Green Mountain Collection 1

by Marie Force

  “Why?” She loved that he held the door to his truck for her—always. “Do you want to go swimming?” Feigning innocence, she looked up at him.

  He leaned in and kissed her again, with sweeping thrusts of his tongue that had her immediately ready for anything he had in mind. “No, I don’t want to go swimming,” he said when he came up for air. “You know damned well what I want, so be ready when we get there.”

  “Oh, yes, sir. Whatever you want, sir.”

  “Call me ‘sir,’ and you’ll get a whole other side of me that you haven’t seen yet.”

  She found the statement both intriguing and titillating. “All this and there’s more?”

  He winked suggestively. “Much, much more.”

  Cameron suddenly couldn’t wait to get to the lake house.

  They passed much of the ride in the easy silence she’d come to appreciate in her relationship with Will. He didn’t feel the need to fill every minute with useless chatter. If he said something, it was something worth hearing. Though he was quiet, he still kept a firm grip on her hand as he drove, and that small gesture made her feel loved and treasured.

  She’d had no idea this kind of happiness was even possible until she crashed into Fred the moose and found Will Abbott in the dark of Vermont mud season. At first she’d worried he might be a chain saw murderer, a thought that now made her giggle softly.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I was thinking about the night we met and how I worried you might be a chain saw murderer.”

  “Your fertile imagination never ceases to entertain me.” He brought her hand to his mouth and nibbled on her fingers. “Why would I want to cut you up with a chain saw when I’d much rather tie you to my bed and have my way with you?”

  Cameron swallowed hard. “Tie me to your bed?” she asked in a squeaky voice. “Since when did my beta boyfriend become an alpha?”

  “Since he found the perfect woman for him and let his imagination run wild.”

  “Personally speaking, I thought his imagination was already pretty wild.”

  “Oh, babe, his imagination is almost as fertile as yours.”

  “I’m a little scared of what goes on at this lake house of yours.”

  That made him laugh.

  Cameron loved to make him laugh and to watch him laugh. He was so damned sexy all the time, but when he laughed . . . She really loved that. And his amazing smile . . . She’d fallen in love with that first. Who was she kidding? She was crazy in love with everything about him, and if he wanted to—gulp—tie her to his bed and have his way with her, who was she to get in the way of his fantasies?

  She cleared her throat and swallowed the nervous lump that threatened to choke her. “I’d do it, you know.”

  “Do what?”

  “Anything you wanted.”

  He took his eyes off the road to glance over at her as his jaw throbbed with tension. “Cameron . . . You can’t say stuff like that to me when I’m driving. It’s not fair or safe.”

  “What? We’re just having a conversation.”

  “Right,” he said with a laugh. “That’s all we’re doing. How about we table this conversation until we get to where I can do something about it.”

  At the thought of him “doing something about it” Cameron swallowed again, her heart fluttering with nerves and desire and love. She’d meant what she’d said—there was almost nothing he could ask of her that she wouldn’t give him. She wanted to be everything to him and make his every fantasy come true.

  “I can hear you thinking about it, and that’s also not safe when I’m driving.”

  “What kind of crazy logic is that? I’m not even allowed to think?”

  “Not about that. Not while I’m driving.”

  As she was about to further state how ridiculous he was being, one of the dogs let out a loud snore from the backseat that made them both laugh. Cameron felt the tightness in her chest ease, which she knew was only temporary. The moment they were alone at the house, she had no doubt they’d pick right up where they’d left off. His kind of tension was the very best she’d ever experienced.

  Forty-five minutes later, they drove through the picturesque town of Burlington, home of the University of Vermont.

  “I want you to show me where you went to school,” Cameron said.

  “I will. Tomorrow.”

  “Did Max live at the lake house when he was in school?” she asked of Will’s youngest brother, who had recently graduated from college.

  “No, he was in a fraternity, much to my mother’s dismay. He lived at the frat house—also known as the pigsty.”

  “Were you in a frat?” she asked, fairly certain she knew the answer before she asked the question.

  “Hell no. Max is the only one of us to go Greek.”

  He was also going to produce the first Abbott grandchild later this year, an event that had once seemed far off in the future but was getting closer all the time. Max’s adorable girlfriend, Chloe, had begun to show rather significantly in the last few weeks.

  After a few more turns that took them closer to Lake Champlain, Will pulled onto a long, winding dirt road that led to one of the most extraordinary houses Cameron had ever seen. As the daughter of a wildly successful businessman, she’d seen her share of amazing homes, but this was exceptional. “This is the lake house?” she asked, incredulous as she took in the glass and stone and wood that made up the house.

  “Yep. What’d you have in mind?”

  “Not this, that’s for sure.”

  Will drove past the house to the driveway, bringing the truck to an abrupt stop when they saw Colton’s truck. “What’s he doing here? And who does he know from Pennsylvania?”

  A second smaller car with Pennsylvania plates was parked next to the truck.

  “Oh my God,” Will said in a scandalized whisper. “He’s here with the mystery woman! That sneaky bastard!”

  “What should we do? If he’s here with someone, maybe we shouldn’t bother him.”

