Cast in Ice Read Online Free PDF Page A

of being held in Nick Stillman’s arms wasn’t something she considered safe. “I think I’d prefer to step outside for a bit,” she said. “It’s rather stuffy in here.”
    “Yes it is.” He smiled, then extended his arm for her to take.
    Winnie didn’t want to place her hand on his outstretched arm. She knew that if she did, she’d experience a sensation she’d be better off never realizing. Her body warmed just standing next to him. She preferred not experiencing what would happen if she touched him. Except she really had no choice but to place her hand on his arm and allow him to escort her from the room.
    Winnie lifted her hand and placed it atop his arm.
    The muscles beneath her fingers were hard from obvious physical exertion, not soft and fleshy from nothing more strenuous that holding a hand of cards, as were the forearms of most of Society’s pampered lords. A current of excitement traveled from the tips of her fingers to the center of her chest, causing her heart to increase its tempo.
    His firm strides as they made their way to the open double French doors on the opposite side of the room were purposeful, resolute. Not hesitant as if he questioned his decision to step outside with her. Or uncertain, as if he regretted making the suggestion to be alone with her.
    Winnie walked at his side, her steps matching his. For one of the few times since she’d entered Society, she felt as though she fit with the man she walked beside, a reaction she didn’t often have. She was taller than most other females, and she found that she could look most gentlemen of the ton eye to eye. To look Nick Stillman in the eyes she had to lift her chin several inches. It felt impossibly graceful.
    They stepped out into the cool evening darkness, lit only by the lights from the ballroom, and several colored lanterns that surrounded the terrace. When they reached the cement balustrade at the far side of the terrace, he stopped and turned to face her.
    “Will you get chilled without a wrap?” he asked, when a soft breeze washed over them. “I would willingly offer you my jacket.”
    She shook her head. “I enjoy the evening air.”
    “So do I,” he answered. “There’s something special about standing in the moonlight beneath the multitude of stars.”
    Winnie had always felt the same, but she wasn’t foolish enough to admit that to him. She’d discovered enough similarities without adding that to the list. “You said that your mother was Viscount Rummery’s sister?”
    “Yes. My mother was foolish enough to fall in love with my father, an untitled man of the working class, the moment she met him.”
    He propped one hip atop the balustrade and seemed as relaxed as if they’d been friends for years instead of sharing only a few unsettled weeks a few months ago.
    Winnie wondered at his ability to seem such a capable member of Mack Wallace’s Bedford Street Brigade, and at the same time, seem so comfortable fitting in with the members of the ton .
    “Unfortunately,” he continued, “my grandfather was totally against the match. When my mother and father went against his wishes and eloped, he disowned her
    “Oh, how terrible,” Winnie said before she could stop the words.
    “Yes. My mother said her father paid the dearest price by never seeing his grandchildren, or being able to watch them grow.”
    “I think she’s right. I can’t imagine such a loss. Are your parents still alive?”
    “Oh, yes. Alive and disgustingly happy together.”
    Nick Stillman turned his head and looked at her with laughter in his eyes. Winnie’s heart shifted in her breast.
    “They live very contented lives in Penrith. Father is a solicitor and Mother spends her time caring for her flowers, bushes and anything else that needs tending, be it plant, animal, or human.”
    “She doesn’t miss London?”
    Nick Stillman crossed his arms over his chest and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “She says she does not. And now