Taming the Lone Wolff by Maynard Janice

Author:Maynard, Janice [Maynard, Janice]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9780373732494
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

Eleven

For one long, pregnant moment, Larkin thought he had gotten through to her. But apparently Winnie was so accustomed to keeping her own counsel that it would take more than a promise of confidentiality to breach the walls she kept in place.

Her eyes downcast, she stood disconsolate where he had left her.

Sighing inwardly, he conceded momentary defeat. “Do you feel like going for a walk?”

Her head snapped up. “In the dark?”

“I know this mountain intimately. You won’t get lost. But bring a jacket and put on some sturdy shoes. If you want to go with me.”

Some of the strain left her face and she smiled. “I’d like that.”

He dropped Winnie off at her room and returned fifteen minutes later to find her ready and waiting. Leaving the house was a last-ditch effort to keep himself from doing something he shouldn’t.

The elegant woman with whom he’d shared dinner had disappeared, replaced by a more familiar, but no less appealing Winnie. She wore a shapeless sweatshirt, old jeans and low-topped hiking shoes. Her hair was still up in a twist, but it was looking a little worse for wear.

His mood improved drastically when she smiled. And as he ushered her in front of him down the stairs and out a side door, he felt a surge of excitement at the chance to share with her his childhood home. “I’ll show you around the house tomorrow,” he promised. “But for now, I want you to meet the mountain.”

The night was black, the inky expanse peopled only by stars. With the canopy of large trees compounding the darkness, they were forced to walk slowly. He had a flashlight, but he knew Winnie would enjoy the experience more if they let their eyes adjust to the gloom.

He didn’t hold her hand. Too much temptation there. But he supported her elbow in spots where the terrain was rough. Winnie had a long stride for a small woman, and he didn’t have to slow his pace to accommodate her.

The silence between them was comfortable, broken only by the hoot of an owl or the rustling of unseen animals in the underbrush. The more he walked, the more the memories flooded back. He’d been very small when the family came here, perhaps not even five. But those early days were burned into his brain. He and Devlyn and Annalise had been shell-shocked over their mother’s death.

And filled with a bone-deep relief that conversely tormented them with guilt.

“It’s my turn,” Winnie said, her voice muted to accommodate the night. “What are you thinking about?”

Larkin never talked about the past…not even with his brother and sister. They shared an unspoken but very real pact to try to forget the years that had damaged them. Perhaps the only way Winnie would ever come to trust him was if he told her the truth.

He just wasn’t sure he was ready or able to go there. “I was thinking about what a beautiful night it is.”

His blatantly false statement was met with silence. It was a beautiful night.

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