air brushed against Ellie's freezing cheeks. She sat stiffly in the

liding behind the steering wheel. He didn't start the engine right away. The faint

he comman

looking straight ahead through th

er townhouse was on East 74th. A pre-war building near the St

ive without asking

heels hit a patch of streetcar rails beneath the sno

left shoulder brushing firml

muscle beneath. The sudden proximity brought that sharp, i

herself flush against the passenger door

The road

stance. She was the wife of his best friend-an untouchabl

knee. His ice-blue eyes dropped to her bare left hand resting in her lap

t, lingering just long enough for the searing he

ice dropped an octave lower, rough and heavy with

beat. The air between them suddenl

ive down Fifth Avenue,

n front of the pre-war brownstone on 54th Street. Th

belt and reaching for the door handle. "Add up the repair

rance adjusters," Cosmo

r console. The space between them shrank to less than a

e your

back into the se

rough third parties," Cosmo said. H

. It lingered there for a fraction of a se

her purse, unlocked the scree

ng across the glass with practiced s

up with an incoming call. He ended the call,

is side of the car, though the dangerous tension in

he heavy door open, and steppe

dden heat burning beneath her collar. She didn't look