by Marie Force
“Let’s go home,” he said, sighing as he released her. He backed the truck out of the parking space, and as soon as they were heading out of town, he reached for her hand.
Cameron cradled his hand between both of hers, relishing the connection and the familiarity of the ride to his cabin.
When they passed the spot where she’d run into Fred, Will tooted the horn. “Thanks, Fred.”
“I wonder if he’s heard I’m back in town.”
“I’m sure the word has reached him by now. He’s astonishingly well connected.”
“It’s so great to be back here and to see the trees budding and the grass starting to turn green. You guys are about a month behind us in the city. Spring is in full bloom there.”
“It’s a long, long winter here. People who didn’t grow up here often have a hard time adapting to it.”
Was he trying to warn her? Perhaps, but nothing—not even the threat of year-round winter—could make her not want to be with him in this special place.
He pulled onto the road that led to his house, and Cameron was surprised to find it had been smoothed out.
“What happened to all the ruts?”
“I fixed them. I do it every spring, and then winter returns, and it gets all messed up again. Circle of life around here.”
Stepping inside his circle of life sounded like heaven to her as he pulled up to the house and cut the engine. She’d learned to wait for him to come around the truck to open her door.
He leaned into the truck for another lingering kiss before he helped her out and reached behind the seat for her bag. “The boys are going to be really happy to see you, so be ready. I don’t want them to knock you over.”
“They won’t.”
“You’re underestimating how much they missed you, too.”
Sure enough, when he opened the door, the dogs went crazy jumping all over Cameron, competing for her attention.
“Told ya,” Will said as he helped to shoo the dogs into the yard and Cameron into the house. Inside the door, he dropped her bag with a thunk and had her pressed against the door in a move so smooth she never saw it coming until his body and lips were molded to hers.
She hooked her fingers through the belt loops on his jeans, holding on for dear life as his tongue delved into her mouth and his erection throbbed against her belly.
“I told myself I wasn’t going to do this the second we walked in the door, but I can’t help it.” His lips were soft and seductive against her neck. “We have so much to talk about.”
“Yes.”
He ran his hands down her arms and took her hands, towing her behind him to the sofa. “Are you cold?”
“Not hardly,” she said with a laugh that made him laugh, too, as she curled up next to him.
He turned to her, stroking her hair, her face, her arm. “Did you get all your thinking done?”
“Most of it.”
“I did a lot of thinking, too, and I’d like to tell you what I thought about.”
“I’d like to tell you some things, too.”
“Would it be okay if I went first?”
Since it seemed to matter so much to him, she bit her lip and nodded.
“Do you remember the night Max came here to tell me that Chloe’s pregnant, and he asked you how he’d know if he was truly in love?”
“Yes.” She remembered every single second she’d spent with him because she’d relived every one of them over and over again while they were apart.
“You told him he’d know when she was all he thought about, when he couldn’t wait to spend more time with her and when he couldn’t keep his hands to himself when she’s around.”
“That sounds about right.”
“You’re all I think about. I can’t wait to spend more time with you. Hell, I’d spend all my time with you if I could. And I can’t keep my hands to myself when you’re around. Check, check, check. I love you. I’m in love with you. I want to be with you here, in New York, anywhere you want. I don’t care where we are. I only care that you’re there with me.”
“Will,” she whispered, astounded by his words as well as the sincerity he put behind them. “I love you, too. I’m crazy in love with you, and I want all the same things you do, only I want them here.”
He closed his eyes for a brief moment, seeming to absorb what she’d said before he opened his eyes again. “Remember what I promised I’d do if you fell in love with me?”
“I’ve been holding on to that promise with everything I’ve got.”
“Now you can hold on to me with everything you’ve got.”
She launched herself into his arms, and he caught her, because he’d promised he would. With her arms wrapped tight around his neck, she felt like she was finally back where she belonged.
“Have we talked about everything we need to talk about?”
“Almost everything. You didn’t say whether you liked the website.”
He pulled back from her so he could look into her eyes. “I loved the website. It was magnificent. And you know what? I knew you had to be as in love with me as I am with you when I saw that website and the love you’d put into capturing my family and what’s important to us.”
“I love you, and I love them, too. That’s why I want to be here. I want to live here and work here and be with your family, and I talked to Hunter—”
He scowled playfully. “What exactly did you talk to Hunter about?”
“A job.”
“A job,” he said with a laugh. “You asked my brother for a job.”
“Technically, I asked him to create a webmaster position and give the job to me so I can keep working on the website that’s become as important to me as I hope it will one day be to all of you.”
“So you’re moving here for the website. I get it now.”
“That’s the primary reason. There were a couple of secondary reasons, but I can’t remember now what they were. I’m sure it’ll come to me—” All the air whooshed from her lungs when he hauled her up and flung her over his shoulder, making her scream with laughter as he swung her around.
He went to let in the dogs and then to the bedroom, closing the door to keep the dogs from joining them.
