The Clarke Brothers (Complete Series)

by Lilian Monroe

  My chest burns and I take another deep breath.

  I wonder what would happen if I came clean? If I just told her the truth?

  Would she report me? Would she understand? Would she turn around and never speak to me again?

  I glance over my shoulder and watch as she gets up and heads toward the kitchen. She steals a glance at me and smiles, and the shame inside me burns a bit hotter.

  I know why I lied. I lied to keep my brother, the Sheriff, and myself safe. I lied because she’s not from here, and so she could never understand.

  I lied because I want to make love to her again. I want to lay next to her and run my hands all over her body. I want to feel my cock buried deep inside her and I want to make her scream. Not only that, but I want to wake up next to her and watch her rub the sleep from her eyes as she smiles. I want to make her breakfast and hear her laugh at the silly jokes I make.

  I want all those things, and I know that if I told her about my involvement in the fire, all that would disappear in an instant.

  So in reality, I didn’t lie for my brother, or the town, of the Sheriff. I lied for myself. I lied to give myself a chance to be with her.

  My thoughts are spinning, and my emotions are reaching something like anguish as I sit at my desk and mull over my lie. Then, my phone buzzes in my pocket.

  Want to hang out tonight?

  It’s Zoe. I glance up and see her walking back toward her desk with a mug of coffee in hand. She glances at me and winks. Before I can stop myself, the corner of my lips curls up into a grin.

  Definitely. 7pm?

  I press send and lean back in my chair. My heart is thumping in my chest, and I’m not sure if it’s the guilt of lying or the excitement of seeing her again.

  I jump when Bryan appears at my desk. He nods his head toward Zoe.

  “So what’s going on there?” he says, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows.

  “What? Nothing!” I say, a little too loud and a little too fast. I sit up in my chair, shuffling my papers and tucking a pen into my shirt pocket. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh come on, Ethan, I saw the way she looked at you.” He leans over and stares at Zoe a little harder. “Can’t say I’m not jealous,” he adds.

  Anger flares up inside me, burning up through my chest and tightening around my throat. I can feel the tips of my ears burning as I clench my fists, willing myself to keep my mouth shut. Snapping at him for saying something relatively innocuous is not going to help the rumor mill. Instead, I shrug.

  “She’s alright.”

  Bryan looks at me as if I’ve suddenly grown another head. “Alright? Dude, she’s smoking hot! I haven’t seen a girl like that in Lang Creek since 2003!”

  “Are you keeping a journal of all the hot chicks that pass through?” I ask, deflecting his attention away from me.

  “Might as well be,” he grins. “Well if you’re not going for it, I might just try my luck.”

  The same anger flares up inside me, but this time I’m able to control it. I chuckle and nod my head toward Zoe.

  “Go for it,” I say. “Let me know how it goes.” Knock yourself out. I already know how it’s going to go.

  Bryan laughs and claps me on the shoulder. “Relax, Clarke,” he laughs. “I told you, I saw the way she looks at you.” I watch him walk toward Zoe’s desk. He sits on the edge of it and smiles at me before leaning toward her.

  “So, Ms. Randall, has anyone shown you the Lang Mountain Lookout? I’m heading that way now, if you’re free you can jump in the truck with me.”

  Zoe smiles at him and I feel a jealous pang in my chest. “That sounds great!” She says, pushing her chair away from her desk. “I’ve been wanting to go up there. And call me Zoe,” she adds.

  “Sure, Zoe,” Bryan says, getting up and staring at me with a shit-eating grin on his face. I roll my eyes but I watch both of them as they walk out the door. It’s not until I hear the engine fire on that I turn back to my desk. My phone buzzes.

  See you then xox

  My shoulders relax and I smile. Bryan can take her to all the lookouts he wants, but I know that I’m the one she’s meeting tonight.

