All You Need Is Love

by Marie Force

  “You’re making me crazy. Do you know that?”

  He turned the key to start the truck. “Is that crazy in a good way or a bad way?”

  “I refuse to dignify that with a response.”

  “Ahh, so crazy in a good way.”

  “I never said that!”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  • • •

  The hours in the office rushed by in a series of conversations, mini-meetings, plans and preliminary site mapping. At various points during the day, Ella, Charlotte and Wade all made a point of telling Cameron they were looking forward to working with her on the website.

  She didn’t mention their change of heart or ask if they were being sincere. Rather, she appreciated the show of unity, which would ultimately make her job a lot easier. She’d yet to see Hunter, but she’d heard he was still meeting with auditors.

  Lincoln was positively ebullient over the site project moving forward. He insisted on treating her to lunch to celebrate, and over tacos, he regaled her with stories and interesting facts about the store that had her reaching for her notebook out of fear that she might forget them later.

  When she shared some thoughts about how they might feature his Beatles memorabilia collection on the website, she made a friend for life. During the time she spent with him, she tried to think of him as a client, and not as Will’s dad. As a client, she chatted with him the way she would any other client. The second she allowed herself to think of him as Will’s dad, her thoughts became muddled.

  They emerged from the Mexican cantina after an hour of delightful conversation to find Fred strolling down the middle of the street like he owned the place. Drivers waited patiently for him to pass before continuing on their way.

  “Does he do that often?” Cameron asked, astounded by the sight of the huge animal smack in the middle of the street.

  “Couple times a week,” Lincoln said. “He likes to keep an eye on things.”

  “And no one is ever afraid of him going all ‘moose’ on them?”

  “Nah, he’s a pussycat.”

  Cameron eyed the massive animal and didn’t see anything resembling a pussycat. Then he let out a large “moooo” and she startled.

  Lincoln rested a hand on her shoulder. “He’s totally harmless.”

  “Try telling my poor car that.” She could tell he was fighting back a smile. “It’s fine. You’re allowed to laugh. It’s kind of funny.”

  “It’s not funny that you got hurt.”

  “The rest of it is.”

  He let out a low chuckle and offered her his arm for the walk back to the office. “It’s a bit amusing. I’ll give you that.”

  Charmed by him, she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Old Fred has given me a reputation I’ll never live down around here.”

  “There’s a T-shirt in the store that says ‘What Happens in Vermont Stays in Vermont.’ Underneath that it says ‘Nothing Ever Happens in Vermont.’”

  “That is so not true!”

  “I had a feeling you’d say that, but your secrets are safe with us.”

  “That’s good to know.”

  “I’m glad you’re here, Cam. Is it okay if I call you that?”

  “Absolutely. That’s what my friends at home call me.”

  “I’m glad you’re here, and I’m delighted the kids came around on the website. I think they’ll love it when it’s done.”

  She didn’t point out that most of the “kids” hadn’t, in fact, come around on the website. “I hope so.”

  “I didn’t choose you for the job only because you’re my friend’s daughter.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “Nope. I did my research, and I could see the effort you put into all your projects. You get to the heart and soul of the organization, and that’s what I want for our site. I want people to know what we’re doing here. I want them to know old-fashioned values still have a place in today’s world. I want them to know a family can work together successfully.”

  “Your family is very special. I’ve already seen that.”

  “I’m proud of what Molly and I have accomplished with our kids. They continue to surprise us every day. Take today, for example. We found out our baby is going to give us our first grandchild. Imagine that!”

  “I heard that news. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. Not sure how I feel about being a grandfather at my young age, though.”

  “Fortunately, you have some time to get used to the idea.”

  “That’s true.”

  “I really liked Max. He may be young, but it seems like his head is screwed on straight.”

  “He’s a good boy, despite being spoiled rotten his whole life as the baby of the family. He’s a charmer, that one.”

  “He’s not the only one.” The words were out of her mouth before Cameron could remember she was talking to Will’s father.

  “I’ve noticed you’ve been spending some time with Will, who, in my humble and unbiased opinion, is also a very good boy.”

  Cameron laughed. It was easy to see where his sons had come by their charm. “Humble and unbiased, huh?”

  “All the way.” He whistled for Ringo and George the second they entered the office mudroom. The scurry of dog paws on the wood floor upstairs preceded them down the stairs. “Hey, guys. Anything happen while we were out?”

  Cameron was treated to the same enthusiastic greeting. “Thanks for lunch, Lincoln.”

  “A pleasure, my dear. I’m at your service during your stay with us. Anything I can do, just let me know.”

  “I will, thanks.”

  She was back in Will’s office checking her email and wondering where he’d gotten off to when Hunter came in with an envelope that he handed to Cameron. Unlike his brothers, who wore flannel and denim to work, Hunter had on a blue-and-white-striped dress shirt with charcoal dress pants and wingtips. He looked every bit the corporate CFO. “Down payment on the website.”

  “Oh. Thank you.” She tried to be casual about the way she accepted the slip of paper that would save her company from ruin.

