Free Snowbound with the Biker (Holiday Encounters Book 2) by Amy Lamont Page A

me? My heart had too many years of hiding to hold out hope he might have some feelings for me.
    “Tell me,” he said. His voice was a whisper but that didn’t mean it wasn’t also commanding.
    I stared up at him and tried to read the emotions swirling in his eyes. His hands moved to slide up and down my arms. The move seemed like it should be soothing, but instead it sent tingles of warmth through my whole body. It triggered the feelings elicited by the dreams I’d been having, and desire curled through my belly.
    I placed my hands on his chest and it hit me. The question that I asked myself in my office this morning shot through my mind.
    God, had it only been hours ago I’d been sitting in my office? Standing in Hunter’s arms, his body pressed to mine, it felt like several lifetimes ago.
    But the question remained. What was I waiting for?
    I curled my fingers into his t-shirt. I took a moment to enjoy the feel of his hard pectoral muscles beneath my fingers, and took a calming breath. I needed to do this now or I’d never find the courage to do it.
    “Hunter.” I didn’t even recognize the throaty whisper that escaped me. “You have to know how I felt about you?”
    He slid his arms around me, trapping my hands between our bodies. “I thought you hated me, but now you’re telling me you stood up to my dad for me. You were happy when I was happy. I’m beginning to think I don’t have a clue about how you felt about me.”
    There was something in his eyes—hope and affection and something else I couldn’t put a name to. I couldn’t let him think for even another minute that I thought of him like the loser his father always called him.
    I scraped my teeth over my bottom lip and gathered my courage before I finally told him the truth. All of it. “I couldn’t speak two words to you because I got completely nervous and tongue-tied whenever I got within more than ten feet of you. I was sweet as pie to all our neighbors because it didn’t really matter to me if they just saw me as the nice girl that lived across the street. I saw how you felt about being able to ride off on your bike because I spent a lot of time watching you from my window. And I got so angry when your dad called you names and told you you’d never amount to anything because I saw the truth. I never doubted for a second you could do anything you put your mind to.”
    His arms tightened around me to the point it was almost painful. I slid my hands up over his shoulders until I had my arms around his neck.
    Oh my God . My breathing all but stopped and I kept my eyes glued to Hunter’s. His expression was fierce in a way I never saw him look before. “You’re telling me how you used to feel about me?”
    I nodded.
    “We haven’t seen each other for years, Katelyn. How do you feel about me now?”
    I couldn’t have stopped the words from pouring out if I tried. “Every time Logan calls home, the first thing I ask about after he tells me he’s healthy and whole is you.”
    “So you knew where to find me because…?”
    I squirmed in his arms, but he didn’t loosen his hold. God this was mortifying, but I didn’t tear my eyes from his when I answered him.
    “I knew where to find you because I always know where to find you. I knew where you were stationed in Afghanistan and when you were stateside. I knew when you moved back to New Jersey after you got out of the Army. And I knew you were here because I don’t even have to pump Logan for information anymore. He usually fills me in before I even ask.”
    Holy shit . I couldn’t believe I just blurted all that out. I let my head fall forward until I could bury my overheated face in his shoulder. “This is mortifying.”
    His shoulders shook beneath my hands, and when he spoke, the laughter tinged his voice. “Babe, look at me.”
    “No.” I wiggled deeper into his arms. “I’m staying here until I die. And if I keep spilling my guts to you, that should happen in about two point