"The doctor says I have to take it easy with my arm for the next day or so." Her green eyes twinkled mischievously. "Looks like you're going to have to do all the work tonight."
He fell into step beside the wheelchair as they headed toward the exit. "I was under the impression I was doing all the work anyway."
A slight blush crept through her cheeks, and she cast a sideways glance at the nurse, who was grinning with delight. But if Neva was at all worried about what the nurse might be thinking, her next words belied it.
"And who approached whom to start with?"
"Ah yes," he said softly, his gaze meeting hers. "An amazing experience I shall never forget."
The bloom of heat in her cheeks grew. But so did her smile. "Well, there you go. Having done all the hard work to begin with, I deserve to sit back and enjoy it for a while."
"Then I shall endeavor to see that you do." He swung her out of the wheelchair and into his arms, kissing her briefly but passionately before glancing at the nurse. "Thanks."
Still smiling, the nurse nodded and retreated back inside. He glanced down at Neva. "Ready?"
"That depends on what I'm supposed to be ready for."
Her voice was low and sexy as hell, and heat shot to his groin. She smelled so good, so damn desirable, it was all he could do not to take her right there and then.
He forced his feet to move down the pavement. "To go home, witch."
"If that's all you're offering, then I guess so."
He couldn't help smiling. In a couple of days she'd gone from a reticent lover to an all too willing participant. She was amazing. Totally amazing. "Let's get out of the snow first."
"I've never done it in the snow," she said thoughtfully. She was running her fingers up and down his arms, a gentle caress that burned deep.
And making it damn hard to walk. "It's cold."
"But romantic."
Her breath was warm and sweet against his neck, and the smell of her arousal stirred his senses and made him hunger. Half a block had never seemed so far away. "Hypothermia is never romantic."
She raised an eyebrow, eyes glimmering with green fire in the darkness. "You only get hypothermia if you're out in the cold a long time."
"I plan for it to be a long time."
"With the moon rising high and the urgency I feel beating through your skin? Doubtful." She paused and looked around. "This is not the way to my house."
"No, it's the way to mine." Luckily, the lodge was down the other end of the street from the hospital, otherwise he'd be calling a cab. She might want to make love in the snow, but right now she was beginning to shiver.
She frowned. "I don't want to go to the mansion."
"Good, because we're not going there."
Her surprise rippled around him. "You own a house here in Ripple Creek?"
"Sort of."
"What's 'sort of' supposed to mean?"
"That I own it, but it's not a house."
She gave him a long look that was filled with annoyance. "Then what is it?"
"It's Snowflake Lodge. My mother left it to me when she died." And he'd already called ahead to ensure one of the cabins was open and ready for them.
"Really? I thought the Harpers owned it."