Green Mountain Collection 1 by Marie Force (12)

“Everything okay?” he asked, dropping a stack of mail on his desk.

Cameron was still trying to process what she’d just seen on his face. “Uh-huh. I need to go to the FedEx box in St. Johnsbury. I hate to ask you—”

“It’s not a problem.”

“Can we go before four?”

“I can go now if that works for you.”

While she yearned to make use of the reliable Internet connection in the office while she could, she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything until that check was on its way to New York. “That’d be great. I was also thinking we need to let the employees in the store know about the site. I’ll be spending a lot of time there, and it would help if they knew what I’m up to.”

“Charlotte put out a memo to the staff earlier today, so you should be all set.”

“You all are pretty efficient.”

He shrugged. “We work well together. We make a decision, and we get busy making it happen.”

“We try to be that way, too, but we aren’t all siblings who grew up bickering with each other.”

He waited for her to gather her belongings and step out of the office before he grabbed his own coat, turned off the light and shut the door behind them.

On the way downstairs, he said, “I’m not going to pretend it isn’t challenging at times to work with my dad and brothers and sisters, because it is. But at least I know they’re not talking shit about me behind my back when I leave the room the way people do in some workplaces. Or at least they don’t usually do that. This week? Who knows?”

“You think they’re talking shit about you?”

“I think they’re wondering what’s going on between you and me and what it’s got to do with my sudden interest in a website for the store. I guess I can’t blame them. I’d feel the same way if it was one of them doing what I’m doing.”

He helped her into the truck and stowed her computer bag behind the seat. It occurred to Cameron that he did such things without even thinking about them. The manners were ingrained in him, which was just another thing to add to her growing list of qualities she found attractive in him.

“What is it that you’re doing?”

With his hands on the wheel, he stared straight ahead for a long time before he looked over at her, slaying her with those amazingly expressive eyes of his. “I’m muddying the waters. I’m mixing business and personal. I’m crossing lines I’ve never crossed before, and I’m doing it all with my eyes wide open to the potential fallout. I don’t even care that there might be fallout. And that’s not me. It’s not me at all.”

“Will—”

“Don’t. Whatever you’re going to say, don’t say it. I don’t care if it’s muddy or messy. It’s mud season in Vermont. The perfect time of year for muddy waters.”

Despite the lighthearted comment, there was nothing lighthearted about the way he looked at her as he said it.

Cameron’s protests died on her lips as she realized she didn’t care about the fallout either. She couldn’t resist him, which is why she released her seat belt this time and leaned over the console.

Thankfully, he met her halfway.

She put her hand on his neck and drew him into the kiss, the first she had initiated. Even though her heart pounded erratically, she kissed him until she felt him relax.

“What was that for?” he asked when she had no choice but to come up for air. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“It was to say I don’t care about the mud either.”

The left side of his mouth lifted into a half smile that made his eyes sparkle. “Let’s go to St. Johnsbury and get you moved into Hannah’s. We’ve got a snowman to build.”

Three hours later, Cameron had worked up a sweat helping Will create a six-foot-tall snow monster. She had insisted on the snow monster over the snowman because who cared if the dogs demolished a monster? A snowman on the other hand, was too reminiscent of her beloved Frosty, and she couldn’t bear to set the dogs on Frosty.

Although she suspected Will found her logic less than rational, he’d gone along with her monster and was helping to put the finishing touches on the monster’s snow fangs, which were made out of icicles he’d broken off the roof of the house.

Their biggest challenge was keeping Tanner and Trevor from attacking until they were finished. The dogs danced around their feet, nearly tripping them more than once in their excitement.

“A few more minutes, boys,” Will said, throwing what had to be the hundredth snowball into the woods to keep them occupied.

“I don’t think he looks fierce enough,” Cameron said, taking an assessing look at their work. “His eyes are too far apart.” She pointed up. “Move them closer together.”

“Yes, ma’am. Is there anything else?”

“I can’t help it if I’m not tall enough to reach his eyes.”

Before the words were out of her mouth, his arms were around her waist and he was hoisting her up to tend to the eyes herself.

She let out a squeal of surprise and gripped his hair through the knit hat he’d worn the night she met him.

“Ow,” he said.

Cameron realized she was pulling his hair and released her tight grasp to tend to the monster’s charcoal eyes, which were much more sinister when positioned closer together.

“Satisfied?” he asked.

“Yep.”

