by Darcy Burke
“Because I just insulted your kissing?”
“Hey, it takes two to make that work.” The conversation had shifted to where they did feel like friends. Good friends. With no sexual expectation or weirdness. Like with Liam.
His eyes glinted with mirth. “True.” He lifted his glass and took another drink. “Who’s the lucky guy who does set off your fireworks?”
Damn, was she that transparent? “No one I want to be hung up on, unfortunately.”
He winced. “That makes it tough. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not especially.” Instead, she steered the conversation to the hike he’d taken last weekend. When they finished their respective glasses of wine, Stuart stood up.
“I should take off. Thanks for inviting me over.”
Aubrey walked around the island. “Thanks for coming. I hope everything’s cool. Seems like it?”
He smiled down at her. “Definitely. Like I said, I wasn’t surprised. Maybe a little disappointed, but I get it. I appreciate you being so great about it and not texting me or something.”
“I meant it when I said I wanted to be friends.”
“I’d like that, and I still think you’re a great lawyer.” They’d met at a young professionals mixer in McMinnville, where his accounting firm was located.
“That means you’ll still toss me the occasional client?”
He laughed, but his answering look was earnest. “I think I have to. That last guy you sent me has been terrific.”
“I’m so glad.” Friends and professional allies then. She walked him to the door and gave him a hug. “Thanks.”
He squeezed her tightly, then let her go. “I hope this guy’s worth it.”
“He’s not. I just need to get him out of my system so I can really move on.”
“Good luck with that. Took me a long time to get over my college girlfriend. Sometimes you just have to let time work its magic. It also helps if you live in different states.” He winked at her.
Yes, that would help immensely. When Liam went back to Denver, maybe then she could get over him. She thought she’d been well on her way until he’d come home for Evan’s wedding. That was the only reason she’d started dating Stuart this spring—she wouldn’t have if she’d thought Liam would come between them as he had. She had a sudden urge to be the one to push Liam out of the plane next time he went skydiving.
She waved at Stuart as he drove away, then went back inside, locking the door behind her. Her gaze landed on the TV Liam had installed, then moved to the stairs on which Liam had stripped off half of her clothes one night last August—the day after Derek and Chloe’s wedding.
Liam, Liam, Liam. Everywhere she looked.
With a groan, she headed back to the kitchen—and the wine. Just as she reached the island, there was a knock on the door. Instinctively, she glanced around looking for something Stuart might have left but didn’t see anything.
Turning, she went back to the door and froze at the sight of Liam through the glass panes in the upper portion. He really was everywhere she looked.
Blinking hard, she hoped he was just a figment of her tired and overwrought imagination. Nope, he was really there. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. “Liam, this is a surprise.”
“I thought I’d stop in to ask if you wanted to go flying with me—not skydiving, since I’m pretty sure I know your stance on that.”
She shuddered. The idea of flinging herself out of a plane on purpose was the stuff of nightmares. Flying, however, she could get behind. But flying with Liam? Hadn’t she just had a conversation about getting over this guy?
She crossed her arms. “I don’t know. I’m pretty busy with the appeal, and when that’s done you’ll be gone.”
“You almost sound hopeful.”
She inwardly cringed. She didn’t mean to be rude. “I didn’t mean it to sound that way.” She squinted at him for a moment, suspicion rifling through her. “You came over here just to ask me to go flying? You could’ve texted.”
“I could’ve, but I was out for a ride anyway.” He leaned against the doorframe in a careless but utterly sexy pose. “Plus, I had a radical thought. I wondered if you and I—” Aubrey held her breath as he paused. She and him what? “I wondered if we could be friends.”
Friends? Was this some sort of National Friendship Day or something? How had tonight turned into friend conversations with two different guys? Belatedly, she realized it would be polite to invite Liam in. However, she still wasn’t sure she should. Friends, really?
