And I Love You by Marie Force

hair to keep her from getting away.
    Megan had forgotten what it was like to be held by a man, to be kissed and touched this way. But no man had ever managed to take her away from all her worries and fears the way Hunter Abbott was doing. She wanted to kiss him until he was all she could think about.
    Without taking the time to consider what she was doing or how she’d intended to stop this before it started, she brought him with her when she reclined against the sofa pillows. Never breaking the kiss, Hunter followed her lead, coming down on top of her, his body fitting intimately against hers.
    She took advantage of the opportunity to run her fingers through his wavy dark hair, which she discovered was softer than it looked.
    “Megan,” he said when he came up for air. “I didn’t mean for things to get so … heated.” When he would’ve pulled back from her, she stopped him.
    “Don’t go. Not yet.”
    He leaned his forehead against hers, looking down at her with desire and confusion and questions she could see he wanted to ask but didn’t.
    “I was going to tell you I can’t do this, and then we were kissing, and now I can’t remember why I was going to say that.”
    His laugh was deep and rich, and she loved that she’d made him laugh. She loved the way the laughter lit up his eyes and softened his demeanor. “I understand you’re afraid to have a real relationship. All I’m asking is that you give me—and us—a chance.”
    “What is it about me that you find so interesting? I’m kind of boring when it comes right down to it.”
    “You’re not boring at all. I’ve always suspected that under that cool façade a complex woman was waiting to get out. All I can tell you is I like how I feel when you’re around.”
    “How do you feel?”
    “Excited, interested, distracted, stupid.”
    “Stupid?
You?
You’re like the smartest person I know.”
    “Not when you’re around. So many times I’ve wanted to ask you out, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words, to ask the question. That makes me feel really stupid.”
    “You’re not. Not at all. Although you may be if you get involved with me.”
    “I wish you wouldn’t say stuff like that about the woman who makes me feel all those things.” He kissed her nose and then her lips. “I’ve got another thing to add to the list of things you make me feel.” Pressing his erection into her belly, he said, “Aroused.”
    Megan closed her eyes, trying to process all the things he was saying and all the emotions that accompanied his words.
    “I didn’t intend to begin our first date this way,” he said. “Not that I’m complaining—at all. Best first date I’ve ever had.”
    “We haven’t gone anywhere yet.”
    “And it’s still the best ever.”
    “Doesn’t take much to make you happy.” Megan went with her trademark sarcasm to hide her emotional reaction to just about everything he said to her.
    “You call being able to hold you and kiss you not much? To me it’s incredible.” He kissed her again, as if he couldn’t stop now that he’d started. “And just think, we’ve already gotten the awkward ‘will we or won’t we’ first-kiss business out of the way, so we won’t have to worry about that all night.”
    “Thank goodness.”
    “So you’ll go out with me and no more about not being good enough or deserving enough or deciding things for me without my input?”
    What else could she say to that other than, “Okay.”
    Hunter felt like he’d dodged a bullet. He’d driven to Megan’s house like a man possessed. He’d guessed what she’d been about to say and hadn’t given her a chance to say it. On the ride to her house, he’d tried to think of the words he would need to persuade her to give him a chance. He hadn’t expected to end up making out with her on the sofa, but as he’d said to her, he certainly wasn’t complaining.
    Every minute he spent with her, no matter what they were doing, confirmed what he’d