by J. S. Scott
“Hi, Tessa,” I greeted the other patron cordially. I didn’t know Liam’s sister well, but she’d been very nice to me every time we ran into each other or when she was covering in the restaurant.
The pretty blonde turned her head away from the cashier to greet me. “Brooke,” she said with a smile. “It’s great to see you. Are you coming in for a late-night snack, too?”
I grinned back at her. “More like feeding my obsession. I love the toffee almond bark. Please tell me you just bought the last of it so I don’t take a bag home with me.”
She laughed, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Sorry. I did get some, but there’s still half of a tray left.”
So much for hoping I wouldn’t be able to get my fix. The confection went straight to my hips, but I couldn’t resist the chance to pick some up since the shop was still open. “There’s no hope for me, then. I’ll have to exercise more.”
The small store was filled with the tantalizing scent of chocolate, and my mouth was already watering.
“I think you can afford the extra calories,” Tessa answered. “I really can’t, but Micah and I can get back outside to do our runs now, so it won’t be that bad.”
“Where is Micah?” I questioned. Tessa’s handsome husband was almost always with her.
“Overnight event in North Carolina. His company is hosting the annual extreme-sports event there.”
Tessa finished up paying, and I gave the clerk my order. I expected Tessa to exit when she was done, but she waited until I finished talking to the cashier, and then said, “I saw Liam earlier at the restaurant. He said you wanted to leave.”
I sighed. News traveled fast in Amesport. “It isn’t that I really want to go, but I have a life back in California. It was always a temporary job for me.”
She nodded “Liam told me everything tonight. I wish you were staying. Liam has been a lot happier with you around.”
I smiled. “You mean what I’ve been seeing is Liam’s upbeat mood?”
“I know it sounds strange, but my brother has always been quiet. He never was much of a talker.”
“That I believe.”
“He’s never really opened up that much to me,” Tessa confided. “Maybe he always felt like he needed to take care of me because I was his little sister first, and then I was his deaf little sister.”
“I know what it’s like to have an older brother,” I told her. “I have three of them.”
She shook her head and gave me a sympathetic look. “I can’t imagine having three older brothers. Just Liam is more than enough.”
Noah, Seth, and Aiden weren’t quite as intense as Liam, but Jade and I got bossed around from every direction. “It’s not always bad,” I said. “At least I have a guy around to fix my car when I need it. They’re all pretty mechanical.”
“At least that’s something,” she said skeptically, like there was no way in hell she needed that many overbearing men in her life. “When are you leaving?”
“I just gave Liam my notice. I gave him two weeks to bring in somebody else.”
“I can help him cover, but I know he’s going to miss you. I don’t think he realizes how much he talks about you.”
“He does?” I answered in surprise. “He barely talks to me.”
She studied me carefully, which was a little uncomfortable, before she said, “I was kind of hoping you two might hook up.”
I shrugged. “That wasn’t something Liam was interested in pursuing.”
I saw no reason to bullshit Tessa anymore. I wouldn’t be around much longer.
“He was definitely interested,” she countered. “I’m not sure why he didn’t pursue you.”
I knew why, but I didn’t want to explain all of that to Tessa. Liam had obviously not told her about my so-called boyfriend. “It just never worked out,” I said vaguely. “I guess it’s better that way, since my whole life is on another coast.”
Tessa changed the subject as I paid for my evil snack. “I saw you in the coffee shop with Evan.”
“We’re friends,” I was quick to inform her. “He knows my eldest brother, Noah.”
The last thing anybody would assume was that Evan would ever step out with another love interest when he had a woman he worshipped like he did his wife, Miranda. But I wanted to clarify.
Tessa rolled her eyes. “I know that. Evan would die for Randi. You don’t need to defend having coffee with him. You two just seemed so comfortable. Evan isn’t much of a talker, just like Liam.”
“He talks when he wants to,” I shared, thinking about how he’d just finished grilling me about Liam.
“Most men do,” Tessa said with a smile. “Brooke, I know you won’t be around long, but if you ever need somebody to talk to, I’m a good listener. I wish we would have had more time to get to know each other, but we were always so busy at the restaurant.”
“Thanks,” I replied as I grabbed my bag from the clerk. “I think I’m doing okay. I just needed some time to myself. Being here gave me that.”
Part of me wanted to blurt out everything to Tessa. She was just one of those kind people who made me want to be her friend. But knowing she’d tell Liam kept my lips closed.
“The offer is always there,” she confirmed.
I took a piece of the almond bark from the bag and popped it into my mouth. I swallowed before I answered, “Thanks. I appreciate that nobody pushed me very hard. I wasn’t ready to talk about what happened in California.”
We left the shop together, both us now feeding from our bags of chocolate.
“Can I give you a lift?” she offered.
“No. I’m good. I only live a few blocks from here.” I had a tiny one-bedroom apartment close to downtown. It was furnished, and my view was the back of the stores on Main Street, but I’d been grateful that Evan had been able to find it for me. I’d never needed a car since I was close to everything in town.