  17

  Zoe

  I try to focus on what Bryan tells me, but my mind keeps drifting to Ethan. I think he’s giving me a history of the area, or maybe of the townspeople. The truck revs and bounces up the slope of the mountain until the narrow trail levels off. Bryan stops the engine and grins at me.

  “This is called Lover’s Lookout.”

  He wiggles his eyebrows and I laugh, shaking my head. “Don’t make me regret coming up here.”

  Bryan laughs, opening his door. “Come on, you’ll get a better view from up here.”

  I follow him down a short, narrow pathway until the trees suddenly stop and a rickety-looking, rusty handrail separates us from a long, steep fall. My chest immediately feels hollow and I stop well back from the handrail. Bryan turns back to me and grins.

  “Come on, Randall,” he says. “You afraid of heights?”

  “I didn’t think I was, but my heart feels like it just fell into my stomach. This is supposed to be romantic?”

  I inch my way forward and peer over the edge, testing the handrail with two fingers. It doesn’t move. I grab it with my hand and try to shake it, surprised to find it solidly anchored into the stone below. Bryan looks at me with an eyebrow raised.

  “Satisfied?”

  “For now,” I laugh. He points to the mountains, naming them all for me. He points out the Ranger Station, the site of the fire, the McCoy hotel, and any other landmarks that I might know.

  It’s breathtaking. Lush, green forests crawl up the mountains. Scraggly, rocky peaks poke out the top of their green blankets, with clouds hugging the jagged peaks. The town of Lang Creek looks like a sleepy bunch of houses, with a river winding gently through the bottom of the valley where the town was built. Smoke curls from two or three chimneys.

  The only mar on the landscape is the site of the fire. Even a year later, the charred remains of the construction site are clearly visible. My mind drifts back to my conversation with Katie, which was interrupted just as she started telling me about the Clarke brothers and the mess of rumors that surround their family.

  I nod my chin to the fire site. “So why does everyone think the Clarke brothers did that?” I try to sound as casual as possible, and I think I succeed until I see Bryan tense. He might not be as forthcoming as Katie.

  Bryan keeps his eyes on the charred mark across from us and shrugs. His voice is even when he speaks.

  “There’s always rumors about those boys,” he says, waving his hand lazily. “When Dominic married Mara, it was the biggest thing since Brangelina.”

  I snort, wondering how long it takes for celebrity news to make it to this little town in the mountains.

  “Why was it such a big deal?”

  Bryan chuckles, almost to himself, and then whistles as he turns around, leaning on the rusty railing. My eyes widen and my heart does that jump again, and I try to step away from the railing. He sees my nervousness and chuckles, leaning a little bit more into the rail.

  “Why don’t you step away from the rail,” I say, trying to hide the nervousness in my voice.

  “What, this railing?” he asks, shaking it with his hand.

  My heart leaps. “You’re insane,” I say.

  My heart is racing as I watch him so close to the edge. Finally he shakes his head and pushes himself off, clapping me on the shoulder and laughing.

  “You’re alright, Randall. I wasn’t sure about you at first, but I like you.”

  I roll my eyes. “Gee, thanks.”

  Bryan grins and I can’t help but smile back. It almost feels like I’ve made a friend. He turns around and takes one last look at the view before heading back up the wooded path to our truck.

  “The McCoys and the Clarkes had been feuding ever since Old Man Clarke died,” he says, turning his head so I can hear him over his sh
oulder. “It would have been, oh, I guess about a decade ago.”

  I make a noise, trying to hide the intense curiosity that’s erupted in my stomach. Bryan doesn’t seem to notice. We get to the truck and he pauses, turning to me and lowering his voice as he leans against the vehicle.

  “It all came to a head when the new hotel was being built. It came to light,” he says, glancing around the forest as if there might be someone listening in this secluded corner of the mountains. “That the McCoys had part ownership of the new hotel. Well,” he whistles. “That didn’t sit right with anyone.”

  “So why does everyone assume the Clarkes did it?”

  Bryan looks at me and frowns, as if he hadn’t even considered the possibility that it wasn’t the brothers.

