by Darcy Burke
Her brow pleated with worry—at least he guessed that’s what it was, since he couldn’t see her eyes.
He reached for her hand, then thought better of it, given their friend rules. “Come on. It’ll be fun. If you really want to change your mind, you can.”
“I don’t. Let’s go.”
He led her into the hangar and over to the plane he was going to take her up in. “This is a Piper Archer.”
She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and looked at him. “Are you serious? You have a plane named after you? Or are you just being a smart-ass?”
He laughed. God, he loved her sense of humor. “Not guilty. To the last two questions. I’m quite serious. It’s an awesome training plane—very easy to fly. And comfy.”
She walked up to the plane and looked into the open door at the instrument panel. “Where are we going?”
“Just over wine country around here. I wasn’t sure how long you wanted to be gone—I know you’re taking part of the day off to do this.”
She slid him a sidelong glance with a half-smile. “You’re not going to try to sweep me off to New York or something?”
He laughed. “No. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. The Archer only has a range of six hundred miles.”
“You can’t even fly this to Denver and back,” she said.
“Nope.” When he thought about planes he might buy, the Archer wasn’t in the equation. Truthfully, he could’ve bought one of these a couple of years ago, but he’d been saving up for something bigger that could make the trip between Denver and Ribbon Ridge. “You ready?”
She took a deep breath and nodded.
He moved past her. “Pardon me for going first, but I’m going to fly the plane, so I have to sit over there.” He gestured to the left side of the cockpit.
She stepped aside as he climbed in. After a moment of hesitation, she pulled herself into the passenger seat. She stared at the panel in front of her and gestured toward the control wheel, which was the part of a cockpit that made one think of driving, except it didn’t really work like a steering wheel. She sent him a look of pure terror. “I’m not supposed to help you, am I?”
“No. You just sit back and enjoy the ride.” He put on his headset. “Can you pull the door closed?”
She did as he asked, and he heard it latch. “That’s it? I’m somehow certified to close an airplane?”
He loved her combination of nervousness and humor. “It’s not a pressurized plane, so it’s just like closing a car door really.”
“Except if I fall out, I go hurtling ten thousand miles to the ground instead of tumbling headfirst into asphalt.”
“You aren’t going to hurtle out of anything, but put your seat belt on just in case.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. She buckled up, then jumped as he started the engine. The cockpit space was tight enough that he could feel her movements beside him—and her heat. “Put that headset on so we can talk while we’re in the air. It cuts out the airplane noise so we can hear each other.”
She took her sunglasses from her head and set them in her lap. Then she slipped on the headset and adjusted it to fit. She jumped again as his voice came into her ears, asking if she was ready.
She turned her surprisingly excited gaze toward him. “Yes, I’m ready. You can stop asking me that.”
He chuckled as he drove the plane out of the hangar. As soon as he was cleared for takeoff, he sped down the runway and lifted them into the air.
“Wow. That was really smooth,” she said, putting on her sunglasses. “I usually hate takeoffs, though landings are worse.”
“Not in this plane. It’s so easy, you could do it.”
She flashed him a smile. “Yeah, right.”
“No, really, you could. After yesterday, I’m convinced you can do anything.”
“Now you’re just kissing my ass.”
“You said no kissing.” He smiled at her answering chuckle. “Really, you were fantastic yesterday.”
“Thanks. It was fun.”
He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about the Whitney encounter. “Does that include what happened with Whitney?”
She kept her head turned toward the window, away from him, as she looked at the ground below. “I could’ve done without that entirely, actually. I can’t imagine what you saw in her.”
“Honestly, I can’t either.” Looking at Whitney now, he was repulsed, and not just because of what she’d tried to do yesterday. It also wasn’t because he’d grown tired of her. This was different. He was turned off by the whole idea of finding a hot, eager woman to screw on occasion.
Aubrey gasped. “Oooh, I can see Ribbon Ridge.”
He’d purposely taken her east over the town. He glanced over at her, loving her sense of wonder and excitement. He was getting a rush just from her rush.
He flew her past the town. “I’m going to turn north now, show you The Alex from up here.”
“Awesome.”
He completed a gentle turn—he didn’t know if she’d like acrobatics, and anyway this plane wasn’t really built for that sort of flying. A minute later they were flying over The Alex, which looked just as impressive from up here as it did from the ground.
“Look, there’s the spire! And the hotel! It looks so great! I really hope they can open on time this summer.”
After the hearing had gone so well, they’d jumped into making plans, assuming they were going to win. A few of them—Sara, Dylan, Maggie—had cautioned against getting ahead of themselves, but Liam had convinced them all that it was better to have a plan of attack than be caught with their pants down. So they’d gathered around the kitchen table and laid out a schedule for a soft opening in late July followed by a grand opening in August. In his mind, he was already planning to be here for both.
“We’ve got a plan,” Liam said.
Aubrey nodded. “So I heard. Tori called me all excited this morning.”
“You and Tori have become pretty good friends.”
She turned her body toward him in the seat. “She told me that she yelled at you about me. I didn’t ask her to do that.”
