I don't think that we can perceive a snakes emotions at all similar to ours. We can not tell nor can we be sure that the snake has emotions other than the instinctual flight, fight, and eat responses.
However, from personal experience, I feel that they may have emotions that we can not categorize as 'our' human definition of emotion. Why does our love have to be any different than their comfort?

For scientific purposes only, it has been recorded that humans and dolphins are the only two species that have recorded brain waves of mating for 'pleasure and enjoyment'.
If such an animal like a dolphin can think this, and there has been evidence of homosexuality in apes, then why can't other species have unexplainable feelings?
In my personal experience I have noticed that certain species of snakes show different aspects of personalities than others. Corn snakes tend to be more fearful and 'flight oriented' while Balls are very docile and calm.
I have also noticed that ball pythons can associate specific smells (such as the smell of their owner) with a comfortable experience, where their natural reaction is relaxation. We learned in anatomy that the 'smell' center of the brain is the same part of the brain used to store memories, thus snakes too would have more accurate memories or recorded thoughts from smells (considering their smelling sense is much higher than ours).

So can snakes love? Maybe not the way we see it. But they can fear, be angry, be comfortable, and be unfamiliar. Maybe it is just the 'flight or fight' response and it is all instict. But I think that if every animal was entirely guided by instinct, there would be no variability in personalities that some people claim snakes don't have.
I have seen variability, comfort, along with different aspects of personality that may not just be an aspect of fear or comfort, but maybe more.

Maybe we can never truely tell.