“I’ll see you soon, I hope,” Tessa said.
I waved as she scurried to her vehicle, wishing I could have gotten to know her better. Tessa had been through so many of her own challenges in life. She probably would have been a great person to have as a friend.
I started walking toward my apartment. It might be spring, but it was still cold in Maine. I was wearing a light jacket with my jeans and long-sleeved shirt, but it wasn’t really warm enough for spring in Maine. I’d gotten used to the frigidly cold weather during the winter, but I was more than ready for things to warm up.
My apartment was already in sight when an arm shot out of the darkness. I startled as I was forced to halt by the hold of a strong hand on my upper arm.
“What in the hell are you doing out here so late?”
I recognized the voice before I saw his body step into the dim illumination of the streetlights.
“Liam?”
“It’s almost eleven,” he grumbled.
I wanted to tell him that teenagers get a later curfew, but I took one look at his face and closed my mouth.
His expression was grim, but I could see that he was worried.
Even as I thought about how irrational he was being, my heart melted just a little.
“It’s not exactly the dead of night,” I said calmly.
“It’s dark,” he rumbled. “Too late to be roaming around in the cold.”
“I’m on my way home,” I explained. “I was just having coffee with Evan at Brew Magic.”
“Why?”
I was perplexed. Liam was acting so strange that I wasn’t sure how to reply. It took me a moment to answer, “I wanted to thank him for helping me.”
“Because you’re leaving,” he said unhappily.
“Yes. Because I’m leaving.”
Silence stretched out for what seemed like a very long time before Liam replied, “You’re cold. I’ll walk you back to your apartment.”
I was nearly there. I could already see the entrance to my building. “No worries. I’ll be okay. I can see my apartment.”
He nodded toward the entrance. “I’ll go with you.”
I started walking, and Liam fell into step beside me. It was senseless to argue with him. We were standing out in the cold when we could both be warm in a few minutes. “Did you just leave the restaurant?”
The eatery closed at nine o’clock this time of year, so I assumed he’d just closed up and saw me walking in the dark.
“Just a few minutes ago,” he confirmed.
Even though his words explained why he was in the area, I still didn’t get why he’d come after me when I was only steps from my apartment.
It wasn’t unusual for Liam to see that I got to my place safely. In the warmer months, he’d walked me home. In the winter, he’d driven me the short distance from the restaurant to my building. He’d always watched out for me that way. But there had been no reason for him to walk me to a door I could actually see from my position on the sidewalk.
“Thanks,” I muttered as I arrived at the entrance of my building.
“Call me next time,” he demanded. “Amesport is relatively safe, but I’ve seen some strange people here in the summer.”
“It’s not summer,” I said.
Compared to California, the small Maine coastal town looked like the safest place in the world.
“Just call me,” he repeated. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
I nodded. “Do you want to come up?” Inviting him to come in seemed like the right thing to do. I’d asked him before, and he’d always refused. But I went through the motions anyway.
“Yeah. I think I do,” he said awkwardly, like he was used to giving a different answer—which he was.
“I can make some coffee,” I offered, fumbling to find the key to the main door.
“I think I need a drink,” he answered.
I found the right key and put it into the lock before I turned to look at him. Liam didn’t drink. He’d told me that he had partied so much in California that he rarely touched alcohol anymore. In the months that I’d known him, I’d never seen him drink a single alcoholic beverage.
“I have beer and wine.” The beer had been left at my place by my brother. And the wine was mine. God knew I needed a drink every once in a while, especially after spending the entire evening with Liam at the restaurant.
“That will work.”
I unlocked the door and stepped into the lobby of my building. It was quiet. The building wasn’t monitored by live security. Not that it needed to be.
This is going to be awkward.
We spent time together alone at work, but letting him into my private life was something else entirely.
We rode the elevator up to the second floor in silence. When the doors finally whooshed open, I asked, “Why did you finally decide to come up?”
I’d offered at least a hundred times, and he’d never agreed to come with me.
“I think we need to talk.” He walked out of the elevator without any further explanation.
I followed, eventually taking the lead to show him which apartment was mine.
I didn’t want to talk about leaving again, but it seemed I had very little choice.
CHAPTER 5
BROOKE
My apartment seemed extra small with Liam in it. It wasn’t because of his size, although he was a big guy. It was his presence. I felt like he sucked every bit of oxygen from the small apartment, and it left me gasping for air.
I told him to make himself comfortable in the living room while I got the drinks. When I entered the kitchen, I automatically hit the button to listen to my messages. There was only one.
“I know you’re coming home soon, but I guess I just wanted to hear your voice. I’ll be glad when you’re back in California. I’ll catch you later. I love you, Brooke.”
I smiled as I listened to Noah’s message. I really did miss my family. I even wanted to see every one of my pain-in-the-ass brothers right now.
I had the drinks in my hand when I turned to go back to the living room, but I didn’t get far. Liam was standing at the entrance to the kitchen, and he didn’t look very happy.
“He doesn’t love you, and you don’t love him,” he said coarsely.
