Snowbound - Harlequin.com
Snowbound - Harlequin.com Snowbound - Harlequin.com
206 SNOWBOUND time within the last two years. It had been so damn long, he didn’t know if he had the self-control not to come the minute he got inside her. Slow things down, he told himself, lifting his head. “God, you’re beautiful,” he murmured. “You know I’m not…” She stopped, humor briefly lighting her face. “Never mind. I’m not really dumb enough to try to convince you I’m ordinary looking. It’s okay for you to think I’m beautiful. Gorgeous. Ravishing.” Wanting her to believe him, John covered her mouth. “You have these fine bones.” He traced a fingertip over her cheekbone, along the delicate line of her jaw. “Big eyes that flash a thousand emotions. And questions. I can always see them crowding your head.” Right now she watched him helplessly, as if he held power over her. “Do you know how shiny your hair is?” His fingers slipped into the strands. “You turn your head and it shimmers.” She let out a tiny sound. “Your voice. Gentle but with steel beneath when you’re in schoolmarm mode.” She opened her mouth as if to protest, and he silenced her by kissing her. Lightly, ending with a tug at her lower lip. “And your lips,” he whispered, “are perfect. Not thin, not pouty, just…sweet. And sexy.” “You know,” she said, voice thready, “you don’t have to flatter me. I was already yours with the ‘should I take your suitcase upstairs?’” “Yeah, I do.” John knew he wasn’t very good being romantic, but he felt he owed her the words. The next
JANICE KAY JOHNSON 207 ones, though, he didn’t know how to say. They came out sounding awkward. “Mostly, though, it’s not the way you look. It’s…you.” Her forehead crinkled. “What do you mean?” “Your optimism. The way you want to believe in everybody. Your honesty, your kindness…” His throat clogged. “You have a gift for seeing people. Looking past the outside.” “You mean, your scar.” She reached up and stroked it, her fingers as gentle as an early spring breeze. “Yeah,” he said gruffly. “My scar.” “Well, it’s my turn. This scar, it doesn’t disfigure you! It made me worry about how much it must have hurt, and how close that shrapnel or whatever it was came to your eye. But you’re as handsome as you were before. You’re, um, a hunk.” She blushed. “Even the girls noticed, believe me.” Crap, he was blushing at the idea of teenage girls observing him that way. “Don’t worry.” A smile lightened her voice. “They’re just hoping the boys their age come out nearly as well.” “God,” he muttered. Any humor fled. “And…and I’m not here because of how you look, either. I’m here because of you.” That was the part he didn’t get. He knew what he was: bad-tempered, withdrawn, and, yeah, a little bit crazy. Sane men didn’t see blood soaking pristine white snow. They didn’t wake up shouting warnings that came a year too late. But he was sane enough to want to take what she was offering. Acceptance, friendship, healing. And, yeah, sex. He wanted the sex something fierce.
- Page 156 and 157: 156 SNOWBOUND Stryker had roared ba
- Page 158 and 159: 158 SNOWBOUND that’s the next tow
- Page 160 and 161: 160 SNOWBOUND God. He wished it wou
- Page 162 and 163: 162 SNOWBOUND out to meet them? So
- Page 164 and 165: 164 SNOWBOUND Pros with the snowsho
- Page 166 and 167: 166 SNOWBOUND Time could be elastic
- Page 168 and 169: 168 SNOWBOUND the back by the windo
- Page 170 and 171: CHAPTER TEN IN HER REARVIEW MIRROR,
- Page 172 and 173: 172 SNOWBOUND “Why are you making
- Page 174 and 175: 174 SNOWBOUND to pull into a slot,
- Page 176 and 177: 176 SNOWBOUND She was especially in
- Page 178 and 179: 178 SNOWBOUND John, We made it safe
- Page 180 and 181: 180 SNOWBOUND Then he skipped over