Why not? Maybe putting that out there, setting a boundary was exactly what she needed to get over the hump of putting Liam behind her for good. Plus, as his friend, she could offer friendly advice. Such as pulling back on the extreme sports before his mother had a heart attack or something. “Sure. I’d like to be friends.” She added a smile for good measure.
“Does this mean you want to go flying?”
She had to admit that Liam flying her in a plane sounded pretty amazing. “When?”
He shrugged. “Let me check my buddy’s schedule for the next couple weekends. It’s his plane. I’m still saving up to buy one.”
He was? She wondered if that would freak his mom out. It shouldn’t. Responsible flying was one thing—he was a trained pilot, after all. Crazy-ass sports that endangered his life with heightened risk were something else entirely.
“I’m not sure about this weekend,” she said. “I need to work on the brief.”
“Next weekend, then. Provided I can get a plane.” He flashed her his sexy smile, and she braced herself against the onslaught of attraction. It was still there, of course, but if she worked hard, perhaps over time she’d beat it into submission. Yes, she could do that. She would do that.
“Do you want to come in? I have wine.” Careful, Aubrey, keep him firmly in the damn Friend Zone.
Showing a better flair for judgment than Aubrey, Liam shook his head. “I better not. I’m sure you have to be up early for work, and I have a seven a.m. conference call.”
Aubrey exhaled—softly—with relief. “Yep, I do. Thanks for stopping by. I guess I’ll see you . . . soonish?”
He pushed away from the doorframe. “I’ll let you know about when we can fly. And keep me posted on the brief—you’re going to send it over when you have a draft, right?”
“That’s the plan. I have a few other things going on right now, too—hearings, a deposition next Tuesday.”
His brow furrowed. “Are you sure you have time to get it done?”
She smiled placidly, trying not to let his doubt needle her. It was a legitimate question posed by a client. “Plenty. It was already partially done before the clock started ticking when Sutherlin filed his brief, and I have twenty-one days to file my response.”
He held up a hand. “I didn’t mean to imply you wouldn’t get it done. My bad. I’m sure it’s coming along great. See you later.” He strolled off her porch and picked up his helmet from the seat of his bike.
She closed and locked the door without watching him ride away. His question had unsettled her. She was nervous about this brief, and she shouldn’t be. She was a competent lawyer with good land-use experience. Yes, Sutherlin had been trying cases nearly as long as she’d been alive, but that didn’t mean he would automatically out-lawyer her.
Though it sure as hell made her anxious. And Liam’s uncertainty didn’t help.
She blew out a breath and went to the kitchen to pour that second glass of wine. She was just tired. And stretched a bit thin, what with all the friend talk tonight. Two perfectly great guys had crossed her threshold tonight, and not one of them was boyfriend material.
That sucked.
LIAM WORE A frown as he took off from Aubrey’s house. He’d seen Stuart the Accountant pulling away. Had they just finished a date? Aubrey had looked great—very date-like in white jeans and a sapphire blue sweater with a V-neck that showed the perfect amount of cleavage. Just enough to make you appreciate
the view as well as tempt you to want more.
And he wanted more.
Only she’d been crystal clear on not continuing a physical relationship with him, and he couldn’t offer more. He wasn’t interested in being a boyfriend anytime soon. Hell, he wasn’t sure he ever would be—there were just too many other things in life to do, and if he knew one thing for certain, it was that life was unpredictable and too, too short.
What he could offer was friendship. He was actually looking forward to being friends. He liked spending time with her even when it wasn’t physical, which is more than he could say for his past flings. Yikes, he sounded like a total manwhore.
Anyway, even as friends, her romantic life was none of his business. So what if she’d had a date with Stuart the Accountant? He’d left before ten o’clock, so it couldn’t have been that great.
Knock it off, Archer. None of your business, remember?
He rode to The Arch and Vine, which was only a couple of blocks from her house, and parked out front. At half past nine on Tuesday night, Ribbon Ridge was pretty quiet.