“It’s fine. I deserved everything she said.” And probably then some.
“Is that right? Well, it’s my fault for accidentally spilling that we’d slept together.”
“Shit, is that what happened?” He laughed. “Sounds like a story I want to hear.”
She grinned. “Remember the girls’ night we had at The Arch and Vine?”
As long as he lived, he’d remember that night. “I’d be hard-pressed not to.”
“There you go with your double entendres.”
He was momentarily confused. Hard-pressed. He shook his head. “No entendre intended.”
“Anyway, we were playing ‘I Never’ and somebody—I forget who—was trying to get Maggie to drink. So she threw out an ‘I never’ that would bait Maggie and no one else. She said, ‘I’ve never slept with an Archer.’ That’s right, it was Chloe, because she giggled since Derek isn’t officially an Archer.”
Liam could practically hear their drunken laughter. “And you drank?”
“Without thinking. Then you showed up right after that, and I was horrified.”
“Did you cop to it right then? I would’ve expected them to flip me shit that night.”
She shook her head. “No. It happened right before you got there, then we left. Sara was somehow elected spokesperson and called me the next day to confirm that it was you and not Hayden.”
“Confirm? They were all pretty sure?”
“Since it was sex they’d never heard about, yeah. Hayden doesn’t have the reputation you do, apparently.”
No, he didn’t.
“Do you care that they know?” Aubrey’s question sounded tentative.
“Not at all. So long as it doesn’t bother you. If they’re annoying you in any way, you have to tell me, and I’ll make it stop.”
She sighed. “My knight in shining armor.”<
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He snorted in response. Damn, he loved spending time with her. This was the most fun he’d had flying in a long time. No, ever. And that included some pretty memorable flights with Alex.
“Did you know I used to take Alex flying sometimes?”
“Yes.”
Liam was mildly surprised. “He told you?”
“He told me a lot about you.”
Liam wished he hadn’t brought Alex into the conversation. He’d been intruding on Liam’s well-being more and more lately, and Liam was afraid to dredge up the feelings he absolutely needed to keep buried. Time to turn the topic to something else. Or better yet, land the plane. “We’re coming back to the airfield. Time for your landing.”
She sucked in a breath. “I thought you were kidding when you said I could do it!”
He couldn’t resist laughing. “I was.” He made sure they were clear to land and focused on getting them on the ground.
“How’s that for a landing?” he asked as he steered toward the hangar.
“Perfect. Liam Archer, I’m beginning to think you don’t know how to do anything badly.”
He’d argue with her that he’d done plenty of things badly, and some of them with her, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment. He was having way too much fun.
Once he had the plane reparked in the hangar, they pulled off their headsets and unbuckled their seat belts.
She took off her sunglasses, and her expression was beaming with joy. “That was incredible. When can we go again?”
He loved her excitement, her palpable buzz. It was even better than his own. Shit, what was happening to him?
“I guess I should get out!” She unlatched the door and opened it, then slowly stepped down.
He jumped out behind her and closed the door.
“Pardon me for a minute while I use the little girls’ room?”
“Over there.” He pointed toward the back corner near Rylan’s office. “I’ll walk with you. I need to let Rylan know I didn’t crash his plane.”
She looked over at him as they walked. “Uh, wouldn’t he know that already?”
Liam chuckled. “Of course.”
She disappeared into the bathroom, and he watched the door close, feeling stupidly disappointed that she was gone from his vision. What was wrong with him?
He had feelings for Aubrey Tallinger. That’s what was wrong with him.
Hell and double hell.
What was he supposed to do about that? He lived in Denver, and his life was all about the next high. She lived in Ribbon Ridge and dreamed of a ring on her finger and a baby registry.
But damn, it was obvious they wanted each other, that they could barely keep their hands off each other. And they liked each other. This friend thing had only made the sexual part of their relationship even more pronounced. He desired her more fiercely now than ever before.
Maybe they could make something work. He was already planning to be here a lot this summer because of The Alex. They could spend that time together. Except she didn’t want that. She’d quite clearly said she wanted a guy in Ribbon Ridge.
And he wasn’t leaving Denver. His life was there. He was happy.
Had he been happy there last week? Not really—he’d missed his family, and he’d missed Aubrey. He decided to blame it on the funk of being home around all of his happy, lovey-dovey siblings and thinking of Alex. Yes, he’d blame Alex. Why not? He more than deserved blame for what he’d done.
“Liam, are you skulking outside my door?” Rylan called.
Liam moved into his friend’s office. “Hey. We’re back.”
“I heard you pull in, obviously. Good ride?”
“Great.”
Rylan leaned back in his chair, making it squeak loudly. “Sweet. We’re all set for this weekend, right? You’ll meet me here Friday at three so we can fly over.”
“Yep. Can’t wait.”
“Can’t wait for what?” Aubrey stepped into Rylan’s office.
Rylan’s gaze flicked to Liam, who gave his friend a look he hoped communicated that he should keep his mouth shut.
Rylan stood and offered his hand to Aubrey. “Just an excursion we’ve been planning. Hi, I’m Rylan.”
