidded and drunk on the moment.
Before they had a chance to talk about what happened, Norman’s voice rang out from the other room with a bellowed “Welcome in! Welcome in!”
They looked at each other and burst into giddy laughter at finding themselves on the verge of being walked in on by some poor, unsuspecting tourists.
“What will the nutcrackers think?” Rowan murmured with a grin.
“That they are blocks of inanimate wood,” he said, releasing his hold on her reluctantly, his hands trailing along her sides as they withdrew.
“Norman’s going to be pissed if he figures out you really are fornicating with a witch back here.” She ran her fingers through his enviably silky hair and down his neck. His eyes closed in contentment as he rubbed his head into her hand a bit like a cat.
He was definitely a cat, this one. Good thing she’d always preferred them to dogs.
“To hell with Norman,” muttered Gavin. Then his eyes opened, and his expression sobered. “We got distracted.”
“Right. You wanted to talk about why the Goshen Group was staking out downtown yesterday.”
Though it was likely she already knew what he was going to say, she would have to do her best to pretend that it was all coming as a shock.
“They’re interested in buying the building your parents’ shop is in, and there’s more…” His expression was sympathetic, apologetic. He went over each point slowly, as if not wanting to hit her with too much, too fast. Little did he know that these revelations had already knocked her straight on her ass.
As he finished, he gazed in her direction, waiting for her response. She did not have to feign remorse, but she did her best to pretend to be surprised. Though she wanted to fill him in on the missing information, she held back, unable to share it without revealinghowshe knew.
Finally, she asked the one question she didn’t have the answer to. “Does your father seem interested?”
Gavin sighed and nodded. “The numbers they’re throwing out are big. Big enough to make him think.” He paced. “Besides, he keeps bringing up how he’s built all this for me, but if I don’t want to succeed him, he might as well sell…”
The word tumbled out, laced with stress. He paused, putting a hand to his forehead and resting his elbow against the wall.
“Is that…something you’ve talked about?Notsucceeding him?”
He shook his head. “But he knows me better than anyone. I can’t say I’ve ever been enthusiastic when the subject’s come up. I mean…” He looked over, staring her in the eyes. “Does that seem like me?”
She did not hesitate a second before replying, “Not at all.”
Relief spread across his face. “Glad to hear it. But if I turn it down, I’m sure he’ll take the offer. He might do it anyway, because what the hell else are we going to do?”
Rowan’s eyes fell, downcast. “I don’t know. That’s why I came looking for you, hoping we could put our heads together…” She shook her head. “What Idoknow is that putting that on you? It isn’t fair.”
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s pretty far down the list of injustices…but it does not feel great.”
“Which is valid. Being entrapped in a future you don’t want hurts, no matter what it looks like.” She balled her free hand in frustration. “He’s your father. He should want you to be happy!” Gavin studied her for a moment with that crooked smile of his. “What?”
“You wrinkle your nose when you’re indignant.”
“Oh…” she murmured, lifting a hand to touch her nose self-consciously.
He brushed it away, his knuckles coming to rest against her cheek. “It’s adorable. You’re never more beautiful than when you’re worked up over something you care about.” He pretended to look cross. “Ah, distracted again.”
She laughed and bit her lip. Nearby, a family was walking along the displays, perusing the nutcrackers.
“Mayhap we should…” She inclined her head toward the door, and he nodded. Norman eyed them warily as they passed, but if he had heard anything of what happened, he gave no sign of it.
The night air had taken on a biting chill.
“Let me drive you home,” offered Gavin.
