Snowbound - Harlequin.com
Snowbound - Harlequin.com Snowbound - Harlequin.com
274 SNOWBOUND the hoarse sound of his own yell. Then, he hadn’t been able to risk sharing his past with her. At least he’d come that far. Now he needed to find out if she was willing to consider a future with him—a man who’d taken only a few baby steps toward recovery. She was still sitting where he’d left her on the sofa. Her anxious gaze went immediately to his face. Starting to stand, she asked, “Are you all right?” “Yeah. I’m, uh, beginning to get used to this. I’ve cried more these past two months than I have since I was five years old.” She smiled, as he’d intended her to, but her eyes kept searching his. Get right to it, he thought. Prolonged suffering was something he knew too well. A clean, sharp hurt was better. He stopped a few feet from her. “I love you, Fiona. But I’m probably not going to be ready to go back to any kind of life we can share,” he gestured vaguely to take in her town house, including in it her job, her graduate schooling, everything he’d asked her to give up. “Not for a while, anyway. I get pretty stressed when I’m back in Portland. But you were right.” He tried out a smile, probably a poor excuse for one. “I’m not meant to be an innkeeper, either. I’m thinking…maybe another year. I could stop by regularly. You could come up on school breaks. If…” His voice failed him. “If you’re willing.” “Oh, John.” Her voice cracked, too, and now her eyes filled with tears. “Of course I’m willing!”
JANICE KAY JOHNSON 275 Somehow he cleared the coffee table to take her in his arms. They kissed… Not simply thankful to be together. But rather with desperation, as if they’d never expected to have the chance again. They got to the bedroom, too, and made love the same way. But at some point—before he stripped her of her clothes and she stripped him of his—she told him she wouldn’t just be coming up to Thunder Mountain on breaks. She would take a year’s leave of absence from Willamette Prep. She wanted to be with him. She could finish her master’s degree long-distance, and be an innkeeper’s wife. Sometime after they made love, she also told him Willow’s father had agreed to make a reservation for one of the cabins the same week Dieter’s parents had already booked another one. “And I was thinking,” she said. “That we could invite all the kids to come? Their families, too?” “Something like that, I guess.” “What do you say,” he suggested, “that we hold our wedding then? Where we met? The lodge is big enough to house our families, our friends…” Fiona cried again, but from happiness. And in between her offer to bury herself in the wilderness with him, and his idea of a summer wedding, they did make love. In those moments, as close to her as it was humanly possible to be with a woman, John knew for sure he, too, could be happy. It was even possible that what he felt now was richer, because it hadn’t come easily. Wouldn’t come easily in the future. “I’m going to backslide,” he warned, holding her
- 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
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- Page 258 and 259: CHAPTER FIFTEEN SOMEHOW, after the
- Page 260 and 261: 260 SNOWBOUND “He is so into rule
- Page 262 and 263: 262 SNOWBOUND straight, her demeano
- Page 264 and 265: 264 SNOWBOUND they would have, and
- Page 266 and 267: 266 SNOWBOUND “No.” His eyes we
- Page 268 and 269: 268 SNOWBOUND “Thanks,” he said
- Page 270 and 271: 270 SNOWBOUND of developing posttra
- Page 272 and 273: 272 SNOWBOUND He knew she didn’t
- Page 276 and 277: 276 SNOWBOUND sprawled atop him, a
- Page 278 and 279: Choose the romance that suits your
- Page 280 and 281: Choose the romance that suits your
- Page 282 and 283: Choose the romance that suits your
- Page 284 and 285: 60EBOOKEND For 60 years, Harlequin
JANICE KAY JOHNSON 275<br />
Somehow he cleared the coffee table to take her in<br />
his arms. They kissed… Not simply thankful to be together.<br />
But rather with desperation, as if they’d never<br />
expected to have the chance again.<br />
They got to the bedroom, too, and made love the<br />
same way. But at some point—before he stripped her<br />
of her clothes and she stripped him of his—she told him<br />
she wouldn’t just be <strong>com</strong>ing up to Thunder Mountain<br />
on breaks. She would take a year’s leave of absence<br />
from Willamette Prep. She wanted to be with him. She<br />
could finish her master’s degree long-distance, and be<br />
an innkeeper’s wife.<br />
Sometime after they made love, she also told him<br />
Willow’s father had agreed to make a reservation for one<br />
of the cabins the same week Dieter’s parents had already<br />
booked another one. “And I was thinking,” she said.<br />
“That we could invite all the kids to <strong>com</strong>e? Their<br />
families, too?”<br />
“Something like that, I guess.”<br />
“What do you say,” he suggested, “that we hold our<br />
wedding then? Where we met? The lodge is big enough<br />
to house our families, our friends…”<br />
Fiona cried again, but from happiness.<br />
And in between her offer to bury herself in the wilderness<br />
with him, and his idea of a summer wedding, they<br />
did make love. In those moments, as close to her as it was<br />
humanly possible to be with a woman, John knew for sure<br />
he, too, could be happy. It was even possible that what he<br />
felt now was richer, because it hadn’t <strong>com</strong>e easily.<br />
Wouldn’t <strong>com</strong>e easily in the future.<br />
“I’m going to backslide,” he warned, holding her