He loosened his arms only slightly, letting her slide down the front of him until her feet landed between his.

She waited for him to release her, but he didn’t. Rather, he tightened his arms again and bent his head to press cold lips to her neck.

Cameron gasped from the sensation of cold turning to heat that radiated all the way through her.

“You smell so good,” he whispered. “So sweet.”

She could think of nothing to say to that as she relaxed against him, loving the way it felt to be surrounded by him.

The dogs returned and broke the moment, circling them in a frenzy of excitement.

He released her and took a step back. “What do you say we let them go to town on Mr. Snow Monster?”

“I can’t look.”

He held his arms out to her. “I’ll shield you.”

Cameron smiled at him. “That’s the best you can do?” she asked as she stepped into his arms and pressed her face to his chest.

“Kill him, boys,” Will said to the dogs, who let out gleeful-sounding yips as they dove into the snow.

Cameron cringed and put her arms around him. “The poor monster.”

“You’re not supposed to feel sorry for him. That’s why he’s a monster.”

“Still …”

She was continuing to lament the violent end to the snow monster when Will hooked his foot around her ankle and sent her tumbling into the snow. Somehow he managed to land on top of her without hurting her.

“That’s the best I can do,” he said as he looked down at her with a satisfied grin. His cheeks were red from the cold, and he’d never looked sexier than he did in that moment.

“Much better.” Cameron raised her arms, and he dropped down until their bodies were perfectly aligned. The unmistakable press of his arousal against her belly was obvious even through her coat.

He bent his head and kissed her softly at first, his lips heating as they moved over hers. The cold air and the barking dogs and the snow faded away in a haze of heat and desire as their tongues met and mated in a dance so erotically charged that her world was reduced to their tiny cocoon.

The lick of a dog’s tongue on her face had her turning away from Will, as desire turned to laughter.

“Buzz off, Tanner,” Will said. “Go find your own girl. She’s mine.” He looked directly into her eyes as he staked his claim.

Cameron’s shiver couldn’t be blamed entirely on the cold.

“What do you say we take this party inside where there’s a warm fire and hot chocolate?”

“That sounds good,” she said, releasing him reluctantly.

He got up and reached out to help her.

As she stood, her eyes skirted over the front of him, landing on the prominent bulge in the front of his well-worn jeans. She licked her lips and forced herself to look anywhere else as her face burned with embarrassment.

He kept a firm grip on her hand. “Don’t look at what became of poor Snow Monster.”

Cameron couldn’t help but look—and laugh—when she saw the dogs frolicking merrily in what was left of their monster.

Will used his free hand to pluck the two pieces of charcoal from the pile of snow. “I wouldn’t put it past them to eat that.” He led her around to the mudroom in the back of the house where they removed their coats and boots.

She started shivering the minute she removed her coat.

“Go sit by the fire. I’ll dry off the dogs and make the hot chocolate.”

“I can help.”

“Go,” he said, giving her a gentle nudge. “I don’t want you getting sick.”

“I’m not fragile, you know.”

“Never said you were, but you’re also not used to Vermont’s brand of cold air. I’ve seen it take down hardier souls than you.”

“Fine,” she said through chattering teeth. She couldn’t deny that the fire sounded heavenly. With the red plaid blanket and a pillow from the sofa in hand, Cameron settled on the floor in front of the fire to listen to the battle going on in the mudroom between Will and the two dogs who didn’t seem to think they needed to be dried off.

“Hold still, damn it,” he said, making her giggle.

“I can hear you laughing at me.”

“I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing with you.”

“Except I’m not laughing! They’re filthy, and they’re trying to get past me to get to you.”

That set her off again. She was still laughing when he joined her by the fire a few minutes later, his hair standing on end.

“Come here,” she said, bringing him closer to her so she could straighten his hair.

He was so still as her fingers moved through his silky hair that she wondered if he was breathing. “I like when you touch me,” he said, his voice gruff.

They stared at each other as the fire crackled and popped and the wind whipped through the trees in a spooky moan.

“I promised you hot chocolate.”

“That’s right. You did.”

But he made no move to get up. Rather, he continued to devour her with his eyes until something seemed to snap in him and he was devouring her with his lips in a kiss full of hunger and raw need.

“God, Cam,” he whispered against her neck as he bit down gently on her earlobe. “I can’t stop kissing you.”

“You don’t have to.” She loved his kisses and the press of his chest against her breasts. She loved the soft caress of his hair against her cheek and the burn of his whiskers on her neck as he placed kisses strategically along the column of her throat.