She shook his hand. “Aubrey.”
“Liam’s told me all about you.”
She slid a glance at Liam. “All?”
“Rylan wishes.” He sent Rylan a grateful glance. “Thanks for the loaner today, Ry.”
“You know you’re welcome whenever. Aubrey, are you going to come back and skydive?”
She shuddered. “Definitely not. I’ll leave that to Danger Boy over here.”
Rylan chuckled. “Careful, that nickname might stick.”
“I’ve been called worse,” Liam said. He turned toward the door. “Come on, Aubrey, before Rylan decides to list off those names.”
She waved at Rylan. “Bye, nice to meet you.”
“Ditto.”
Liam escorted her back into the hangar and walked her toward the opposite end, where her car was parked outside.
“What are you and Rylan planning?”
“Nothing, just a flight.”
She stopped just before they reached the door of the hangar. “I’m calling bullshit. I heard him say that you were all set for this weekend, and I saw the calendar hanging in his office. There was a line Friday through Tuesday with the letters FJC. What’s FJC?”
His pulse quickened, and a different kind of adrenaline started pouring through his veins. The kind he didn’t like. “Flight gibberish.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Still calling bullshit. You know what? As soon as I get to my car, I’m Googling FJC, so you might as well just tell me what it is.”
He braced for her reaction. “First jump course. It’s a training course for BASE jumping.”
Her eyes widened, and she gaped at him. “How can you do that?”
“It’s no different from the other stuff I do.”
“The hell it isn’t. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t have tried to hide it from me. Who else are you hiding it from? Does any of your family know?”
He exhaled, but it did nothing to settle his roiling insides. “No.”
“That’s great. Go off and do your most dangerous stunt yet, but don’t tell anyone first. Do you have an actual death wish, or are you just looking to give your mother a heart attack?”
He cocked his head to the side and stared at her. “Are you sure no one’s talked to you about me?”
“Yes, they have. Your mom pulled me aside at Evan and Alaina’s wedding breakfast to ask if I knew about your hobbies and if I could find out if you planned to scale back after your injury.”
That was weeks ago. Back when they were former lovers, not friends, not anything really. He put his hands on his hips, his ire rising. “Why would my mom ask you?”
Aubrey threw her hands up and let them fall to her sides. “I don’t know. She thought we were friends or something. Joke’s on her.” The look she flashed him next was full of hurt. “And me.” She turned and stalked toward her car.
Wait, what had just happened? He followed her. “Why are you so mad at me?”
She spun around, her eyes spitting fire. “Because you’re a selfish prick. You’re going to kill yourself, but maybe that’s what you want. You’re not any better than Alex.”
“Whoa.” He gave in to his anger. “Do not compare me to him. I’m not actively trying to die.”
“Well I don’t see you actively trying to live either. You bury yourself in these sports. You’re gone every weekend. You’re reckless. You avoid your family and any other meaningful connection besides sex. And I know that holds about as much meaning for you as being honest.”
Everything she said hit him like a bullet. “Sex with you was far more than sex.”
“Then it’s pretty sad that I’m just learning this now that we aren’t having it anymore.”
And another bullet—that went straight to his heart. “I don’t wa
nt to be tied down to anything or anyone. Sue me, all right? I can’t change who I am, what I want.”
“No, you can’t. And I can’t change who I am or what I want.” She took a deep breath and slid her sunglasses on, masking the disappointment and anger in her eyes. “Thanks for the joyride, Liam. It’s been fun.”
She turned and went to her car. He didn’t stop her, just watched her drive away.
Chapter Eighteen
BY THE TIME Aubrey arrived back in her office a half hour later, her anger had simmered into a deep frustration. What had she expected? A caring, thoughtful Liam didn’t necessarily mean he’d done a complete 180 as far as relationships went. In fact, it didn’t mean he’d done a 180 about anything, including his hobbies. He was going to be as self-involved and reckless as he always was.
It was past time to give him the box from Alex. She unlocked the drawer in her file cabinet, where she kept the letters Alex had written. And this one box.
She picked it up and held it in her palm. It was small and square, and it rattled when she shook it, which she’d done when she’d first found it. Unless there was a letter folded up inside, she didn’t think Alex had written anything for Liam. At first that had made her sad. Right now, however, she didn’t think Liam deserved anything like that. For all she cared, the contents could be a rock.
She set it on her desk and sat down. Okay, she didn’t want it to be a rock. She hoped it was something far more meaningful. Since Alex had instructed her to deliver it when Liam’s hobbies became even more extreme, she hoped it was maybe something that would persuade him to back off. Liam’s obsession with extreme sports was Alex’s fault anyway.
Now she sounded like Liam.
She groaned and decided it was time to turn all this crap off and get some work done. She opened her e-mail and froze. The decision from LUBA was staring at her. It had come in an hour ago.
She opened the e-mail and scanned it, getting to the punch line as quickly as possible—they’d won. The Alex was officially rezoned commercial. The Parkers had lost their appeal.
She jumped up with a fist pump and a loud cry, prompting Stephanie, whose office was next door, to come running in.