As he stepped off his bike, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and was disappointed to see that it wasn’t Aubrey, but Whitney. She texted him every couple days and asked if he wanted to hang out. He always ignored her, and tonight was no different. This text said she was bored and invited him to come over. Her hot tub was a hundred and two degrees, and swimsuits were optional.
He gritted his teeth and made a mental note to block Whitney’s number.
Suddenly eager for a beer, he went into the pub and was greeted by George, who’d been tending bar at The Arch and Vine since Dad had opened it over a decade ago. He’d been a close friend even longer than that, and the whole family saw him as just another Archer.
“Liam,” George called. “Come sit next to Derek and talk to him so he’ll leave me alone.”
Derek, perched on one of the stools, turned. “Hey, Liam.”
Liam nodded and sat on the stool next to him. “Derek. What’s up?”
“I’m here to pick up Chloe when her shift is over.”
Liam thought Chloe had stopped waiting tables here to focus on the art she was doing at The Alex. “I didn’t think she worked here anymore.”
“She helps out in a pinch. She just came in for a few hours because someone had an emergency. She’s off at ten.”
Liam set his helmet on the empty stool to his right. “You’re early.”
“I wanted a beer. Sue me.”
Liam grinned as he clapped him on the back. “Me, too.”
“Longbow?” George knew Liam’s preferred beer.
“Yes, please.”
Derek inclined his head toward Liam’s helmet. “Out for a ride?”
Liam nodded as George set his pint on the bar in front of him. “It’s a nice night.”
“If I thought Chloe would put up with me riding a motorcycle, I’d join you. But I think she’d probably divorce me.”
“This is why I’m not married. I can only imagine what she’d do if you came along with me windsurfing or skydiving.”
Derek cocked his head to the side. “Actually, I’ve always wanted to skydive.”
Liam picked up his glass. “I had no idea. You know I could make that happen.”
“You should. I know Kyle wants to go. Maybe Dylan or Sean, too?”
Liam had actually talked to Dylan about skydiving. “Dylan’s been there, done that in the army. I’m not sure he’d be into it again. Sean might, though.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Derek said.
“You’re serious? Like, I can set it up this weekend.” Liam’s pulse picked up at the idea of taking his family on a jump. “The forecast looks perfect.”
“I’m in.” Derek picked his phone up from the bar and typed into it. “We’ll see what Kyle says.”
Liam nudged his elbow into Derek’s arm. “You sure Chloe won’t divorce you over this?”
Derek grinned. “No, but I can be convincing when I have to.” He glanced down at his phone. “Kyle’s in, too.”
“Sweet. I’ll check with Sean later,” Liam said. “This is going to be fun. I’m surprised we haven’t put this together before.”
Derek laughed. “I’m not. You’re hardly here! Kind of hard to plan something like this when you aren’t around.”
They could’ve gone without him, Liam reasoned, but that wasn’t the point. What was the point? “Are you giving me shit like my sisters do for not coming to Ribbon Ridge more often?”
Derek raised his hands in surrender. “Absolutely not. You do what you gotta do, bro. That said, it is good to have you here, even if it’s just temporary.” He gave Liam a long look before taking a drink of beer.
That look seemed full of unasked questions. “What?”
Derek shrugged. “Nothing. It is good to have you here. Wish it wasn’t temporary. But then, you haven’t really said.” He turned to face Liam. “What are your plans?”
Liam took a pull off his beer. “I haven’t really decided for sure. I mean, I’ll go back to Denver. That’s where I live. For now, I’m glad to be here for the zoning stuff. Not that I’m doing a whole lot.”
“I think just your being here is plenty. Alex would be happy.”
Liam took another drink of beer so that he didn’t snap out an obnoxious response. He didn’t make decisions based on what would make his dead brother happy. He was dead, after all, and nothing any of them did would change that.
Derek exhaled. “That was the wrong thing to say. You’re still pretty pissed at him, aren’t you?”
