Green Mountain Collection 2

by Marie Force

  She smiled at him, but he noted a hint of sadness in her eyes that caught him by surprise. Ella was one of the most joyful people he’d ever known—always happy and upbeat.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Sure. Why do you ask?”

  “You just seemed … I don’t know … sad or something for a second there.”

  “I’m fine. No need to worry.”

  “Okay then.” Hunter took a step back, planning to leave, but there it was again—the sadness he’d seen before. “You know if there’s anything wrong, you can come to me, right? We may see each other a thousand times a day, but I’m right over there if you need me. No matter what it is.”

  “Thank you, Hunter. That’s very sweet of you. I know you want to take care of everything for all of us, but some things … Well, some things can’t be managed. They are what they are.”

  More confused than ever, Hunter wasn’t sure whether he should stay and try to force the issue or give her some space to deal with whatever was bothering her. “I’m here, El. I’m right here. Don’t suffer in silence.”

  Her smile softened her face. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Do you want me to wait for you so you’re not here alone?”

  “No. I’ve got another hour or so, and I can lock up.”

  “Give me a quick call to let me know you got home okay.”

  “Hunter …”

  “What? You’ll always be my little sister, so call me.”

  “I’m only four years younger than you.”

  “And I vividly remember the day you were born.”

  “Freak.”

  Hunter chuckled at the predictable comment. His family teased him every day about his photographic memory and ability to recall facts and figures from years ago that should’ve been impossible to remember. Sometimes he wished he could forget some of the crap that rattled around in his brain, but it was his lot in life to be a walking, talking data warehouse. “See you in the morning.”

  “Have a good night.”

  “Call me.”

  “Go!”

  Hunter went down the stairs thinking about what Ella had said about him wanting to take care of things for everyone. Perhaps it was also his lot in life as the oldest of the ten Abbott siblings, but he wanted the people he loved to be happy and their problems to be few, even if that meant taking on more than his share of the load.

  Hannah had been after him recently to work less and play more. If only he could think of something he’d rather do than work.

  Totally pathetic. He knew it, but damn if he could figure out how to snap out of the rut he’d fallen into. When had he become an all-work, no-play stick in the mud? If he were being honest with himself, he’d been in the rut for a long time, probably since he graduated from college and joined the family business full time. College had been the last time he’d been truly free of responsibility and obligation.

  Thinking about the blissful college days had him remembering his late brother-in-law Caleb, Hannah’s first husband, who’d died in Iraq seven years ago. If he came back to life and saw how ridiculously out of balance Hunter’s life had become, he’d raise holy hell.

  Raising holy hell was on Hunter’s mind as he stepped into the cool darkness and waited for the motion-sensitive light to come on. Once it did, he turned to lock the door behind him. Ella would see to setting the alarm system. Leaving her alone at the store made him anxious, but he would check on her if she didn’t remember to call him.

  A sound to his left had him stopping to listen. Was that sniffling? “Who’s there?”

  “It’s me, Megan. I’m sorry to scare you.”

  That voice … It cut through him like a knife slicing butter. Every nerve ending in his body stood up to take note of her nearness, which happened every damned time he came into any kind of contact with her. “Megan,” he said in a voice that was barely a whisper. “What’re you doing here in the dark?”

  “Hiding out.”

  “Why? Are you hurt? What’s wrong?” True to form, he wanted to make things right for her, no matter what it took. His heart beat quickly, as if he’d been running for miles, and his hands were suddenly sweaty and clammy. He’d never understand why this particular woman provoked such a strong reaction in him every time he laid eyes on her—or in this case, heard tears in her voice as she spoke in the dark.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I just needed a minute. Sorry to trespass on your property. I’ll get out of your way.”

  “Wait. Don’t go.” The words came out sounding far more desperate than he’d intended. “At least let me drive you home.”

  “That’s all right. I can walk.”

  “I wouldn’t mind at all.”

  She stepped into the light, and the sight of her tear-ravaged face broke his heart. What could possibly be so wrong?

  “It’s out of your way.”

  “I’ve got nowhere to be.” He watched her expressive face as she pondered his offer. Her lips pursed, which brought her cheekbones into sharper relief against the pale skin on her face. Exquisite was the word that came to mind whenever he looked at her, which was as often as he could. Until recently she’d had a major crush on his brother Will, but that had no bearing whatsoever on how he felt about her. He looked at her, and he wanted. It was that simple.

  Except she barely knew he was alive, which was a problem.

  “If you’re sure you don’t mind,” she said after an impossibly long pause.

  “I really don’t.”

  “Thank you.”

  She walked with him to his silver Lincoln Navigator and stood by his side as he held the passenger door and waited for her to get settled.

  As he got into the driver’s side, his growling stomach reminded him of the takeout order. “Have you had dinner?” The words were out before he could take the time to overanalyze the situation.

  “Not yet.”

  “I have a pizza and salad on order. I’d be happy to share.”

  “I don’t know if I could eat.”

  “Come along and keep me company?”

