Spring River Valley: The Winter Collection (Boxed Set) by Clarice Wynter Page A

as she rolled the window down the rest of the way. “You don’t have to apologize for being a ninny. I happen to love ninnies.”
    She squinted at him. “Are you saying I’m a ninny or that you love me?”
    He flung open her car door and pulled her to her feet so he could wrap her in his arms. “Yes.”
    “Good, so do I.” She snuggled into his arms, though through all the layers of coat between them he could barely feel her. It didn’t matter. He had her, and he wasn’t going to let her go. He kissed her chilly lips until they warmed under his, and when he pulled back, all he saw was sunshine.
    “It’s supposed to be a terrible storm,” she said, eyeing the barely visible road. “Why don’t we take one car and go back to my place?”
    “I would love to, but Elaine is still at TF, and I want to see she gets home safely. How about…we spend the night in the bridal suite?”
    She met his gaze , and this time, despite all the fluffy down and wool between them, he felt her shiver. “Ooh, could we?”
    “I know the manager. He won’t say a word.”

Chapter Twelve
     
     
    While the snow continued to pile up outside, Grant led Harper up the curving marble staircase to the bridal suite.
    They’d made sure Elaine got home safely to her family and locked up TF, then made a scrumptious dinner of leftover hors d’oeuvres and piping hot cappuccino. Afterward they’d danced in the ballroom, all by themselves, to music only they could hear, and now, as darkness fell outside and the last storm of January raged, they headed upstairs to make use of the pink velvet couch.
    “Oh, I never got to tell you the other reason I was coming over here,” Harper said as they waltzed over the threshold into the ornately decorated room.
    Grant turned on the electric fireplace, bathing the room in a flickering amber glow. “You mean you had an ulterior motive, besides wanting to seduce me again?”
    “Yes, actually I did.” She lowered herself to the couch , and he sat next to her and pulled her into his arms. “They’re in my car. I was going to leave them here even if I didn’t get to see you.”
    “What is?”
    She met his gaze. In the faux firelight his eyes had dilated with desire. Harper wanted to dive into those blue depths and never surface, but she needed to tell him she still felt responsible for any business TF lost because of Mrs. Moriarty and Mrs. Dawson. “I had a thousand flyers made up advertising Taverna Fiora. My boss said I could put some up in our building, and I looked into getting a town permit to pass them out in the shopping district—when it’s a little less snowy, of course. I figured that might help drum up some business.”
    Grant stared at her, his mouth slightly open.
    “Say something.”
    “I can’t. I’m speechless. You didn’t have to do that. I’m sure it wasn’t cheap.”
    “I used the money I made from the Auxiliary Club centerpieces. I figured that was fitting. If Mrs. Moriarty wants her friends not to come here, then maybe some of her money should go toward getting other people to book TF.”
    Grant shook his head. “You’re amazing.”
    “You should see me calculate interest.” She laughed, but Grant took her face in his hands and stared into her eyes.
    “Really. You’re amazing. I thought it the first moment I saw you , and I never doubted it for a second after that. I want you to know something. I brought you up here to make love to you tonight, but I know you were worried about this being some kind of rebound relationship that would fall apart when you got over what Brad did to you.”
    “No, I —”
    “It doesn’t matter. If you’re the least bit worried about whether or not this is real, or whether or not we can make it work, that’s okay. I’m willing to give you all the time you need. We can go as slow —” He paused to kiss her quickly on the lips. “Or as fast as you want, but whatever the pace, I want you to know I’m going to stick around for as long