Snowbound - Harlequin.com
Snowbound - Harlequin.com Snowbound - Harlequin.com
96 SNOWBOUND He nodded, unsurprised when she said, “Speaking of which, let me go count noses. Again.” Telling himself he didn’t mind some time alone, he went to the freezer and took out bags of the red, highbush huckleberries he’d picked and frozen that summer. By the time he got back, she’d returned and was getting a pitcher of cranberry juice from the refrigerator. “All present and accounted for,” she reported. “Nobody seems to need me.” I do. John was staggered by the fervency of his reaction. Instinctively he rejected it. No. If he needed anything at all, it was solitude. He was attracted to her, enjoying the novelty of having lighthearted conversation with a pretty woman. Need was gut level. It was the next breath, the next meal, the chance to sink into the oblivion of sleep. If he already hated the idea of watching her drive away with her vanful of kids, well, that was a good sign. It meant someday he might want to return to his former life. To live normally again—whatever that meant. He surfaced to realize that Fiona was watching him. Her voice was soft, her tone tentative. “I could go back to my book if you’d rather.” If he were smart, he’d say, Why don’t you do that while I finish up here? Not being unfriendly, but making clear that he didn’t need her, either. “Stay.” He sounded rusty again, as if he didn’t know how to ask for what he wanted. He tried again. “Talk to me. Tell me about…” What? Her life? What she
JANICE KAY JOHNSON 97 expected the ‘right’ man to be like? No. He’d scare her. He was scaring himself. “A movie. I haven’t seen one in a long time. What’s the last one you went to?” She relaxed, as he’d hoped she would. While he measured sugar and flour and put together the cobbler, she told him about a thriller with a huge budget, big stars and an unlikely plot. At one point he glanced at the clock and thought in surprise, They haven’t even been here twenty-four hours. How, in such a short time, had he gotten to the point where he had thoughts like, I need her? He hadn’t kissed her, hadn’t touched her beyond a hand on her shoulder, didn’t know that she felt anything at all for him. He suspected she’d have been just as friendly to the codger who’d owned the lodge before him. Although, she had spent the afternoon reading about the Iraq war. Maybe because of him, maybe not. She’d moved on to talking about other things, an exhibit at the Portland Art Museum, music she liked. John guessed he must have nodded or interjected a word here and there, because he didn’t want her to quit. He didn’t need her; that had been a ridiculous thought. But he wouldn’t mind if snow kept falling for another day or two. And maybe if the state road crew left Thunder Mountain Lodge isolated for a while after that, he’d eventually get his fill and want his solitude back. Just not yet.
- Page 46 and 47: CHAPTER THREE WILLOW AND ERIN came
- Page 48 and 49: 48 SNOWBOUND didn’t seem in any h
- Page 50 and 51: 50 SNOWBOUND figure it out. They se
- Page 52 and 53: 52 SNOWBOUND Fiona winced and hoped
- Page 54 and 55: 54 SNOWBOUND She laughed. “Hopper
- Page 56 and 57: 56 SNOWBOUND Her eyes widened. “O
- Page 58 and 59: 58 SNOWBOUND “I don’t need it.
- Page 60 and 61: 60 SNOWBOUND each other, all blurre
- Page 62 and 63: 62 SNOWBOUND She laughed with them.
- Page 64 and 65: 64 SNOWBOUND although neither of th
- Page 66 and 67: 66 SNOWBOUND “Gee, why don’t I
- Page 68 and 69: 68 SNOWBOUND As, she supposed, it w
- Page 70 and 71: 70 SNOWBOUND “Period starting?”
- Page 72 and 73: 72 SNOWBOUND “Daddy…I mean, my
- Page 74 and 75: 74 SNOWBOUND Downstairs, Kelli and
- Page 76 and 77: 76 SNOWBOUND games that went on for
- Page 78 and 79: 78 SNOWBOUND that he quickly hid.