  “Um, sure. Okay.” She reached into her purse, withdrew a tissue and wiped her eyes.

  “Are you going to tell me why you were crying?”

  “Do I have to?”

  “Of course not.” He was surprised that she would think he’d try to force it out of her. “But I’m told I’m a good listener.”

  She had no reply to that, so he turned the key to start the engine, lowering the windows a bit to get some air.

  “I probably stink from cleaning the diner,” she said.

  “No, you don’t.” As he drove, he thought of a thousand things he’d like to say to her, but none were the sort of things a guy blurted out when he finally had a moment alone with the woman he desired.

  How exactly did you tell a woman who barely knew you were alive that you thought about her constantly? That seeing her upset killed you. That wanting her kept you awake at night. How did you tell her it didn’t matter if she had once been obsessed with your brother? That there was nothing you wouldn’t do to see her smile, to see her pale blue eyes light up with joy?

  How could he say any of that and not sound like a total creep?

  He couldn’t, so he kept his mouth shut and hoped he wouldn’t do something embarrassing like hyperventilate from the overwhelming effort it took not to say all of it.

  CHAPTER 2

  Hunter pulled into the parking lot at Kingdom Pizza and said he’d be right back. When he’d asked her to keep him company, Megan assumed he’d want to eat at the restaurant, but now she watched him pay for takeout through big plate-glass windows and wondered what he had planned.

  The cashier said something that made Hunter laugh as he returned his wallet to the back pocket of his black pants. His white pinstriped dress shirt stretched across broad shoulders that tapered down to a narrow waist. Since she’d much rather check out Hunter Abbott than think about her own woes, Megan let her gaze travel down over what looked
to be a tight, muscular ass and long legs.

  As she’d spent most of her adult life longing for his brother Will, she hadn’t given Hunter all that much thought. He was, she decided, every bit as good-looking as Will, but in a different sort of way. Where Will was brawny and outdoorsy and rugged, Hunter was equally muscular and fit, but his appearance was far more refined.

  Will had lighter coloring than Hunter, who had dark, wavy hair and intense brown eyes. As she watched Hunter turn away from the counter and head for the door with his purchases in hand, something Will had said recently chose that moment to pop into her mind. You’re focusing on the wrong Abbott brother.

  What did that mean?

  Megan was still thinking about that when she leaned over the fancy SUV’s center console to open the driver-side door for him.

  “Thanks.” He handed her the pizza box and another bag, which she held on her lap.

  The smell of the herbs and spices had her mouth watering. Half an hour ago, she couldn’t have imagined eating anything, and now she was suddenly starving.

  “Do you mind if we take it back to my place?”

  “Um, no, I guess not.”

  You’re focusing on the wrong Abbott brother.

  During the long years of her not-so-secret obsession with Will Abbott, she’d created a mental catalog of all the things she knew about him. However, when it came to Hunter Abbott, her catalog was empty in comparison. She knew hardly anything about him other than the fact that he was the oldest of the ten Abbotts and worked as the chief financial officer for his family’s company.

  He came into the diner twice a day for coffee—at the exact same times every day—but unlike some of his more boisterous siblings, Hunter tended to keep to himself, observing rather than participating when joined at the diner by his family members.

  The two of them had rarely exchanged more than a few words when he ordered food and she brought it to him. Except for one time recently when she’d asked him about Cameron moving in with Will, and he’d suggested she go out with someone else—him perhaps—to get her mind off Will. The wrong brother …

  A few minutes later, he pulled into the driveway of a well-kept tan colonial with black shutters several blocks from Elm Street.

  “This is yours?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I love this house and the garden. I had no idea you lived here.”

  “I thought everyone in this town knew where everyone else lived.”

  “I spend too much time at the diner listening to everyone’s business to pay much attention to where they all live.”

  “Good point.” He relieved her of the pizza box and bag. “Come on in.”

  The words were spoken casually, but when he opened the car door and the overhead light came on, she couldn’t miss the intense way he looked at her.

  You’re focusing on the wrong Abbott brother.

  What did Will know that she didn’t? Suddenly, she wanted the answer to that question even more than she wanted a slice of the mouthwatering pizza. Hunter took the pizza and bag and waited for her to come around the truck before he led her to the front door, where he used his key and then stepped aside to let her go in ahead of him.

  The house was dark except for a small light in the kitchen, and it smelled fresh and clean, like lemons and maybe laundry detergent. She probably should’ve expected that a man who dressed the way Hunter did wouldn’t live like a typical bachelor. And when he flipped on a light in the living room, she saw there was nothing typical about this bachelor pad.

  “Toss your stuff anywhere.”

  His sofa and love seat were tan with dark brown trim. The tables were black and the usual life clutter nonexistent. On the fireplace mantel was a single framed photo of his family along with several candlesticks with thick cream-colored candles. The walls held framed prints by a Vermont photographer whose work Megan recognized.

  She put her sweater and purse on the chair inside the door and followed him into the kitchen.