  Hands in pockets, he studied her with intent dark eyes that made her want to squirm.

  “Is there something else?” she asked.

  “I want you to know I’m not at all in favor of this project.”

  “Okay.”

  “And I question whether it’s being done for the right reasons.”

  “What would be the wrong reasons?”

  “That’s between my brother and me.”

  Cameron waited, wondering if he would elaborate.

  After a long, pregnant pause, he said, “My feelings about it have nothing to do with you. I thought maybe I should say that at the outset, so you don’t think I’m a total jerk.”

  “I appreciate knowing that. I promise to do a very good job and to leave you with a product you can be proud of.”

  “I suppose there’s nothing more we could ask. I’ll let you get to it.”

  When he left the room, Cameron sagged into the chair. Whereas Will was mostly light and easygoing, Hunter was darker and broodier, intense. She sensed he’d make for a formidable adversary and was relieved that he wouldn’t be her adversary while she was here. It was good of him to spell out that his objections weren’t about her.

  She got up to speak to the receptionist, Mary. “I need a FedEx box. Is there one nearby?” The check was too big for mobile deposit, which probably wouldn’t work anyway with the crappy connection.

  “The closest one is in St. Johnsbury.”

  “Do they pick up here?”

  “Only with twenty-four hours’ notice.”

  That was inconceivable in the city. “What about the post office?”

  Mary checked her watch. “The overnight mail has to be posted by noon, so you missed that.”

  “I guess I’ll have to get to St. Johnsbury then.” Lucy would need to deposit the check tomorrow to give it time to clear before the payroll was called in on We
dnesday of next week.

  “Here’s an envelope and weigh bill.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I absolutely loved that dress you had on yesterday,” Mary said in a confiding tone. “Where’d you get it?”

  “At a big sale at Neiman’s.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “Neiman Marcus in New York City.”

  “Oh. I’ve never been there,” Mary said wistfully. She was about fifty with short-cropped brown hair and brown eyes.

  “You should come down sometime. I’d be happy to show you around.”

  “You would? Really?”

  “Sure, anytime.”

  “That’s really nice of you.” The ringing phone took her back to work with a regretful grimace for Cameron.

  Back in Will’s office, she went to the window to look across the street at Nolan’s Garage where her car was still up on the lift. She hated that she’d have to ask Will to take her to St. Johnsbury, but what choice did she have? The check needed to be in New York tomorrow.

  Will’s heavy footsteps announced his return, triggering the tingle of awareness along her backbone that she was beginning to get used to whenever he was around.

  She turned to him and stopped short at the look of raw yearning she saw on his face before he blinked and it was gone.

  CHAPTER 11

  Don’t spoil Saturday night by countin’ the time to Monday mornin’.

  —The gospel according to Elmer Stillman

  “Everything okay?” he asked, dropping a stack of mail on his desk.

  Cameron was still trying to process what she’d just seen on his face. “Uh-huh. I need to go to the FedEx box in St. Johnsbury. I hate to ask you—”

  “It’s not a problem.”

  “Can we go before four?”

  “I can go now if that works for you.”

  While she yearned to make use of the reliable Internet connection in the office while she could, she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything until that check was on its way to New York. “That’d be great. I was also thinking we need to let the employees in the store know about the site. I’ll be spending a lot of time there, and it would help if they knew what I’m up to.”

  “Charlotte put out a memo to the staff earlier today, so you should be all set.”

  “You all are pretty efficient.”

  He shrugged. “We work well together. We make a decision, and we get busy making it happen.”

  “We try to be that way, too, but we aren’t all siblings who grew up bickering with each other.”

  He waited for her to gather her belongings and step out of the office before he grabbed his own coat, turned off the light and shut the door behind them.

  On the way downstairs, he said, “I’m not going to pretend it isn’t challenging at times to work with my dad and brothers and sisters, because it is. But at least I know they’re not talking shit about me behind my back when I leave the room the way people do in some workplaces. Or at least they don’t usually do that. This week? Who knows?”

  “You think they’re talking shit about you?”

  “I think they’re wondering what’s going on between you and me and what it’s got to do with my sudden interest in a website for the store. I guess I can’t blame them. I’d feel the same way if it was one of them doing what I’m doing.”

  He helped her into the truck and stowed her computer bag behind the seat. It occurred to Cameron that he did such things without even thinking about them. The manners were ingrained in him, which was just another thing to add to her growing list of qualities she found attractive in him.

  “What is it that you’re doing?”

  With his hands on the wheel, he stared straight ahead for a long time before he looked over at her, slaying her with those amazingly expressive eyes of his. “I’m muddying the waters. I’m mixing business and personal. I’m crossing lines I’ve never crossed before, and I’m doing it all with my eyes wide open to the potential fallout. I don’t even care that there might be fallout. And that’s not me. It’s not me at all.”

  “Will—”

  “Don’t. Whatever you’re going to say, don’t say it. I don’t care if it’s muddy or messy. It’s mud season in Vermont. The perfect time of year for muddy waters.”