- Page 80 and 81: 80 SNOWBOUND “Really?” Dieter l
- Page 82 and 83: CHAPTER FIVE JOHN COULDN’T REMEMB
- Page 84 and 85: 84 SNOWBOUND “Fiona.” She slept
- Page 86 and 87: 86 SNOWBOUND “Not what the physic
- Page 88 and 89: 88 SNOWBOUND It took her a bit long
- Page 90 and 91: 90 SNOWBOUND mother. I was afraid s
- Page 92 and 93: 92 SNOWBOUND John dumped burgundy w
- Page 94 and 95: 94 SNOWBOUND Her laugh was a lovely
- Page 98 and 99: CHAPTER SIX AFTER DINNER, Willow di
- Page 100 and 101: 100 SNOWBOUND “Willow’s period
- Page 102 and 103: 102 SNOWBOUND you looking at her wh
- Page 104 and 105: 104 SNOWBOUND Amy lay flat on her b
- Page 106 and 107: 106 SNOWBOUND “No,” Fiona said.
- Page 108 and 109: 108 SNOWBOUND “Amy was mad becaus
- Page 110 and 111: 110 SNOWBOUND woman since he was wo
- Page 112 and 113: 112 SNOWBOUND the bathroom, then re
- Page 114 and 115: 114 SNOWBOUND “Yeah!” they said
- Page 116 and 117: 116 SNOWBOUND would that constitute
- Page 118 and 119: 118 SNOWBOUND Tabitha, both blond a
- Page 120 and 121: 120 SNOWBOUND “Snow falling off a
- Page 122 and 123: 122 SNOWBOUND water up to her neck,
- Page 124 and 125: 124 SNOWBOUND Crap. Oh, crap. He’
- Page 126 and 127: 126 SNOWBOUND the girls’s, a litt
- Page 128 and 129: 128 SNOWBOUND their path having rea
- Page 130 and 131: 130 SNOWBOUND “Does it happen oft
- Page 132 and 133: 132 SNOWBOUND steady, he took out a
- Page 134 and 135: CHAPTER EIGHT FIONA NOTICED that Jo
- Page 136 and 137: 136 SNOWBOUND was proving surprisin
- Page 138 and 139: 138 SNOWBOUND “Are you sure? I do
- Page 140 and 141: 140 SNOWBOUND While he, she couldn
- Page 142 and 143: 142 SNOWBOUND She flushed at the id
- Page 144 and 145: 144 SNOWBOUND They all knew she was
96 SNOWBOUND<br />
He nodded, unsurprised when she said, “Speaking of<br />
which, let me go count noses. Again.”<br />
Telling himself he didn’t mind some time alone, he<br />
went to the freezer and took out bags of the red, highbush<br />
huckleberries he’d picked and frozen that summer.<br />
By the time he got back, she’d returned and was getting<br />
a pitcher of cranberry juice from the refrigerator.<br />
“All present and accounted for,” she reported.<br />
“Nobody seems to need me.”<br />
I do.<br />
John was staggered by the fervency of his reaction.<br />
Instinctively he rejected it.<br />
No. If he needed anything at all, it was solitude. He<br />
was attracted to her, enjoying the novelty of having<br />
lighthearted conversation with a pretty woman. Need<br />
was gut level. It was the next breath, the next meal, the<br />
chance to sink into the oblivion of sleep.<br />
If he already hated the idea of watching her drive<br />
away with her vanful of kids, well, that was a good<br />
sign. It meant someday he might want to return to his<br />
former life. To live normally again—whatever that<br />
meant.<br />
He surfaced to realize that Fiona was watching him.<br />
Her voice was soft, her tone tentative. “I could go<br />
back to my book if you’d rather.”<br />
If he were smart, he’d say, Why don’t you do that<br />
while I finish up here? Not being unfriendly, but making<br />
clear that he didn’t need her, either.<br />
“Stay.” He sounded rusty again, as if he didn’t know<br />
how to ask for what he wanted. He tried again. “Talk to<br />
me. Tell me about…” What? Her life? What she
Change language