  “Who else would do it?” he laughs. “You’ve met Dominic, right?” I nod. He shrugs as if to say, ‘there you go.’

  “Right, but was there any actual evidence? Seems to me like it fits nicely into this whole feud narrative.”

  Bryan grunts and heads over to the driver’s side of the truck. We get in and he turns it on. Before putting the car in gear, he pauses. He looks over at me and seems to consider something.

  “After the hotel burned down, Mara McCoy came back. She and Dominic shacked up, and Mrs. McCoy – Mara’s mother – left town in a hurry.”

  I wait, because I don’t know what to say. What does Mrs. McCoy leaving have anything to do with any of this?

  “No one’s heard from her. Left her husband, her businesses, her daughter. Everything.” Bryan puts the car in gear and starts driving. He stares out the windscreen, his eyes narrowing as he navigates on the narrow, overgrown logging roads. “Now you tell me that it’s not suspicious. If you ask me, she found out what her daughter’s new boyfriend did, and couldn’t face the idea of accepting him into her family.”

  “Mara and Dominic seemed happy when I saw them. Wouldn’t that tear them apart if it were true?”

  “Maybe,” Bryan replies.

  “Wouldn’t it be more logical that Mrs. McCoy did it, and she ran away afterward? Did she get an insurance payout? She could be living it up in Mexico or something!”

  “Maybe,” Bryan repeats. He doesn’t look over at me, and I chew my lip. There has to be some other explanation. Surely Ethan wouldn’t be capable of arson?! And then for the two families to be united in marriage? It just doesn’t make sense.

  He told me he didn’t do it.

  Or maybe I just don’t want it to make sense. I want to find something – anything – that will distance Ethan from this crime.

  He told me he didn’t do it, and I have to believe him. Every time I’m near him, my stomach does backflips and my heart starts thumping. The thought of him lying to me makes me want to roll down the window and throw up as we drive back toward the Ranger’s office.

  Bryan is quiet for most of the drive back, and I’m grateful for it. When we pull up to the station, he turns to me.

  “So are you investigating this fire?”

  “What? I… no. Not really. I’m mostly just auditing your safety procedures to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  “You’re not trying to find who did it?”

  “I mean, that would help in the whole procedures. If I know how it happened, then we can work on having it not happen again.”

  “Do you want my advice?” His eyes soften, and his voice drops as he speaks. My throat starts to tighten and I no longer trust my voice, so I just nod.

  “Don’t ask too many questions. People think a certain way here, and you coming in here causing a commotion isn’t going to change anything. Don’t worry about the fire. Just write your reports and forget about the whole thing.”

  My heart is thumping, and I consider his words. He holds my gaze for a few more moments, and then his face lightens.

  “But what do I know? I’m just an adrenaline junkie with an affinity for rusty old handrails,” he laughs. “Come on, Sandy’ll kill me if you’re late for the meeting this afternoon.”

  I grin at him, but my mind is still spinning circles around me. When I go back inside, I glance at Ethan’s desk and surprise myself when I feel a sense of relief at his empty chair. I need to think, and it’s impossible to do that when his perfect body is anywhere near me.

  18

  Ethan

  Dusk is settling into night as I throw another pebble into the river. I’m here to meet Zoe and I’m a little early, but even the serenity of the forest and the flow of the river has failed to calm me down. My heart is thumping, and every sound makes me turn toward the path where Zoe will walk to meet me.

  Finally, after an eternity, I hear light footsteps and her graceful figure comes into view. She raises a hand toward me and I step into the path. I open my arms and she gives me a hug, resting her head on my chest and sighing.

  “Long day?” I ask.

  “I think little Hailey’s birth may have tired me out more than I thought,” she replies, resting her chin against my chest and staring at me with her sparkling sapphire eyes.

  “I hear you. I had to go do an extra round to the campsites this afternoon and then I was falling asleep at my desk. I have a feeling it wasn’t Hailey’s birth that tired me out, though.”