Cameron landed on the bed with an ungraceful ooph and took a moment to experience the sheer joy of knowing she was exactly where she belonged, with the man she’d been born to love. She held out her arms to him.
He came down on top of her, his body heavy and hard and perfect against hers.
She ran her fingers through his hair while feasting her eyes on the face that had become the center of her world. “Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to come to New York with me?”
“How do you know I was going to?”
“Like Fred, I’m amazingly well connected.”
His amusement made his eyes glow with warmth. “Because you said you needed some time, and I wanted to give it to you.”
“I would’ve taken more time with you in a heartbeat.”
“Now you’ve got all the time you want.” His lips slid into the sexy smile that had killed her from the very beginning. “You’re really going to move here?”
“If you’ll have me.”
“I’ll definitely have you.” He pushed his hardness into the V of her legs. “Now and always.”
“Thanks for the warning,” she said, smiling up at him.
“It’s a promise, baby.”
Keeping her fingers in his hair, she urged him into a kiss that was full of the love and longing she’d carried with her during the month without him. They pulled and tugged at clothes until all the important parts were revealed.
Without breaking the kiss, he surged into her and then froze. “Crap. Totally forgot the condom.”
“Wait.” With her hands on his backside, she held him where she’d wanted him every day since she was last with him. “I saw my doctor right after I got back to the city. I’m safe, and I’m protected.”
The look he gave her when h
er words registered was nothing less than priceless. “So what you’re saying . . .”
“What I’m saying is if you’re safe, too, no condom required.”
“I’m safe.” He leaned his forehead against hers, seeming to gather himself. “As this will officially be the first time I’ve ever had sex without a condom, it’s going to be over really, really, really fast.”
“That’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. You can make it up to me.”
EPILOGUE
I ain’t one to go ’round spreadin’ rumors, so you better listen close the first time.
—The gospel according to Elmer Stillman
On Monday after work, Lincoln brought a six-pack of beer to his father-in-law’s house. He found Elmer on the front porch, enjoying one of the first truly warm days of the year and whistling as he whittled an owl from a tree branch. Landon’s woodworking skills had come directly from Elmer, who’d taught him everything he knew when Landon was still a boy.
“Was wondering if I’d see you tonight,” Elmer said as he cracked open a beer and gestured for Lincoln to take a seat in the other rocker.
“I still feel funny sitting here, all these years later.” Lincoln opened his own beer as he settled into the rocker. “In my mind, this’ll always be Sarah’s chair.”
“In my mind, too, but she wasn’t one for turning chairs into shrines.”
“True.” His in-laws were the most practical, down-to-earth people Lincoln had ever known. He owed a big part of his success as a husband and father to the man sitting next to him, who’d set an example well worth emulating.
“How’s the hoof?”
“Better. I still feel like such an idiot for ruining the last day for everyone. I never even saw that damned tree root.”
“Shit happens, and you didn’t ruin anything. I love that week with the boys.”
“I do, too, and I love that they love it as much as we do. I kept thinking they might outgrow it, but they haven’t yet.”
“I don’t think they’re going to.”
“Probably not. Good day at the store?”
“Great day. We were busy all day.”
“Any sign of Will and Cameron yet?”
“Nope.”
Elmer grunted out a laugh. “Missed work today and dinner yesterday, too.”
“He has to know he’s given his siblings weeks of ball-busting material in the last couple of days.”
“Something tells me that’s the last thing on his mind at the moment,” Elmer said. “Good for him—and for her. Two of them are downright crazy about each other. He never took his eyes off her the whole time she was talking about the website. You notice that?”
“I noticed.”
“I gotta give you credit. You knew what you were doing when you brought her here.”
“After seeing Patrick at the reunion and hearing him talk about her and her business, I had a feeling she might be just what our Will needed to jumpstart his life. And I didn’t even have to push them together. They did it all on their own.”
“With a little help from Fred.”
“No kidding,” Lincoln said with a chuckle. “Remind me to thank the old guy the next time he meanders into town.”
“Will do.” Elmer examined the owl carving from every angle, apparently satisfied with his handiwork because he put down his knife and picked up his beer.
“Some interesting sparks flying between Cameron’s friend Lucy and Colton at dinner the other night.”
“You don’t say. Hard to imagine a city girl up there on Colton’s mountain, and can’t imagine him anywhere else.” Elmer appeared to give the potential pairing some significant consideration. “But I liked her. She’s feisty, that one.”
“Agreed. Don’t know if I see her with Colton, though. We’ll have to wait and see if anything comes of the sparks.”
“Absolutely. Now, what are we to do about our darling Hannah?”
“That’s a tough one,” Lincoln said with a sigh. “Sometimes I worry she’s never going to be ready to move on after losing Caleb.”
Elmer pointed his beer bottle in Lincoln’s direction. “What do you say we give her a little push in the right direction?”
