Snowbound - Harlequin.com

268 SNOWBOUND
“Thanks,” he said wryly, and she laughed again.
He ran his knuckles down her cheek, stunned by the
amazing softness and by the trusting way she tilted her
face to meet his touch. “You busy?” His voice emerged
gruffly, and he nodded toward the laptop open on her
table. “I could come back…”
“Don’t be silly.” Fiona grabbed his hand and drew
him into the living area. “Do you want coffee? Soda?”
He shook his head as he sat on the couch. You. Only
you. “I just had a latte grande. My equivalent of a drink
for courage.”
“Well, then.” Fiona sat, too, on the middle cushion
so she was close enough to touch. She tucked one foot
under her and turned to face him. “You really just
packed up and went to Portland for two weeks? Did you
close the lodge?”
“No.” He shook his head in remembered bemusement.
“My younger sister, Liz—I told you about her.”
She nodded.
“Liz grew impatient with me. She came for a visit.
So I thought. Turns out she’d gone so far as to make me
an appointment with the psychologist, and to take two
weeks of vacation herself. She gave me the key to her
condo, told me if I wasn’t comfortable staying at Mom
and Dad’s I could go there and sent me on my way.”
“Just like that.”
“I’d gotten those e-mails from Tabitha and Dieter not
long before.” Because he couldn’t help himself, he
reached out and took her hand. “I was scared. Which
meant I was ready.”