"I'm not that big of a monster." He smiled at her — her innocence was refreshing but she was not naive by any means.
He wondered what she heard in his voice because one minute she was looking at him nonplussed, the next she was laughing so hard she was holding her side, tears at the corners of her eyes. She didn't look like she was stopping anytime soon, collapsing into peals of laughter again and again.
"Please stop... Just stop," she said between laughs.
He arched an eyebrow. "I haven't done a single thing."
"The look on your face."
He didn't know how to deal with that one, but he gave her another smile, stretching out a hand to help her from her squat on the floor. "I was born with this face, you know."
She released a tame chuckle. "I'm sorry for that."
"What do you mean?" He pretended to glare. "I have a great face."
"Not with that earlier expression." She gave a small shake of her head.
He had to smile at that, resisting the voice that prompted him to drop her hand. He liked it right where it was, in his own hand.
"Where is Miranda?"
"She went off with Celia to get the bags to pack up this stuff."
"Oh.”
"Missing your daughter already?" she asked softly, the words warming him immeasurably. Trinity admitting that even in play had him…content.
"She has a certain energy," he observed.
"Say it plain, she's a noisy brat," she said, yet the words contradicted a proud tone.
"Oh, she was born that way," he retorted, a bit smug.
"What do you mean by that?" He couldn’t help the grin that found its way to his lips at Trinity’s pretend glare.
"You should see her mother."
“I resent that," Trinity retorted.
"I am glad.” He himself was beginning to chuckle now.
"That I resent that?” She couldn’t stop laughing.
"That you're laughing," he replied. His hand traced the lines of her jaw. The hand in his twitched once before she settled into his hold and his touch.
"I never said this, but thank you for saving me… I mean, this could have been me this winter," she continued, suddenly sober. She gestured at the piles around her.
"It was my pleasure," he murmured softly. "But I wonder who will willingly take those ugly rubber shoes."
His eyes were suddenly wicked as he removed his hand from her jaw, already needing an excuse to return it quickly.
"Fleece lined, very warm and when you wear a good dry pair of socks, they can keep your toes snug for a long time," she said, her voice prim but her eyes betrayed the humor behind them.
"It's like a whole other world."
"Like you won't believe."
"My greatest worry about winter was keeping from breaking my legs on the ski slopes…”