  Zoe blushes and smacks my chest lightly. She disengages from me and takes a deep breath, staring at the river beside us.

  “How was your drive up to the lookout with Bryan?”

  She tilts her head to the side, not taking her eyes off the river.

  “Informative,” she answers.

  I snort. “That doesn’t sound like Bryan. Was he telling you about the legend of the Lang Creek ghost?”

  She glances at me and her eyes glimmer. Her lip curls up in a grin. “Is he the one who burned down the hotel?”

  My heart skips a beat and my mouth goes dry, but I cover my discomfort with a laugh. I hate that I lied to her. “Maybe he did,” I answer.

  She slips her hand into mine and we start walking down the path toward the town. We don’t say a word to each other, but it feels almost electric between us. Her fingers are intertwined in mine, and I can feel her arm brushing against mine. My whole body feels drawn to her, and all I want to do is wrap my arms around her and crush my lips against hers.

  She squeezes my hand as if she’s reading my mind. I do some quick mental calculations to see how quickly I can get her back to my place and do all the things I’ve been dreaming about for the past twenty-four hours. She looks up at me just as I’m imagining what her body looks like when it’s on top of mine.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “The way you look when you orgasm,” I answer without thinking. She lets out a laugh and elbows me.

  “Ethan!”

  “What!” I laugh. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to.”

  She looks at me again, this time frowning. She opens her mouth as if she’s about to say something, and then changes her mind. We walk in silence, and then Zoe stops. I turn to face her, my eyebrows inching together. I’m about to ask her why she stopped when she puts her hand on my chest and slides it up to my neck. She presses her chest against mine and heat floods my veins.

  Her tongue darts out to lick her lips and a vibration passes through me. The golden light of evening makes her eyes shine and her lips glisten. I slide my arm around to her lower back and pull her a bit closer.

  “What are we doing, Ethan?” she whispers.

  “Who cares,” I answer, dropping my chin and crushing my lips against hers. Her hand slides around my neck and pulls my nape down toward her.

  It’s more than a kiss. Where yesterday was explosive desire, tonight her kiss tastes like the fire of pure passion. Every time she moves her hand over my body it leaves a trail of scorched skin in its path. She runs her fingers through my hair and pulls me closer as I squeeze her waist with my arms. My hands drop to her ass and a moan escapes her lips.

  I can’t wait any longer. I hook my arms around her
thighs and lift her up over my shoulder. She yelps and laughs, drumming her hands on my ass.

  “What are you doing!” she exclaims, laughing.

  “I’m taking you back to my place and I’m giving you the best orgasm of your life,” I grunt. My cock is heavy and my whole body feels like it’s on edge. It’s like my skin is suddenly ten times as sensitive as usual, and every cell in my body is focused on Zoe.

  “Ethan,” she says, her voice muffled in my back. I pause, setting her down gently and running my hands up her sides until they rest on her waist. She runs her fingers up my arms and hooks her hands around my neck. I search her face and then touch my forehead to hers.

  “Unless you’d rather go home?”

  “The last thing I want to do right now is go home,” she breathes. “But we work together, and…”

  She stops talking when my lips cover hers, and I feel her melt into me. When I pull away, we’re both panting. “We’re not at work,” I growl. “No one has to know.”

  Zoe grins. “I’ve only been here a couple days, but I can tell you that everyone will know.”

  I laugh, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. My finger drifts down her cheek and I use it to tilt her head up toward me.

  “You want to know a secret?”

  She nods.

  “I don’t care what they say. I don’t care that we work together. I don’t care that you have a daughter and a life in Seattle. I don’t care about any of that, because all I can think about is getting you back to my place and doing a thousand things to make you scream.”

  I tilt my head closer to her and brush my lips against the soft skin behind her ear. “I want to see that face again,” I growl. “That face you make when you let go, and the orgasm ripples through your body.”