And I Love You Read Online Free Page A

his cause with Megan? That was news to him.
    “Was he talking about you?”
    “Yeah, I think he was.”
    “Is this why you asked me out a couple of months ago? You said it might help me to get over Will if I went out with someone else. I told you I didn’t think going out with Will’s brother would help me get over him.”
    “I remember,” he said, grimacing. It hadn’t been funny at the time. Rather, it had felt like the final nail in his coffin where she was concerned. He’d left the diner that day feeling as if he had a better chance of winning a million bucks in the lottery than he did of ever getting Megan to notice him as anything other than her beloved’s brother.
    “Did I hurt your feelings that day?”
    “You crushed me.” After a pause, he smiled so she’d know he was teasing her. Sort of.
    Her lips parted, her eyes widened and he wanted to kiss her so badly he burned with it. “I’m sorry.”
    “I was teasing. I wasn’t totally crushed. Just kinda.”
    “I didn’t know. I’ve been so oblivious, and I feel terrible.”
    “That’s not why I told you. I don’t want you to feel terrible. I wanted you to know. That’s all.”
    “That’s
all
? Like that’s the end of it?”
    “I’m hoping it’s just the beginning of it.”
    Megan struggled to absorb the shock of hearing Hunter admit he was interested in her. Romantically interested. Hunter Abbott of the Green Mountain Country Store Abbotts. The man who dressed like an advertising executive on Madison Avenue in New York rather than an accountant on Elm Street in Butler. He was smart, quiet, handsome, intense and currently looking at her in a way that made Megan’s skin feel unusually warm.
    She had to put a stop to this. How had it even happened? One minute they were eating pizza and the next they were talking about him being interested in her. She’d never thought of him that way. For so long, the only man she’d wanted had been his brother Will, who had never thought of her as anything other than the waitress he talked to at the diner.
    To hear that Will’s brother had harbored secret feelings for her while she harbored not-so-secret feelings for Will was … Well, she didn’t know exactly what word to use to describe how strange that was.
    She stood up. “I need to go.”
    “Because of what I said?”
    “Because I can’t process this on top of everything else that’s already happened tonight. My brain feels like it’s spinning or something.”
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you that to upset you more than you already were. I just … I wanted you to know.”
    “You didn’t upset me.”
    “Let me drive you home.”
    “That’s not necessary. I can walk. It’s not that far.”
    “It’s dark and cold, Megan. Let me drive you. Please?”
    “Fine. Okay. Thanks.”
    He went to get his jacket and returned with his keys. Neither of them said anything as he followed her out to the driveway, where he again held the car door for her and waited for her to get settled.
    Megan watched him walk around the front of the SUV and get into the driver’s side.
    Hunter put on his seatbelt but made no move to start the car. After a long silence, he cleared his throat. “I know I already said it, but I really am sorry. Tonight was not the night to have this conversation.”
    She turned in her seat so she could try to make out his face in the inky darkness. “I want you to know I’m flattered. I truly am. And I’d like to talk about it. Sometime. Just not tonight. If that’s okay.”
    “It’s okay.”
    “Are you mad?”
    “No,” he said with a small laugh as he turned the key to start the engine. “I’m sort of oddly relieved that you know.”
    “So you’ve … felt this way, about me … for a while, then?”
    “Yes.”
    “How long?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “How can you not know?”
    “I don’t remember not feeling this way.”
    “Hunter! I’ve known you for years!”
    After another long pause, he said, “I thought