And I Love You Read Free Page B

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.
    “Hey, El.” Hunter sounded rushed and abrupt. “You’re home? Okay, thanks for calling. See you tomorrow.” He ended the call and turned back to Megan. “Sorry about that. Now where were we?”
    She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. It was just … tonight.” Shrugging, she added, “The news sort of blindsided me.”
    “Of course it did.” He took her hand, apparently comfortable touching her now that she’d all but begged him to, and led her into the living room, where he sat on one of the sofas and drew her down next to him. “You’re losing your sister from your daily life, not to mention your job. That would upset anyone.”
    “I want to be happy for her,” Megan said softly. “She’s done so much for me.”
    “Tell me.” He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I want to know you.”
    Sitting next to him in his lovely home with his appealing masculine scent filling her senses and his kindness touching her heart, Megan wanted to know him, too.
    “You know our parents were killed in a car accident the winter of my senior year of high school.”
    “Yes, I remember. I don’t know if I ever told you how truly sorry I was for you and Nina. Your folks were great people.”
    His kind words nearly brought her to tears again. “Thank you for saying that. Yes, they were. It was an awful time, but somehow we got through it together. Nina was a senior in college, but she came home to be with me, and she never left. She finished her degree over the summer. Then, when she and Brett got married, they took the house, and I moved to the garage apartment. I’ve been there ever since. She opened the diner, I went to work for her and the years just sort of passed in a blur. And now … Now I’m not sure what I’ll do.” Megan ran her damp hands over the soft denim of her jeans. Talking about the darkest days of her life never got any easier, even ten years later.
    “I’m sure the thought of her moving away has to be so upsetting for you.”
    “It is, but I’m also feeling