Lincoln touched his bottle to Elmer’s. “I say you’re on.”
Thanks for reading All You Need Is Love! Watch for book two, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Hannah and Nolan’s story, in June 2014.
I Want to Hold Your Hand is available now for preorder at all major retailers and marieforce.com/books/the-green-mountain-series. Keep reading for a preview of Chapter 1.
Join the Green Mountain Reader Group at facebook.com/groups/GreenMountainSeries. To talk specifically about this book with spoilers allowed and encouraged, join the All You Need Is Love Reader Group at facebook.com/groups/AllYouNeedIsLove1. Join my mailing list at marieforce.com to be notified about new books, and feel free to contact me at [email protected].
Turn the page for a preview of the next book in the Green Mountain series
I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND
Coming in June 2014 to Berkley Sensation and available now for preorder at all major retailers and marieforce.com/books/the-green-mountain-series.
CHAPTER 1
A new boy moved to town over the summer. His name is Caleb Guthrie. Hunter and Will like him, but I haven’t decided yet.
—From the diary of Hannah Abbott, age twelve
Hannah Abbott Guthrie looked forward to the second Thursday of every month, when she met her high school friends in St. Johnsbury for lunch and an afternoon at their favorite spa. The tradition began after Hannah lost her husband, Caleb, in Iraq almost seven years ago, and had continued long after the first awful wave of grief passed into the new reality of her life without Caleb.
Like her family, her friends had been there for her one thousand percent, and Hannah loved her “escape from it all” days passionately. This time, she was even considering the possibility of taking her friend Becky up on the standing invite to spend the night in St. Johnsbury so she wouldn’t have to drive home after the relaxing afternoon.
Her brother Hunter had volunteered to come by when he got back to town to check on Caleb’s old dog, Homer, so he wouldn’t have to spend the whole day and night alone. Even with Homer covered, she was playing the invitation by ear. Since Caleb died, she had a lot of trouble sleeping, and if she was going to be up at all hours, she preferred to rattle around in the privacy of her own home.
Hannah picked up the overnight bag she’d packed just in case she decided to stay, gave Homer a snuggle and let him know Uncle Hunter would be by to see him later and locked the door to the huge Victorian she’d inherited from Caleb. The house was far too big for one person, but Caleb had loved the house that had come from his grandmother, and Hannah would never sell it.
She unlocked her aging SUV and put her bag into the back before sliding into the driver’s seat. The day was chilly but sunny, an early spring day in northern Vermont, where winter hung around far longer than it did just a few hours south. In deference to the lingering winter, Hannah had chosen to wear a heavy coat rather than the new spring jacket she was ready to break out any day now.
With the key in the ignition, she turned it and got a clicking sound that didn’t bode well for going anywhere. “Come on,” she whispered. “Not today. Do this tomorrow when I’ve got nowhere to be.” She turned the key again and got the same click, click, click noise that even she recognized as a dead battery. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
She leaned her head on the steering wheel as she tried to remember where everyone was today. Her dad and her twin, Hunter, had gone to a business conference in Montpelier. Will was in New York helping his girlfriend, Cameron, pack up her apartment for her move to Vermont. Colton was up on the mountain at the family sugaring facility, Wade knew as much about cars as she did, Lucas and Landon were working a twenty-four hour shift at the volunteer fire department and Max was at school in Burlington.
Her sisters, Ella and Charley
, were as useful in this situation as Hannah and Wade. Her mom had taken Hannah’s grandfather for his annual physical this morning. That left one person she could call and, as luck would have it, he was the last person she wanted to call.
“If I call Nolan he’s going to get all hopeful, and I can’t do that to him,” she said, reasoning with herself and the cold air. It had been enough that recently she’d danced with him at the Grange and then let him drive her home. That was more than she’d done with any man in all the years since Caleb died.
But Nolan wasn’t just any man. He’d been less than circumspect about his feelings for her, never missing a chance to inquire about her to one of her family members—all of whom loved relaying Nolan’s thoughtful sentiments to her at every possible opportunity.
“You’re being foolish. You can either call Nolan and continue with your plans or miss the day with the girls. Those are your choices.” The one thing she didn’t feel foolish about, after living alone for close to seven years, was talking to herself. If anyone knew how often she had full conversations with herself they’d probably have her committed.
She reached for her cell phone she kept in the car for emergencies and made the call, holding her breath while she waited for him to answer the phone at the station he ran in town.
“Nolan’s.”
At the sound of his deep voice a flutter of nerves filled her belly.
“Hello?”
“Oh, sorry. Hey, Nolan, it’s Hannah.”
“Hannah.” With the single word came hope, surprise and hesitation. That he managed to convey so much by only saying her name was one of the many reasons she’d kept her distance from him. His feelings for her were a badly kept secret, and being around him made her nervous. She’d known him all her life, so the nerves were stupid, really, but she had them every time she laid eyes on the man. “What’s going on?”