I pushed by him and he followed me into the living room. I handed him a beer before I said, “I do love him. A lot.”
He’d obviously overheard Noah’s message and assumed it was my nonexistent boyfriend.
“How in the hell can he have a woman like you and not need to see her every fucking day?”
Liam had seated himself on the end of the couch, so I sat on the other side. “He doesn’t have me.”
His head turned sharply to look at me. “Are you breaking up with him?”
I grinned at Liam. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s possible.”
There had been many times when my brothers had driven me crazy, but since we were blood, I either had to put up with them or not have them in my life. Since they had some good qualities, I’d decided to ignore their nonsense.
“Why? If you don’t love him and he doesn’t love you, it would be better to dump him.”
“I can’t dump my own brother,” I informed him, and then took a large swallow of Merlot from my glass.
“That was your brother?”
I nodded. “Noah. The eldest.”
He looked relieved as he answered. “Sorry. I guess I’m not used to you having brothers.”
“I’m not sure if I’m used to it, either,” I joked. “And they’ve been my siblings for twenty-six years. Noah is protective since he raised all of us, but we can never seem to convince him that we’re all grown up now.”
He threw back half of the bottle of beer he was holding before he answered, “He’s always going to want to protect you. Tessa is married, and I still want to tell her what to do. I don’t think that instinct ever goes away.”
“I love him. He dedicated his whole life to his family when he was barely a grown-up himself.”
“He did what he had to do to keep you all together. I respect that.”
“But you thought he was my boyfriend?”
He nodded. “I did. You can still break up with your boyfriend, Brooke.”
“I can’t.” How could I dump a guy who didn’t exist?
“He basically left you alone for the last year. He’s been here to visit for a day or two a few times, but if he really loved you, he would have been here with you.”
My heart melted just a little bit more. Liam was obviously trying to help me, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that he appeared to care if I was happy. “If you were in the same situation, would you have dropped your whole life for a woman?”
“If she was the right woman, yes.”
Strangely, I believed him. Liam was loyal and steadfast with people he cared about. “There aren’t many guys who would,” I explained.
“Bullshit! I don’t know many guys who wouldn’t.” He took another healthy hit from his beer.
I knew plenty of men who wouldn’t drop their lives and follow a female, even if they were in a relationship. But Liam apparently hung out with guys who had their priorities together.
I changed the subject before I had to tell an actual lie. “What did you want to talk about?”
“I wanted to see if I could talk you into staying, but after hearing your brother’s message, I know it’s not going to happen. And I’m definitely not getting anywhere with convincing you to get rid of the useless boyfriend.” He paused for a moment before he added, “But it doesn’t feel right to just let you go.”
I took another long sip of my wine. “Why do you want me to stay so badly? You said we could never be friends. And you’ve never said another word about the fact that we were attracted to each other. I have a hard time believing that this is all about the restaurant.”
“It’s not,” he confirmed. “It has nothing to do with Sullivan’s.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Then what is it, Liam?”
“I don’t want you to go.
”
“Why?” I really wanted his answer to that question now.
“The attraction never went away, Brooke. But I refuse to intrude on another guy’s territory. Every time I see you, my dick is hard, but I can’t go there.”
I watched as Liam got up and took my glass. He headed for the kitchen, and I followed him. I leaned on the small island as he popped off the top on another beer, then filled my wineglass almost to the brim.
He set it in front of me as he chugged on the new bottle and tossed the empty one.
I lifted the wineglass and drank, wondering what to say. I’d never gotten over my lust for him, either. In fact, it had just gotten worse the longer I stayed. If I was honest with myself, that was the reason I had to go. I couldn’t take many more nights of getting myself off and fantasizing about him. It was becoming almost painful, and I knew damn well it was pathetic.
“I’m not sure the chemistry will ever go away.” I had to be honest with him. I owed him that much.
I was slugging down my wine now, trying to calm my nerves.
Liam polished off his beer and tossed it in the trash before he moved closer to me. “No doubt it won’t,” he agreed. “So what are we going to do about it?”
My wineglass was empty, so I set it aside and looked up at him. He was close, so close that I could feel his warm breath on my face. “We do nothing,” I said in a rush. “What else can we do? I’m hoping it will go away once I’m back in California. You’ll forget about it once I’m gone for a while.”
“Try again, Brooke,” he challenged. “My cock has been hard for almost a year now. All I have to do is think about you.”
I was pretty sure my mouth dropped open, but I didn’t care. I wondered if he got himself off like I did, lying in bed every single night having an unsatisfying orgasm, because all he wanted was to be with me. I knew that’s what I did. “I really do get off to very dirty thoughts about you.”
I’d told him that I masturbated to thoughts of him back when we’d admitted our attraction to each other. It was the only time I’d opened up to him, and it had backfired on me. I’d never confessed anything to him again.
“I know. I do it, too,” he said huskily. “I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty damn sick of it. I don’t know what commitment you made to this guy in California, but I know you don’t love him. Not if you’re attracted to me. I’ve known you long enough to know that’s just not the way you roll.”