  Despite the lighthearted comment, there was nothing lighthearted about the way he looked at her as he said it.

  Cameron’s protests died on her lips as she realized she didn’t care about the fallout either. She couldn’t resist him, which is why she released her seat belt this time and leaned over the console.

  Thankfully, he met her halfway.

  She put her hand on his neck and drew him into the kiss, the first she had initiated. Even though her heart pounded erratically, she kissed him until she felt him relax.

  “What was that for?” he asked when she had no choice but to come up for air. “Not that I’m complaining.”

  “It was to say I don’t care about the mud either.”

  The left side of his mouth lifted into a half smile that made his eyes sparkle. “Let’s go to St. Johnsbury and get you moved into Hannah’s. We’ve got a snowman to build.”

  • • •

  Three hours later, Cameron had worked up a sweat helping Will create a six-foot-tall snow monster. She had insisted on the snow monster over the snowman because who cared if the dogs demolished a monster? A snowman on the other hand, was too reminiscent of her beloved Frosty, and she couldn’t bear to set the dogs on Frosty.

  Although she suspected Will found her logic less than rational, he’d gone along with her monster and was helping to put the finishing touches on the monster’s snow fangs, which were made out of icicles he’d broken off the roof of the house.

  Their biggest challenge was keeping Tanner and Trevor from attacking until they were finished. The dogs danced around their feet, nearly tripping them more than once in their excitement.

  “A few more minutes, boys,” Will said, throwing what had to be the hundredth snowball into the woods to keep them occupied.

  “I don’t think he looks fierce enough,” Cameron said, taking an assessing look at their work. “His eyes are too far apart.” She pointed up. “Move them closer together.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Is there anything else?”

  “I can’t help it if I’m not tall enough to reach his eyes.”

  Before the words were out of her mouth, his arms were around her waist and he was hoisting her up to tend to the eyes herself.

  She let out a squeal of surprise and gripped his hair through the knit hat he’d worn the night she met him.

  “Ow,” he said.

  Cameron realized she was pulling his hair and released her tight grasp to tend to the monster’s charcoal eyes, which were much more sinister when positioned closer together.

  “Satisfied?” he asked.

  “Yep.”

  He loosened his arms only slightly, letting her slide down the front of him until her feet landed between his.

  She waited for him to release her, but he didn’t. Rather, he tightened his arms again and bent his head to press cold lips to her neck.

  Cameron gasped from the sensation of cold turning to heat that radiated all the way through her.

  “You smell so good,” he whispered. “So sweet.”

  She could think of nothing to say to that as she relaxed against him, loving the way it felt to be surrounded by him.

  The dogs returned and broke the moment, circling them in a frenzy of excitement.

  He released her and took a step back. “What do you say we let them go to town on Mr. Snow Monster?”

  “I can’t look.”

  He held his arms out to her. “I’ll shield you.”

  Cameron smiled at him. “That’s the best you can do?” she asked as she stepped into his arms and pressed her face to his chest.

  “Kill him, boys,” Will said to the dogs, who let out gleeful-sounding yips as they dove into the snow.

  Camer
on cringed and put her arms around him. “The poor monster.”

  “You’re not supposed to feel sorry for him. That’s why he’s a monster.”

  “Still . . .”

  She was continuing to lament the violent end to the snow monster when Will hooked his foot around her ankle and sent her tumbling into the snow. Somehow he managed to land on top of her without hurting her.

  “That’s the best I can do,” he said as he looked down at her with a satisfied grin. His cheeks were red from the cold, and he’d never looked sexier than he did in that moment.

  “Much better.” Cameron raised her arms, and he dropped down until their bodies were perfectly aligned. The unmistakable press of his arousal against her belly was obvious even through her coat.

  He bent his head and kissed her softly at first, his lips heating as they moved over hers. The cold air and the barking dogs and the snow faded away in a haze of heat and desire as their tongues met and mated in a dance so erotically charged that her world was reduced to their tiny cocoon.

  The lick of a dog’s tongue on her face had her turning away from Will, as desire turned to laughter.

  “Buzz off, Tanner,” Will said. “Go find your own girl. She’s mine.” He looked directly into her eyes as he staked his claim.

  Cameron’s shiver couldn’t be blamed entirely on the cold.

  “What do you say we take this party inside where there’s a warm fire and hot chocolate?”

  “That sounds good,” she said, releasing him reluctantly.

  He got up and reached out to help her.

  As she stood, her eyes skirted over the front of him, landing on the prominent bulge in the front of his well-worn jeans. She licked her lips and forced herself to look anywhere else as her face burned with embarrassment.

  He kept a firm grip on her hand. “Don’t look at what became of poor Snow Monster.”

  Cameron couldn’t help but look—and laugh—when she saw the dogs frolicking merrily in what was left of their monster.

  Will used his free hand to pluck the two pieces of charcoal from the pile of snow. “I wouldn’t put it past them to eat that.” He led her around to the mudroom in the back of the house where they removed their coats and boots.