And I Love You
Copyright © 2015 by HTJB, Inc
A Green Mountain Short Story
copyright © 2015 by HTJB, Inc
Cover photos © Shutterstock.com
The right of Marie Force to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in this Ebook edition in 2015
by HEADLINE ETERNAL
An imprint of HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by arrangement with Berkley,
a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.
A Penguin Random House Company.
And I Love You
is published in the USA as
And I Love Her
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
eISBN 978 1 4722 1798 1
HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP
An Hachette UK Company
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH
Find out more about Headline Eternal
Marie Force is the
New York Times
bestselling and award-winning author of more than thirty contemporary romances, including the Green Mountain series, the McCarthys of Gansett Island series, the Fatal series, the Treading Water series and numerous standalone books. While her husband was in the U.S. Navy, Marie lived in Spain, Maryland and Florida, and she is now settled in her home state of Rhode Island. She is the mother of two teenagers and two feisty dogs, Brandy and Louie.
Join Marie at
www.marieforce.com
to get news on her latest books, or keep up to date with her on Twitter:
@marieforce
and Facebook:
www.facebook.com/MarieForceAuthor
.
‘Contemporary powerhouse Force sensitively introduces love to a war widow … Genuine and passionate’
Publishers Weekly
‘[Let Me Hold Your Hand] is not to be missed. Marie Force has written a fabulous story that pulls at your heart strings as you flip the pages, devouring every single word!’
Fresh Fiction
‘Now this is how contemporary romance is done’
Cocktails and Books
‘[Marie] allows her readers to experience all the joys, struggles, sadness, anger, etc. that her characters do. Her books are a must add to your libraries’
Romancebookworm’s Reviews
‘This is another beautifully written love story. It draws you in and stays with you after you are done reading’
Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
‘Marie Force makes you believe in the power of true love and happily ever after. Over and over again’ Carly Phillips,
New York Times
bestselling author
‘Ms. Force has the ability to make you fall in love with her Island and all of the quirky and sweet characters that reside there … [A] fantastic series!’
Joyfully Reviewed
‘This is one sexy story’
USA Today
Green Mountain Series
Your Love Is All I Need
(published in the USA as All You Need is Love)
Let Me Hold Your Hand
(published in the USA as I Want To Hold Your Hand)
I Saw You Standing There
(published in the USA as I Saw Her Standing There)
And I Love You
(published in the USA as And I Love Her)
As the oldest of the ten Abbott siblings, Hunter prides himself on his ability to solve other people’s problems, but now he has a problem of his own – how to convince the woman of his dreams that his love is for keeps.
As the chief financial officer, Hunter Abbott manages the family’s various business interests while ‘fixing’ things for the people he loves. But the one thing he can’t fix is his undeniable attraction to Megan Kane. Instead, Hunter is prepared to do whatever it takes to show Megan that he’s the man for her.
Megan’s sister rocks her with the news that she and her husband are moving overseas, leaving Megan truly alone. With her sister – and her job at the diner – going away, Megan finds herself leaning on the sexy, button-down accountant who isn’t afraid to lay it all on the line for her. But Megan has watched too many people she loves leave her. Can she risk her heart on Hunter?
(
And I Love You
is published in the USA as
And I Love Her
)
Thank you for reading
And I Love You
. I hope you enjoyed Hunter and Megan’s story as well as a visit with the Abbott family! Up next from the Green Mountain series is
You’ll Be Mine
, Will and Cameron’s wedding novella, part of the
Ask Me Why
anthology that’s out in July 2015.
A very special thank-you to “Jack’s” Team: Julie Cupp, Lisa Cafferty, Holly Sullivan, Isabel Sullivan, Nikki Colquhoun and Cheryl Serra for all your help and encouragement, and to my family, Dan, Emily and Jake for their support.
Thanks to my agent, Kevan Lyon; my editor, Kate Seaver, and the entire Berkley team for all their hard work on the Green Mountain series.
If you enjoyed
And I Love You
, consider leaving a review at Goodreads and/or the retailer of your choice. Your reviews help other readers to discover the Green Mountain series, and I appreciate them so much.
When you finish the book, dish about the details, with spoilers encouraged, in the
And I Love You
readers group at
facebook.com/groups/AndILoveHer/
. If you haven’t yet joined the Green Mountain series reader group, you can find it here:
facebook.com/groups/GreenMountainSeries/
. Also, if you’re not on my newsletter mailing list, you can join at
marieforce.com
for regular updates about new books and possible appearances in your area.
Thanks so much for reading!
xoxo
Marie
W
hen her sister and brother-in-law said they wanted to talk to her at the diner Monday evening, Megan Kane assumed they were going to tell her they were finally expecting the niece or nephew she’d wanted for as long as they’d been married. But the words that came from Brett and Nina in stuttering, halting sentences had nothing to do with babies.
“Moving overseas.”
“Selling the diner.”
“So sorry to do this to you.”
“It was an amazing opportunity.”
“We couldn’t say no.”
“You can come with us.” Nina seemed crushed to be delivering this news to her “baby” sister, who was almost twenty-eight and hardly a baby anymore. “I’d love that. We could run around and explore together while Brett is at work. It would be so fun.”
Megan shook off the shock and found her voice. “No. You’ve been taking care of me since you were twenty-two, Neen. It’s time to go live your life. I’ll be fine.”
“We really do mean it when we say you should come with us,” Brett said. He was always so kind to her, never once in all these years acting as if her tight bond with his wife was a problem for him.
“I can’t do that. I can’t crash your party. I’ve been around your necks long enough as it is.”
“You’re hardly around our necks, Megan,” Nina said. “We could have so much fun! Would you think about it before you automatically say no? Please?”
“Fine.” Megan said what her sister needed to hear. “I’ll think about it.”
“Great!” Nina said, beaming with pleasure at the small victory.
“If you decide to stay here, we’ll help you find another job,” Brett said. “Maybe the new owners of the diner would want to keep you on. They’d be crazy not to.”
He’d been a terrific brother-in-law to her since he married her sister nine years ago. A teacher at a nearby boys’ prep school, he’d apparently applied for overseas positions in the past but they’d never materialized until now.
Work at Nina’s Diner without Nina? Unthinkable. “I’ll figure something out. You guys don’t need to worry about me.”
“Of course we’ll worry about you, Meg.” Nina reached for her sister’s hand across the table. “I don’t know how
not
to worry about you.”
“It’s probably time I got a life of my own.” Megan tried to stay calm even as she panicked on the inside. Not see Nina every day? Unbearable. “Mom and Dad would be horrified if they knew I was still living in the garage apartment.”
“They’d be proud of you.”
“No, they’d be proud of
you
, but you deserve it. You’ve created such a wonderful business here, and now you have this fantastic opportunity to travel. I’d never hold you guys back from doing what you want.”