- Page 182 and 183: 182 SNOWBOUND couple in a Lexus SUV
- Page 184 and 185: 184 SNOWBOUND Go see her. When was
- Page 186 and 187: 186 SNOWBOUND or the depth of commu
- Page 188 and 189: CHAPTER ELEVEN THE ROAD FELT famili
- Page 190 and 191: 190 SNOWBOUND there had been in Nov
- Page 192 and 193: 192 SNOWBOUND the open trunk of her
- Page 194 and 195: 194 SNOWBOUND “You’re the exper
- Page 196 and 197: 196 SNOWBOUND lenge. They couldn’
- Page 198 and 199: 198 SNOWBOUND enough time alone to
- Page 200 and 201: 200 SNOWBOUND not hers—who wander
- Page 202 and 203: 202 SNOWBOUND “Temporarily.” Hi
- Page 204 and 205: 204 SNOWBOUND “Yeah.” Just like
- Page 208 and 209: 208 SNOWBOUND “I was afraid you w
- Page 210 and 211: 210 SNOWBOUND THE FIRST DAYS were w
- Page 212 and 213: 212 SNOWBOUND “The University of
- Page 214 and 215: 214 SNOWBOUND What she wanted most
- Page 216 and 217: 216 SNOWBOUND “You wanted her to
- Page 218 and 219: 218 SNOWBOUND despite the gloves bo
- Page 220 and 221: 220 SNOWBOUND Knowing she should re
- Page 222 and 223: 222 SNOWBOUND Of course, the sex wa
- Page 224 and 225: 224 SNOWBOUND ing his nose and his
- Page 226 and 227: 226 SNOWBOUND His heart was as froz
- Page 228 and 229: 228 SNOWBOUND Seeing her start to t
- Page 230 and 231: 230 SNOWBOUND “I really thought
- Page 232 and 233: 232 SNOWBOUND Scammell had arrived
- Page 234 and 235: 234 SNOWBOUND “Do you ever talk t
- Page 236 and 237: 236 SNOWBOUND Do you have nightmare
- Page 238 and 239: 238 SNOWBOUND The boy’s was even
- Page 240 and 241: CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE EVENING OUT wa
- Page 242 and 243: 242 SNOWBOUND stiff with anger and
- Page 244 and 245: 244 SNOWBOUND checked out the bathr
- Page 246 and 247: 246 SNOWBOUND listening to somebody
- Page 248 and 249: 248 SNOWBOUND Yeah. There it was, t
- Page 250 and 251: 250 SNOWBOUND logged and farmed in
- Page 252 and 253: 252 SNOWBOUND patio he had helped h
- Page 254 and 255: 254 SNOWBOUND He sank back into the
JANICE KAY JOHNSON 207<br />
ones, though, he didn’t know how to say. They came out<br />
sounding awkward. “Mostly, though, it’s not the way<br />
you look. It’s…you.”<br />
Her forehead crinkled. “What do you mean?”<br />
“Your optimism. The way you want to believe in<br />
everybody. Your honesty, your kindness…” His throat<br />
clogged. “You have a gift for seeing people. Looking<br />
past the outside.”<br />
“You mean, your scar.” She reached up and stroked<br />
it, her fingers as gentle as an early spring breeze.<br />
“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “My scar.”<br />
“Well, it’s my turn. This scar, it doesn’t disfigure<br />
you! It made me worry about how much it must have<br />
hurt, and how close that shrapnel or whatever it was<br />
came to your eye. But you’re as handsome as you were<br />
before. You’re, um, a hunk.” She blushed. “Even the<br />
girls noticed, believe me.”<br />
Crap, he was blushing at the idea of teenage girls observing<br />
him that way.<br />
“Don’t worry.” A smile lightened her voice. “They’re<br />
just hoping the boys their age <strong>com</strong>e out nearly as well.”<br />
“God,” he muttered.<br />
Any humor fled. “And…and I’m not here because of<br />
how you look, either. I’m here because of you.”<br />
That was the part he didn’t get. He knew what he<br />
was: bad-tempered, withdrawn, and, yeah, a little bit<br />
crazy. Sane men didn’t see blood soaking pristine white<br />
snow. They didn’t wake up shouting warnings that came<br />
a year too late.<br />
But he was sane enough to want to take what she was<br />
offering. Acceptance, friendship, healing. And, yeah,<br />
sex. He wanted the sex something fierce.
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