Her fingers burrowed into his hair as she waited on pins and needles to see what he would do next.

He tugged on her heavy sweater. “Could we maybe take this off?”

“Um, sure.” Cameron’s fingers trembled slightly as she found the hem and gave a tug.

He helped to raise the sweater up and over her head, revealing the form-fitting black tank she wore underneath. “Yes,” he whispered, his eyes hot and needy as they cruised over her chest, making her nipples pebble in response. His sharp inhale only made them harder.

“You’re beautiful, Cameron Murphy.”

“Even bruised and battered?” she asked, trying to defuse the tension she sensed in him.

“Even then. I want to touch you everywhere, but this is happening too fast. It’s too fast.”

He sounded so tortured that Cameron put her arms around him and brought his head down to rest on her chest.

“I feel the same way,” she said. “I want to touch you everywhere, and it’s happened way too fast. I feel out of control, and that’s not me. I’m never out of control. Not like this anyway.”

“Neither am I, but I feel the same exact way.”

“Then we should slow things down. Set some limits. Take our time.”

“What kind of limits?”

With him warm and heavy on top of her, the last thing Cameron wanted to think about was setting limits. What she really wanted was … Well, she couldn’t allow herself to think about what she really wanted to do. Not unless she was going to allow herself to actually do it. And she wasn’t.

“Cam? What are you thinking?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s highly inappropriate to be thinking what I’m thinking about someone I met exactly two days ago.”

His grunt of laughter brought his mouth perilously close to her left nipple. “I know all about inappropriate thoughts because I’m having a few of them myself at the moment.”

“And we’re sure they’re, in fact, inappropriate?”

“If yours are anything like mine, they’re highly inappropriate.”

His gruff, sexy words sent a thrill rippling through her. Naturally, it landed in a tight knot of heat between her legs. “So what’s our limit?”

“For tonight or in general?”

“Let’s start with tonight. I’m not capable of thinking beyond the next hour or two at the moment.”

That he was clearly suffering from the restraint made Cameron like him even more than she already did.

“What if, to use middle school terminology, we were to contain our activities to second base tonight?”

Before the sentence was completely out of her mouth, he had her tank heading for her chin.

“I take that to mean you agree with my plan?” Eternally grateful for her love of lingerie, she took a moment to enjoy his pleasure in the sheer black bra that left almost nothing to his imagination.

He cleared his throat. “You can take that to mean I’m happy with anything you wish to give me.”

“What do I get in return?”

He froze, his eyes dark, his lips parted. “What do you want?”

Pleased by the desire she heard in his gruff words, she sat up and tugged on his shirt, helping him to lift that and the thermal over his head. “Wait,” she said as his exceptional chest was revealed. “I want to change my answer.”

“Which one?”

“Second base might not be enough.” She laid her hands over his pectorals and let her fingers slide through the light dusting of golden blond hair—just the right amount of hair. Her finger left a trail over a thin white scar on his collarbone. “What happened here?”

“Snowboarding. Broke my collarbone.”

She leaned in to place a chaste kiss on the scar. “How old were you?”

“Twelve.”

A series of puckered scars on his left shoulder caught her attention next. “How about here?”

He was breathing more rapidly as she kissed each of the tiny scars. “Rotator cuff at sixteen.”

“Snowboarding again?”

“Yeah.”

“Dangerous business.”

“It can be.”

Her hands moved from his shoulders to pecs, dragging her nail over flat, dark nipples, to a belly ripped with muscles. “Mmm.”

He trembled under her touch. “Cam …”

“Hmm?”

“I want to touch you. I’m going crazy trying to hold back.”

She straddled his lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Don’t hold back. Touch me.”

His arms encircled her, bringing her chest in close to his. “Feels so good to hold you like this.” With his lips a fraction of an inch from hers and his erection throbbing against her core, he said, “Do you think … Could I …”

“What?”

He tugged on the front clasp of her bra. “Could we take this off?”

Cameron bit her lip and nodded. She looked down to watch him release the clasp and push the cups aside. Her pale breasts seemed delicate against the much darker skin on his hands.

“Beautiful,” he whispered, looking down as he ran his thumbs back and forth over her nipples, which were more sensitive than they’d ever been.

