Page 70 of The Duke's Impossible Deal
“Then we should hurry.” Tobias waded through the snow, clearing a path for the boy. As they neared the branch, he lifted him onto his shoulders. “Can you reach?”
“I think so.” Alistair leaned forward, and a moment later, Tobias heard a crack. “I got it!”
“Careful, I do not want you to fall.” Tobias shifted as he felt Tobias wobble on his shoulders.
“I won’t. Don’t worry.” Alistair dropped the stick on the ground below them. “I think I can reach that one.”
Tobias moved so that the boy could get a better reach. There was another crack, and this time the bough shifted, dislodging not only Alistair but the snow that sat atop the tree. Tobias only had a second to react; he dove forward to catch him.
He flung the boy clear, as a deluge of snow fell in the place he had been and Tobias plunged face-first into a snow drift.
“Are you all right?” Alistair called.
Tobias rolled over and sat up, brushing the snow from his head and shoulders. “I am fine. Are you all right?”
“Yes.” Alistair nodded.
It was at that moment that Rowen and Georgie re-emerged. Georgie was holding a stick in each hand and skipping beside her mother. Rowen’s cheeks were flushed from the cold. The sight of the two of them made Tobias’s heart flutter.
“We leave you alone for five minutes, and this is what we come back to?” Rowen’s eyes danced in the sunlight, and Tobias could hear the amusement in her voice. “You know, when I said we should build snowmen, I did not expect you to take me so literally and become a snowman.”
“I was trying to get some sticks,” Alistair explained, puffing out his chest and pointing to the sticks he had broken off, which were just poking out from the snow a little ways away. “I found some good ones, too. The snow is just hiding them.”
“I’ll help you pull them out, Alistair,” Georgie offered, and the twins moved away and set about digging out Alistair’s buried bounty.
Tobias watched them briefly before his eyes returned to Rowen. “Are you going to stand there watching me, or are you going to assist me?”
“And what assistance could a frail thing like me offer a big, strong man like you?” Rowen batted her eyelashes at him as she pressed a hand to her chest. “Besides, I like looking down at you.”
“Do you, indeed?” Tobias grinned and leaned back. “You could always join me in the snow. After all, you would look down at me from my lap.”
Her cheeks flushed scarlet just like he had hoped, and her laughter rang out.
She shook her head at him, her smile tugging at his heart like a string. “You will need to make a better offer to tempt me, dear Tobias.”
“Am I not tempting enough?” He got to his feet and shook, sending snow flying everywhere.
Rowen laughed and ducked out of the way. “Oh, yes, what woman does not want a man who shakes like a dog and covers her in snow?”
“Well, you do look rather lovely in white.” Tobias winked at her as he moved towards her.
“Not as lovely as you.” Before he could react, something soft collided with his chest, and he realized that she had thrown a snowball at him. “You see?”
“I think it suits you better.” He flung his own snowball at her.
She let out a shriek and dived to the side. Georgie and Alistair looked between them, then at each other.
Rowen pointed at Tobias. “Avenge me!” she cried theatrically, clutching at her chest. “He has slain me.”
“And you call me dramatic.” Tobias laughed.
Georgie and Alistair grinned and rushed towards him, hurling snowballs as they approached. Tobias caught one and threw it back. He saw the twins’ eyes widen in a mix of shock and awe, and then the snow collided with Alistair’s chest.
Georgie leapt towards Tobias, and he caught her easily, spinning her and throwing her up in the air. She giggled and clapped her hands.
“I have you captured, Georgie. Do you wish to be my prisoner or join me and rule at my side?” he asked in a deep, gravelly voice, as though he were a hardened pirate.
Georgie grinned up at him and then looked at Alistair and her mother. “Let’s get them!”
