The man was so stubborn. Bullheaded. Even so, she felt a nagging need to comfort him. Sadness was buried in his stormy eyes, no matter how both of them pretended it wasn’t. It only seemed to deepen the longer they stayed at Lansing Square. Whether or not he admitted it, the house he wanted so desperately to get rid of meant something to him. And whatever “business” he had there had something to do with his strange searching.

What could he be looking for?

She found herself bundling a second ball of packed snow into her fist. She took aim at a tree branch a fair distance away and let loose, pretending it was her husband’s head as a target. It hit squarely and she couldn’t help but smile.

“You’ve a good arm. Perhaps you’d like to practice on a better enemy.”

Katherine spun around with a start to find Dominic crossing the lawn toward her with arms outstretched as if offering his broad, muscular chest as a mark. She blushed. She’d been caught. Thank goodness he couldn’t read her thoughts.

“You want me to throw a snowball at you?” she asked with a giggle she couldn’t suppress.

He gave her that half-grin that melted her every time. “The birds are easy marks, my lady. And anyone could have hit that tree branch. I am simply offering you a challenge.”

Yes, he certainly did that. A challenge to her resolve.

He stooped and scooped up a handful of wet snow. With flourish, he rubbed a target on the breast of his dark woolen greatcoat, then stood back. “There, now I’ve made it even easier for you.”

She couldn’t hold back another burst of laughter. “Just remember you asked for this.”

She wound up and was pleased when she hit him squarely in the middle of the chest, despite his last-minute sidestep.

He smiled. “Decent.”

“Decent? I hit you full on!” she said in mock outrage before she balled up another snowball and threw again.

But he was just as quick and she found herself dodging as much as throwing. His aim was as good as hers and more of his missiles hit her than missed. As she straightened up for one last throw, she was pleased to see his coat was dotted with white marks. At the exact moment she let loose, he stood up and the snowball connected squarely with his face.

She squealed in delight as he sputtered and wiped snow away from his eyes. Eyes that came up to meet hers with playfully murderous intent.

“Oh, you liked that, did you?” he asked as he dug into his pocket for a hopelessly damp handkerchief.

“I-I’m s-so sorry,” she managed between giggles.

“Hmmm. It doesn’t sound like it.” He grinned. “But you will be.”

With that, he dove toward her. She let out a small scream as she scurried away. Laughing, she ran across the snow with him hard on her heels. Just when she thought she would escape, he jumped. They both went down on the soft snow in a heap of red coat and laughter.

“Now you’re going to get it,” Dominic chuckled as he shifted his weight to pin her laughing, struggling form. “Now you’re mine.”

Something in his voice shifted and Katherine stopped fidgeting to look up into stormy gray eyes. Eyes that pulled her in bit by bit until laughter was forgotten, snowball fights were forgotten, everything was forgotten except how much she wanted him.