Her back arched toward him, wanting more, needing more. When he released her breasts and moved his hands to her back, Cameron wanted to cry from the loss. Her nipples tightened and strained, finding ease against the rough hair on his chest. And then he was leaning forward, lowering her onto the hooked rug and coming down on top of her, his face aligned with her breasts.

Before she had the chance to gauge his intentions, he had captured her left nipple between his teeth, rolling and biting gently while teasing it with his tongue. The dual sensations shot through her, heating her blood and firing her desire. She’d never, ever experienced anything even remotely close to this, and the realization frightened her as he gave her other breast the same treatment.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, tuned in to her dismay.

“Absolutely nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me, Cameron. I felt you tense up. Did I hurt you?”

“No, of course not. I love it. Don’t stop.”

He dabbed his tongue in a circle around her throbbing nipple before drawing it into his mouth as he squeezed her breast gently. “Tell me.”

She grasped a handful of his hair to keep him from moving, trying to keep him focused.

“Cameron …” He rested his chin on her sternum and looked down at her while continuing the gentle squeeze.

“This … I …”

With his arms around her, he turned them both so they were on their sides, facing each other, her head cushioned by his arm. He kept her in tight against him, so her breasts were pressed to his chest. “Talk to me.”

“I haven’t … I haven’t felt like this before.”

“Like what?” His hand moved in soft, seductive circles on her back. “Tell me how you feel. I want to know.”

“I feel like I’m burning up.”

“Are we too close to the fire?”

“It’s not the fire, Will,” she said, laughing softly. She pressed her lips to his chest. “It’s you. It’s us. It’s too much, and yet it’s nowhere near enough. I just keep thinking, over and over and over again, I only met you two days ago. I only met you two days ago. And now …”

“Now what?”

“Now you make me want to forget all about limits and take what I want more than anything.”

“I want that, too. You have no idea how badly. I’m not like this usually.”

“Like what?”

“Desperate to get laid.”

His bluntness made her laugh. “Are you desperate?”

“Incredibly, but that’s not like me. I don’t let my dick lead me around, you know? I can go months without it, but for the last two days, it’s all I’ve thought about.”

Amused and aroused by his words, she reached over to caress his face, running her fingers over the late-day scruff on his jaw.

“You’re appalled by me, right?” he asked, seeming chagrined by his blunt confession.

“Not at all. I’m charmed by you.”

“We’re not teenagers here, Cameron. We’re both single. At least I think we’re both single, aren’t we?”

She smiled, because really, how could she not? “As I’m not in the habit of lying half naked in the arms of one man while committed to another, rest assured we’re both single.”

“That’s a relief,” he said with an exaggerated sigh. “Technically, we can do anything we want to.”

“Technically.”

“But?”

“I’d hate myself after,” she said with an equally exaggerated sigh.

“How many days will you have to know me before you won’t hate yourself after going to bed with me?”

Cameron turned her eyes upward in deep thought. “Ninety.”

His mouth fell open, and his eyes bugged. “Ninety? Ninety days or ninety hours?”

She forced her lips to stay still when she wanted to let go with a big laugh at his horrified expression. “Days.”

“Ninety days. That’s three months!”

“Last time I checked. Yes.”

“I’ll die before then, Cameron.”

“No, you won’t.”

With a big hand on her bottom, he pulled her snug against his impressive erection. “Yes. I will.” He kissed her, lingering to pay special attention to her lower lip.

“If I make love with you, Will, I’ll fall for you. I know myself.”

Nuzzling her neck, he said, “If you fall for me, I’ll never let you go.”

“Will …” As she said the words, she tipped her head back to give him better access to her neck. “We can’t.”

“I know,” he said with a deep sigh full of resignation.

She couldn’t keep her fingers out of his hair. “Are you mad?”

“No, I’m not mad. I’m determined.”

“What do you mean?”

“Not only do I have to make you fall for me, I have to make you see that ninety days is a ridiculous amount of time to make me walk around in this condition.”

Cameron’s eyes were heavy after the night of interrupted sleep, the heat of the fire, the workout in the snow and the effort to resist him. She snuggled closer to him, breathing in his appealing scent. “You won’t be in that condition the whole time.”

“Yes, I will.”

“I need to get to Hannah’s.”

“Stay here with me.”

“I can’t. Your sister will think poorly of me.”

“No, she won’t.”

“Yes, she will.”

“A few more minutes,” he said, hugging her tightly.

Since Cameron was so warm and comfortable, despite the underlying buzz of desire that hummed between them, she relaxed against him. “A few more minutes.”