STORM OF LOVE (snowed in with the billionaire #3) (billionaire erotic romance)) by Karolyn James Page A

her knees.
Instead of jumping back up, she just remained on her knees.
Defeated. She quit. She was done. Her eyes shut again and she cried
out one last time, crying for Nathaniel.
    “I’m yours!” she yelled. “If you find me…
I’m all yours…”
    She tried to smile, feeling lost and crazy,
but tears only came. She squeezed her eyes tight, not needing tear
water to freeze on her face. If freezing to death wasn’t terrible
enough, she couldn’t comprehend having her eyes freeze shut from
crying tears of pain and frustration thanks to Nathaniel
Anders.
    “Damn you,” she whispered. “Just… damn
you…”
    Her mind calculated how long the storm was
supposed to last. Through the weekend, but losing its punch by
Saturday evening. Stephanie just had to survive until then. It was
too early in the day to celebrate. For all Stephanie knew, she
could have another twelve hours of this.
    That wouldn’t work.
    She put her hands to the ground, sliding her
gloved hands into the snow. It took all of ten seconds for the snow
to melt and soak through her thin layered gloves. The wetness was
freezing. Her body shivered again, her muscles rippling, bones
aching, teeth chattering.
    “Where are you…?” she asked.
    She opened her eyes to stare into the snow.
She wanted to watch the snow melt into her hands before her body
gave up. As she stared, she watched the rounded tip of something
black come into view. Then there was two of them.
    Shoes.
    Shoes.
    “Shoes…”
    Stephanie looked up and saw him standing
there.
    Nathaniel Anders.
    The sexy billionaire.
    His hands weren’t in his pockets, they were
outstretched towards Stephanie. His face was still beautiful,
chiseled and gorgeous, but there rested a look on his face that
Stephanie knew would haunt her.
    As she took Nathaniel’s hands, allowing him
to pull her back to her feet, she couldn’t break her stare.
    She’d never seen a man so hurt – and angry –
in all her life.

 
    (2)
     
    “Why am I here?” she called as her legs gave
out and she collapsed into Nathaniel’s warm body. Her instinct was
to choke up and cry, unable to control herself as the thick jacket
Nathaniel wore felt like a blanket.
    His body heat radiated towards Stephanie and
instead of answering the question, Nathaniel unzipped his coat and
tried to wrap it around Stephanie. He managed the best he could,
considering the extreme circumstances.
    “Answer me,” Stephanie pleaded. “Why am I
here?”
    “You’re here because you acted like a fool
and left the lodge,” Nathaniel yelled. “Now, come with me before we
both end up frozen to death.”
    “No,” Stephanie said.
    She hated herself the moment her hands broke
their grip from Nathaniel. She backed up until she felt a tree. She
forced herself to stand tall, even though her body wanted to just
give in and give up. A shaky finger pointed at Nathaniel as her
mind scrambled to find the words.
    “What?” Nathaniel asked. His face was so
angry that it made Stephanie fear more than just the weather. “What
do you have to say?”
    “I’m not going anywhere with you,” Stephanie
said. “I need you but I hate you. I hate you. How could you say
you’re going to fire me? And other people?”
    “That’s business,” Nathaniel replied. He now
put his hands into his pockets.
    Leave it to him to find a way to look so
calm, cool, and sexy during a blizzard. The wind punched at his
face, causing him to blink more, but he had no other reaction. Even
as his cheeks turned a harsh, rose red color, he didn’t flinch.
    “Business… it’s people…”
    “Employees,” Nathaniel said. “I’ve been
waiting for a year for a deal to come through and it just hasn’t
happened yet.”
    Stephanie’s knees gave way. She grabbed for
the tree but it was no use. Her legs were numb, gone.
    Nathaniel got to her just in time, grabbing
her at her hips, holding her up. His body was pressed against hers,
her body against the tree. Their faces were a foot apart,