  “The hell with that. My dad gave me the keys. He shouldn’t even be here.”

  “You know, most people in the twenty-first century would pick up the phone and call the other person to say, ‘Hey, what’s up? Why are you at the lake house when Dad said I could use it this weekend?’ But in Abbott land, you don’t have a phone, and neither does he. Is it too much to hope there might be a landline in there?”

  “No landline. My dad didn’t want to be reachable at the lake.”

  “Well, then our choice is to either go in there and interrupt what he’s got going on or stay somewhere else.”

  Will shifted the truck into park. “We’re not staying somewhere else, and it’s high time one of us got to see this mystery woman he’s been running off to meet the last few weekends.”

  The dogs were up and whimpering to get out after the long ride, and apparently they recognized where they were.

  “I’m scared to go in there,” Cameron said. “What if they’re doing it in the kitchen or something?”

  “Eww. He’d better not be doing that.”

  “But what if he is?”

  “I’ll kill him before you see anything. I promise.”

  They got out and met in front of the truck, the dogs dancing around in circles at their feet. Will reached for her hand and pulled the key out of his pocket with his other hand as they walked to the front porch. “Here goes nothing.” He opened the door and yelled inside. “Put your pants on, bro! I’m coming in!”

  CHAPTER 8

  The temp rose to 34 or so at the sugarhouse for a few hours, and the skies finally cleared by late afternoon. We turned the vacuum pump on for a while but didn’t get much sap.

  —Colton Abbott’s sugaring journal, March 5

  Colton sat straight up in bed, the covers pooling at his waist. What the hell had woken him up?

  “Colton? Where are you?”

  Was that . . . Will? If Will was here, Cameron probably was, too. “Oh my God, what’s
he doing here?” Colton bounded out of bed, dragged on a pair of shorts, pulled the covers up over Lucy, who was still asleep, and was heading for the bedroom door when his brother appeared in the hallway. Not sure where to look, Colton glanced over his shoulder at the bed to make sure Lucy was well hidden and then returned his attention to Will. “What’re you doing here?” he asked in a low whisper.

  “I could ask you the same thing.”

  “Is he decent?” Cameron asked as she joined them.

  “Be quiet, will you?” Colton asked as he tried to get them to leave the room.

  But Will wouldn’t budge. He looked around Colton. “Who’ve you got in there?”

  “None of your business. Get out, and leave me alone.”

  “Oh, wouldn’t you love that?” Will crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame, an infuriating smirk on his face that made Colton want to seriously punch his older brother in the mouth.

  Colton felt like he was having a heart attack as he tried to figure out what Lucy would want him to say to them. And how was it possible that she was sleeping through this?

  Will might’ve been older than him by seven years, but Colton was stronger thanks to a decade of wielding an axe on the mountain. He put his hand in the middle of his brother’s chest and gave him a hard shove.

  “Hey!” Will said as he stumbled backward. “Watch out for Cameron.”

  Will’s angry cry finally got Lucy’s attention. She sat straight up in bed, auburn curls rumpled around her face, bare breasts visible to anyone who might be looking, and Will and Cameron were definitely looking on with shock on their faces.

  “What was that?” Lucy asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

  Colton moved quickly, lunging for the blanket on the end of the bed, which he all but threw at her.

  “Are you freaking kidding me? My Lucy is your mystery woman?” Cameron’s shriek could’ve woken the dead.

  Lucy let out a scream of her own when she apparently realized her best friend was now in the room staring at her, not to mention that her best friend’s boyfriend—who also happened to be Lucy’s boyfriend’s brother—had gotten a good look at her breasts. What a mess. “What’re you doing here?” she asked Cameron.

  “Oh no, no,” Cameron said with a pointed finger. “We all know what I’m doing here. The question is what’re you doing here? Someone has some rather significant explaining to do.” Cameron crossed her arms and looked between Colton and Lucy. “Well?”

  Colton sent his brother an imploring look, which Will thankfully understood.

  “Cam, honey, let’s give Lucy a chance to get herself together, and then we’ll talk.” He took her by the arm as he gave Colton a scorching look. “We’ll have a good long talk.”

  Colton slammed the door shut behind them and turned to face Lucy, fearful of how she would react to what’d just happened. “I’m so sorry. I have no idea what they’re doing here.”

  “He . . . Your brother . . . He saw my . . .” She gestured to her chest.

  “You couldn’t see much of anything. Don’t worry.” He told himself the lie didn’t really count as a lie because he was trying to protect her.

  “Nice try, but I was out and proud, and he saw everything.”

  “Then he knows I’m a lucky man.” He crawled onto the bed and leaned in to kiss her.

  She turned her face away.

  Colton dropped his head to her shoulder. “Don’t.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t turn away from me, Lucy. We’re in this together. We decided together to keep our friendship private, so let’s face the music together, too.”

  “I don’t know what to say to her. Cameron was so shocked. And hurt.”

  “Tell her the truth.”

  “The whole truth?”

  He tried again and this time she let him kiss her. “And nothing but the truth.”

  Her hand curled around his neck as she leaned her forehead against his.