In the weeks following Alex’s death, he’d been viciously angry, and the thought of coming home, of living here where Alex had lived—and died—made him physically uncomfortable. Over the past year, Liam’s ire had diminished, but it was still there. “I think he made a bad choice and put the family through unnecessary tragedy.”
“He was sick. In ways we didn’t realize.”
He was talking about Alex’s bipolar disorder. But Liam had known about that. Liam had been the one to push him to get help and take medication, which he’d done for a while. Maybe if Liam had stayed in Ribbon Ridge instead of moving to Denver, he would’ve seen Alex stumble, could’ve helped him get back to the treatment he needed.
Oh, fuck that. He wasn’t going to feel guilty about that, too. Alex had been seeing a therapist—Kyle’s fiancée—for crying out loud, and even she hadn’t picked up on just how far off the rails he’d gone.
“You’re right,” Liam said. “But I refuse to pity him. He made his own choices. Normally you’d tell someone they have to live with their shitty decisions, but in this case we’re the ones dealing with the fallout, not him. Selfish bastard.” He took another drink of beer.
“So yeah, still pissed.” Derek shook his head. “I might not get it, but then the twin thing you had isn’t something any of us can really understand. I respect your right to be pissed.” He held up his glass and gave Liam a toast before taking a drink.
The twin thing they’d had. Liam had always identified as an identical twin, but now that he was alone, it felt like something was missing. No, he wouldn’t go down that path. That way led to darkness and despair, and he’d avoided it since the day he’d heard Alex had died.
“So what do you think I should do? Move back to Ribbon Ridge and settle down like the rest of you?”
Derek let out a sharp laugh. “Right. No offense, but I can’t see you doing that. Never could. And it’s not that you’re a player—though you are.” He smirked, and Liam rolled his eyes. “It’s that you’re always moving. Settling down just isn’t something you do. Honestly, you sitting in one place to watch Game of Thrones is about the most docile I’ve ever seen you.”
Liam arched his brows in mock affront. “Docile?”
Derek chuckled. “Serene?”
“Damn, you make me sound like a whirling dervish or something.”
“You said it . . . ” Derek grinned before finishing h
is beer.
Time to change the subject to something a little safer than Liam’s future. “I asked Dad about bottling last week, and he didn’t say no—Tori heard him, too. You know anything about that?”
Derek nodded as he finished swallowing. “Just that he’s thinking about it. I’ve been trying to wear him down for years—since Bex proposed bottling back when she interned with him.” Bex was Hayden’s ex. She was a brewer and had interned with Dad after college. “Things are kind of in flux right now, though. Kyle’s transitioning out so he can focus on being a chef, and I don’t think Hayden’s coming back.”
“To Archer or to Ribbon Ridge?”
“Definitely not to Archer, in my opinion, and I honestly don’t know if he’ll come home at all. Last time I talked to him, he seemed pretty smitten with Gabrielle.”
The French girlfriend. “Is that right? I’m surprised. I always figured he and Bex would get back together. They seemed destined to be, if you believe in that shit.”
Derek chuckled again. “As a matter of fact, as a happily married man, I do believe in that shit. And I hear you. Unfortunately, I think that ship has sailed. I guess we’ll find out when he decides whether to stay on at the winery in France.”
“Have they offered him a permanent job?” Liam had to admit he’d support Hayden staying in France. Then Liam wouldn’t be the only one who’d left and stayed away. There was safety—and comfort—in numbers.
“Not yet, but I imagine they will. Either way, he said he’ll be home in July for Sara’s wedding.” Derek peered at Liam. “You’ll be home for that, too, right?”
“Of course. I haven’t missed anyone else’s. Except Tori’s, and that was her own damn fault for sneaking off to Vegas.”
“Totally. I could see you doing that if marriage ever did finally bite you in the ass.”
“Ha! No thanks. To all of it.”
“It’s too bad. Rob would be thrilled if you came back and took over the real-estate division. I’m going to be really busy if he decides to pursue bottling. I could see building a facility just outside Ribbon Ridge—between here and McMinnville.”