as he made his way round the vehicle to her side; she was only aware that he had done so when the door was wrenched open beside her.
It had only been a few seconds, but Linus was already covered in snow, his coat hidden beneath the icy flakes, the darkness of his hair bearing a frosting of the fluffy whiteness too. ‘Careful; it’s icy,’ he warned as Andi lowered her feet to the ground.
His warning came a little too late as her feet slipped from under her and she had to reach out quickly to grasp the front of Linus’s coat to stop herself from falling. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered between gritted teeth as she tried to steady herself. The wind and snow were so icy-cold that her face and jaw already felt frozen, her hair whipping about her face in wet tangles. ‘This is terrible!’ she attempted to shout above the roar of the wind, knowing Linus hadn’t heard her as he gave an irritated shake of his head, dislodging some of the snow in his hair so that it dripped down the grimness of his face and quickly melted against the heat of his skin.
Linus took a firm hold of her hand and turned to fight against the wind as they began to struggle towards the inn. The going was slow, and Andi was surprised at how far away it still looked when she glanced up, the icy wind beating against them so remorselessly that it seemed to deliberately hinder their progress. Almost as if it didn’t want them to reach the shelter and warmth the inn promised.
Andi couldn’t breathe properly through her nose, her throat burning when she attempted to breathe through her mouth instead. All the time the snow beat against her face, hard and painful as it stung against her flesh.
‘Damn it, we’re getting nowhere like this!’ She barely heard Linus’s impatient exclamation before it was carried away on the howling wind, so she was totally unprepared when Linus turned to swing her up into his arms and hold her close against his chest as he walked more determinedly towards the lights of the inn.
Andi’s arms were thrown about his neck as she burrowed her face against him to shelter from the icy-cold wind. Even the dampness of his coat was more comfortable than the burning in her throat as she tried to breathe through that frosty battering.
Incredible to think that, although it had been cold, the sun had actually been trying to shine when they’d left Hampshire earlier this morning; it was like being in another world.
What would happen to them if Linus couldn’t make it as far as the inn? Her arms tightened about Linus’s neck as she laced her frozen fingers tightly together. She should have thought to wear gloves. And a hat.
‘Almost there!’ Linus rasped grimly, obviously suffering as much as she was from the wind that was so cold it seemed to rip right through them. ‘Get the door,’ he prompted forcefully seconds later.
Andi raised her head and saw that they had actually reached the inn; light shone welcomingly through the small, frosted windows, and what looked like the warm glow of a fire too.
Her fingers were so cold, so numbed, that she had trouble unlacing them. The snow cracked on the sleeve of her coat and then fell away as she moved her arm towards the doorknob, fingers slipping at first before she managed to grasp and turn it. The two of them almost fell through the open doorway straight into what looked like the public bar.
Much to the incredulity of the landlord, as he gazed across at them with disbelieving eyes, his mouth having fallen open in surprise at anyone being out at all on an evening like this.
‘Shut the door behind us, would you?’ Linus instructed the other man grimly as he carried Andi over to where a fire burned warmly in the hearth in the otherwise deserted bar. He sat down, still holding Andi against him, as she seemed unable to release her clenched fingers from the shoulders of his jacket, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.
‘It’s okay, Andi,’ he murmured reassuringly. ‘We’re okay,’ he added with satisfaction as the warmth of the fire began to thaw his numbed face and hands.
The tingling sensation that ensued was almost as painful, but it was a welcome pain after the worry of the last few minutes. He really hadn’t been sure they were going to make it as far as the inn as the snowstorm had become a blizzard, visibility down to almost nil, each step becoming a triumph of survival.
Not that Linus intended telling Andi that. He knew from experience that Andi was a woman who usually remained calm in any situation; she had through the death of her father and fiancé, the selling of her family home to pay off her father’s debts and coming to work for him. But the way she still clung to him so tightly now showed she had definitely reached the end of her endurance.
Arousingly so, Linus realized as he looked down at her with narrowed green eyes. She looked so tiny in his arms, vulnerable, even, her hair plastered to her head and across her face in damp tendrils, her eyes huge as she raised her head to look at him. A man could willingly drown in those chocolate-brown depths, Linus realized with a sharp intake of breath; could lose his own will, his very soul, and not give a damn as long as Andi continued to look up at him with that warmth in her eyes.
He had never noticed before how long her lashes were, thick and dark, a beguiling contrast to the honeyblonde of her hair. Her lips were a deep pink, full and pouting, as if waiting to be kissed.
‘Get the other side of this, lad. And your good lady, too.’
Linus wrenched his gaze away from Andi to look at the landlord as he stood beside the armchair holding two glasses of amber liquid. Probably whisky, Linus acknowledged ruefully as he gratefully took one of the glasses and held the rim next to Andi’s lips. ‘Drink,’ he instructed firmly as she made no effort to do so.
Andi’s throat moved convulsively as she acknowledged that there was something in Linus’s eyes just now as he looked down at her, an awareness that only increased her own wariness about spending these four days alone with him in Scotland.
She obediently sipped the golden liquid, almost choking on the unaccustomed alcohol as the whisky slid down her throat to burst into a fiery warmth as it reached her stomach, warming her from the inside out. Thawing Andi enough for her to realize she was sitting on Linus’s thighs and still cradled in his arms.
She struggled to sit up, taking the glass of whisky from his hand as she stood up and moved sharply away from him, averting her face to stare into the fire as she sensed his questioning gaze following her movements.
What had happened just now?
She had looked up into Linus’s face and seen—what? Awareness, certainly. Desire, possibly. Almost as if Linus had been looking at her for the first time. And perhaps he had. Andi certainly bore little resemblance today to the prim no-nonsense PA she chose to present to him in the office. Her hair fell loosely about her shoulders; her denims and jumper were much more casual than anything she would ever wear to the office. She felt strangely vulnerable without the shield of her tailored business-suits and blouses. Especially if that change had also affected the way Linus viewed her.
She suddenly became aware of the conversation taking place between Linus and the landlord.
‘Get my wife to make up the room,’ the landlord murmured before hurrying away and disappearing through a door marked ‘private’ .
‘Do you want the good news or the bad news?’
There was a frown between Andi’s brows as she turned to look at Linus, her inability to think clearly telling her that she still hadn’t recovered from the freezing cold outside. Or perhaps that was the effect of the whisky. Or, more likely, being held in Linus’s arms a few minutes ago…