  “Shower?”

  “Yes, please.”

  He got up and reached out to her.

  She wrapped herself in the blanket and took his hand. “We’re not showering together when they’re out there waiting for us.”

  Colton led her into the spacious master bathroom and turned on the water. “It’ll be quicker that way. We can talk to them, get rid of them and get back to our weekend already in progress.”

  “It’s not going to be that simple.”

  “It is going to be that simple.” He tugged on the tight grip she had on the blanket. “We’re both adults—consenting adults. We chose to take some time to ourselves before we told the world we were seeing each other. We’ve done nothing wrong, so please, don’t ruin this for either of us by trying to convince yourself that we owe anyone explanations.”

  “You don’t understand,” she said softly.

  The shine of tears in her eyes infuriated him. She’d been so happy earlier and now it had all gone to shit. “Make me understand.”

  “Cameron and I . . . We rely on each other. We talk to each other about things. Important things.”

  “So you’re saying this is an important thing?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

  As he eased her under the warm water, Lucy rolled her eyes, which was a relief. That was better than tears. Anything was better than that. “She’s going to be mad at me for keeping this from her. Especially because of who you are. To Will.”

  “Will’s my brother, not my keeper. We’re family, and we’re close, but we’re not up each other’s asses.”

  Her button nose wrinkled adorably. “That’s a hideous visual.”

  “But you get my point. Despite all our ball busting, my business is my business. I leave him alone, for the most part, and I expect the same from him. From all of them.” As he worked shampoo into her hair, he planted strategic kisses on her neck, hoping to remind her of the connection they’d shared before they were so rudely interrupted.

  “Thank God they didn’t get here a little earlier.”

  “That’s the way. Let’s be thankful for small favors.”

  “That’s a very big favor.”

  He pushed his erection against her back. “Why thank you, darlin’. That’s really kind of you to say.”

  “Colton! Not with my best friend and your brother waiting for us. Knock it off!” She moved away from him to finish her shower. “Stay over there, and get rid of that thing.”

  Colton laughed at the disdainful gesture she directed at his poor, misunderstood penis. How was he supposed to control him when she was standing naked and soapy and close to him? He was only human, after all. Resigned to the condition remaining until she was no longer naked, he washed up and got out to grab towels for both of them.

  Lucy combed her hair and secured it in a ponytail.

  They got dressed in silence. Colton wished there was something he could say that would make her laugh the way she had last night. He wanted to let her know everything was going to be okay, but he wasn’t sure of that himself. They’d been living in their own little bubble, going from weekend to weekend and holding the outside world at arm’s length.

  Now their bubble had burst and they were forced to confront realities they weren’t quite ready to face. He took her hand and gripped it tightly. “It’s all good, okay?”

  “Sure,” she said with a distinct lack of conviction. “Let’s get this over with.”

  They opened the bedroom door and were hit with an ambush. Cameron stepped between them, edging Colton aside with scary agility. He had no choice but to release Lucy’s hand or risk losing his own hand as the door slammed in his face and the lock clicked into place.

  What. The. Fuck? He turned to find Will leaning against the wall, arms folded and lips tight with displeasure and maybe pride at what his girlfriend had managed to accomplish.

  “You’ve got some serious explaining to do, little brother. And there’s no time like the present.”

  Lucy had never been scared of Cameron bef
ore. She’d never had reason to be. Until now. Her best friend was probably furious—and with good reason.

  “So,” Cameron said.

  Lucy sat on the edge of the bed. “So.”

  “Were you going to tell me?”

  “Eventually.”

  “When? And how long has this been going on?”

  Lucy wished she could find a way out of this mess of her own making. If only she’d shown some restraint where Colton was concerned none of this would be happening. “Um, since the night I met him.”

  Cameron’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “The night you went to dinner with him and his parents?”

  “That would be the one.”

  Cameron came and sat next to her. “Tell me everything. Don’t leave out a single detail.”

  Lucy sighed and tried to figure out how to explain something she didn’t quite understand herself. “As you know, he’d come down from the mountain to hear the website proposal,” she began haltingly. A big part of her wanted to tell Cameron to go to hell. It was none of her business. Except . . . She would never say that to Cameron, of all people. They’d been through everything together, and she owed her best friend the truth.

  “Right . . . And?”

  “We went to a place in St. Johnsbury.”

  “The locals call it St. J. I just heard that. If you’re going to hang with the locals, you should speak the lingo.”

  “I’m not going to hang with the locals. I’m not you, Cameron. I’m not uprooting myself. I’m simply enjoying some fun. It’s nothing like you and Will.”

  Cameron swept that comment away with her hand. “Back to the night you met. You went to dinner and then what?”

  “We had a lot of fun. He’s funny, as you’ve probably noticed, and his parents are . . . Well, I don’t need to tell you.”

  “No, you certainly don’t. They’re amazing.”

  “Yes. There was a lot of laughter at dinner. I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun with people who’d been strangers a few hours earlier.”

  “They have that effect. I’ve experienced it myself.”

  “When we got back to Butler, Colton told his parents he’d see me back to the inn, so they dropped us off in town and headed home.”