  What am I doing here? The thought nearly stopped her in her tracks as she entered a fully renovated kitchen that had black appliances, matching granite countertops and funky teardrop lights suspended over an island.

  “Have a seat.” He gestured to one of the two bar stools tucked under the extended edge of the countertop. “I ordered a veggie and got several slices of cheese, too. What’s your preference?”

  “Either is fine. I didn’t expect you to share your dinner with me.”

  “I’m happy to share.” He put a slice of each kind on her plate and pushed it across the counter to her. “Wine? Beer? Soda? Water?”

  “I’ll take a beer if you have an extra.”

  “Coming right up.” He opened two bottles—with an opener, no twist-offs for him—and handed one to her.

  She glanced at the label, which she didn’t recognize. Naturally, it was something imported and classy, like him.

  He joined her at the bar, sliding onto the other stool and offering to share his salad.

  “No, thanks. The pizza is more than enough.”

  They ate in silence, and Megan appreciated that he didn’t push her to talk about what had upset her earlier. Being with him on this little detour from her regular routine had helped to briefly take her mind off the bomb Nina and Brett had dropped on her earlier.

  The whole thing came rushing back to her in one big wave of sadness that made it difficult to swallow her pizza. She took a sip of beer and closed her eyes, hoping to contain the emotional firestorm that threatened to erupt again at any second.

  Megan opened her eyes to find Hunter watching her, and Will’s words once again bounced around in her brain. You’re focusing on the wrong Abbott brother. Looking into Hunter’s deep brown eyes, which were filled with concern and compassion and something else she couldn’t easily identify, Megan was filled with an awareness of Hunter as a man for the first time. Until right that second, he’d been a customer, a guy she knew from town, Will’s brother.

  She cleared her throat and took another sip of her beer. “Nina and Brett are selling the diner.”

  His expression changed in a heartbeat from compassionate to shocked. “What?”

  “He’s been offered a teaching position in France for the new school year. They’re leaving next week. Apparently, the person the school originally hired had to decline at the last minute, so they have very little time to get there.”

  “Megan …”

  “The diner is closing.”

  “And you just found this out?”

  She nodded. “After we cleaned.”

  “You were crying. Behind the store.”

  “Maybe a little.”

  He pushed his plate away, apparently having lost interest in the food, and reached for her hand. “Are you okay?”

  She glanced down at their joined hands and shrugged. “I will be. It’s just a job. I suppose I can find another one somewhere.”

  “That’s not what I meant. Your sister … You two are close, and she’ll be leaving. Soon.”

  Damn it, he had to say that. He had to home in on the part of the situation that had truly broken her heart, and she was going to cry again if she didn’t get out of there immediately. She withdrew her hand and stood, nearly tipping over the stool in her haste. “Thank you so much for the pizza and the company. I’m just going to … I’ll go now.”

  He stood and took hold of her elbow. “Don’t go. Not now. Not when you’re upset.”

  She shook her head. “You’ve had a long day. You don’t need an emotional female blubbering all over you.”

  “Please,” he said, the note of longing in his tone impossible to deny, “don’t go. Let me help.”

  The wrong brother, the wrong brother, the wrong brother …

  Megan blinked rapidly, wishing intently that she were a stronger person, the kind who didn’t fall apart over news that tipped her world upside down.

  And then Hunter’s arms were around her, and he was holding her, the scent of fine,
expensive cologne filling her senses, making her forget, if only for a second, that her heart was breaking.

  “I stink like ammonia and bleach, and you smell like Nordstrom.”

  His laughter rumbled through his body, making her smile despite the tears that threatened to spill over at any second. “You don’t smell like either of those things.”

  Was he … sniffing her hair? And was she really tipping her head to give him better access?

  “You smell like jasmine and lilies. I love the smell of jasmine. It’s one of my favorite things in the summer.”

  His gruff words sent a tingle of sensation down her backbone, which settled in a throb between her legs that made her gasp with surprise.

  Hunter released her abruptly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean …” He stared at her.

  “You didn’t.” She wanted to beg him to hold her some more, to make her feel like he had for that brief second before she overreacted and ruined the moment. Summoning courage she wouldn’t have thought she had, she took a small step toward him and put her hands on his waist, above his black leather belt.

  “Megan …”

  She looked up at him, noting the slashes of color that had appeared in the area of his cheekbones as well as the raw heat in his gaze. “It felt good to have you hold me, Hunter. Would you do it again?”

  He blew out a deep breath and drew her into his arms, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe.

  If Will had been the wrong Abbott brother, was Hunter the right one? The thought, which moved through her mind like a bullet whizzing toward its target, nearly made her laugh when a second ago she’d been on the verge of tears.

  What am I doing here?

  She forced the question from her mind and leaned into his embrace as well as the comfort he offered so willingly.

  His ringing phone interrupted the moment. He tensed for a second before he released her, seeming reluctant to let go. “I need to grab that. I’m waiting for a call from my sister.”

  “Sure,” she said, embarrassed now by the way she’d blatantly asked him to hold her. Her hands dropped from his waist, and she looked down as she linked her index fingers.