When We Kiss (5 page)

If she meant his thrill-seeking, adrenaline-junkie risk extravaganzas, then yes. “Like the heli-skiing?” He'd broken his wrist and dislocated his shoulder doing that back in February, the idiot. She'd been worried sick when she'd heard and had even texted him to ask how he was doing. No wonder he'd held out hope they were still hooking up, despite her declining to see him over the holidays.
Nice move, Aubrey.

Emily nodded. “And the skydiving and the rock climbing and the extreme kayaking.”

That was only the tip of the iceberg. Liam was always trying something new, always pushing the limits. That was another of the reasons she'd ended things. Worrying about his next exploit and whether he'd kill himself was not something she wanted to do. “I'm aware he does all of that, but I don't really know too much about it.”

“He doesn't discuss it with you? I was hoping he might, or maybe you know someone he talks with. I'm worried about him. I have been for quite some time, but his accident in February really scared me. I've tried to impress upon him to take it easy, but he only seems to go even harder, especially since Alex died.”

Aubrey had noticed that, too. She'd known all about his daredevil activities long before Alex's death, because Alex had shared them with her. Every time Liam jumped from a plane or navigated class V rapids or scaled a steep rock face, he sent the video footage to Alex, who ate it up. Alex couldn't do any of those things for himself, so Liam had done them for him. What had started out as a favor several years ago had turned into a full-blown way of life for both of them. Alex came up with the experience he wanted, and Liam went out and did it. It was both sick in that neither one of them seemed to care about the danger involved and beautiful in that it was something they shared. Aubrey didn't know if anyone else was aware of the situation, and she'd long ago decided she wasn't going to be the one to tell them.

Still, she wanted to help Emily if she could. “What can I do for you?”

“Maybe you could talk to him? I doubt you'll be able to talk him out of doing any of it—he won't even listen to me.” She shook her head resignedly. “But maybe you could find out what he's planning. I'd like to know what he's up to. When he called to say he'd had an accident, my heart just dropped into my feet. I knew he was okay since it was his voice on the phone, but maybe someday it won't be. And I . . . ” She swiped at her eye. “I don't know how I could go through that again.”

In that moment Aubrey wanted to punch the living crap out of Liam. How could he put his mother—his entire family—through this after what they'd suffered with Alex? If there were two more selfish people on earth, she didn't know them. And one of them wasn't even on earth anymore, thanks to his selfishness.

Yes, she wanted to help Emily,
and
she wanted to smack some sense into Liam in the meantime. Furthermore, Alex had instructed Aubrey to deliver messages from him to his family members at various times that he'd outlined. The timing of Liam's was perhaps the trickiest. Alex had directed her to give Liam his message when he tried something truly foolhardy. She hadn't known how she was going to figure that out and more than once considered just giving him the damn thing to be done with it.

She smiled at Emily and touched her shoulder. “I'll see what I can do.”

Emily relaxed and nodded. “Thank you. I really appreciate you doing this. I don't know if you'll be able to get much out of him, but I do think you have a better shot than his siblings. He's predisposed to be on defensive alert around them. With you, he seems more relaxed.”

Did he? Somehow, in the course of maybe three or four events over the past fourteen months, Emily had sensed a relationship between them when Aubrey wasn't even sure one existed. But apparently it had. And it seemed to be far more conspicuous than she'd realized. A part of her wanted to seize on that and make it into something more than it had been, a series of mostly coincidental meetings that had sparked into sexual encounters. However, none of that amounted to anything. Liam was still a player and an adrenaline junkie. And her heart couldn't handle either of them.

L
IAM WENT BACK
for a second Bloody Mary while Evan and Alaina started in on their gifts. Kyle had nailed it when he'd said hair of the dog. The alcohol was just what he needed to power through his nasty hangover.

He had to make the cocktail himself, but he could pour just as well as Kyle. Okay, maybe not
quite
as well, but he'd never admit that out loud. He stirred the drink with a celery stick and speared a couple of olives to dunk.

“Liam.” Aubrey's honeyed voice stirred his body to full attention. He'd done his best earlier to give her the aloof relationship she'd asked for, but damn it was hard.

“You want a Bloody Mary?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Mimosa.”

“Those are easy. Kyle premixed them.” He went to the fridge and pulled out a pitcher, which he poured into her empty glass. “Drink up. These won't be any good in a couple hours when the bubbly goes flat.”

“Thanks.” She took the drink and raised the glass in silent toast.

He went back to the other bar to grab his Bloody Mary.

She sampled her mimosa. “Earlier, when I asked when you were heading back to Denver, you seemed hesitant. Is there any chance you're planning to stay awhile? I'm due to get the opposing brief on the zoning appeal this week, and the oral argument will be in the next month or so, I think. It would be great to have you there.”

He sipped his drink and narrowed his eyes at her. What kind of game was she playing? “You dumped me. Why would you want me around?”

“I didn't dump you—we weren't in anything formal.” She studied him a moment. “Scratch that. I think I'd like to put ‘dumped Liam Archer' on my résumé.”

He laughed at that. “You mean your eHarmony profile? Or are you still on Tinder?”

Her gaze turned incredulous. “I have never been on Tinder. You must have me confused with one of your other hook-ups.”

He raked her from the top of her ginger head to the toes of her ballet flats, which encased feet he knew to be extremely sexy. Who even knew feet could be sexy? But Aubrey's were. “Not a chance, sweetheart.”

Her cheeks flushed a pale pink, and he inwardly smiled at having provoked her. “Whatever. I thought you might finally like to engage with this project. You're the only one who's completely turned away from Alex's legacy. I'd thought you two were closer than that.”

He'd thought so, too, but when your identical twin could successfully hide from you the fact that he was plotting to kill himself, you didn't know shit. And that was both a sobering and horrifying realization.

He leaned closer, not bothering to hide his flash of temper—thinking of Alex often kindled that. “Don't talk to me about Alex. Ever. I thought we'd established that a long time ago.”

She didn't appear to register his anger, or maybe she was trying to rile him on purpose. “Right, one of your pesky ‘rules' for hooking up. My bad.” Sarcasm oozed from her tone. “You'll do what you want—you always do—but I hope you'll consider coming for the zoning hearing at least. Maybe pretend you give a crap.”

He exhaled, feeling suddenly weary. He did give a crap. He cared a lot, actually. Hadn't he just been thinking last night that he ought to do more? Especially with Whitney involved . . . He could use whatever connection they still had to maybe fix this entire messed-up situation.

Maybe.

“I'll think about it.”

Her answering look was professionally bland, the trademark of a good lawyer who knew how to present a poker face. “Magnanimous of you.” She leaned toward him. “Let me know what you decide.”

“Decide what?” Tori came into the kitchen. “Oh good, you have the mimosas out.” She refilled her glass from the pitcher Liam had set on the counter.

Kyle came in next and eyed Liam's drink. “Made your own Bloody Mary? I would've thrown it together for you.”

“I can make a Bloody Mary.”

Kyle grinned. “Not as good as mine.” He moved behind the bar with the beer tap, where they also kept liquor. All the ingredients were already on the counter, and he went to work. “Admit it, I'm a better bartender. I'd better be, since I was a professional for a while.”

“I'll admit nothing.”

Kyle laughed. “You're such a prick.”

Tori came over to the bar and stood near Aubrey. “What is Liam going to decide?”

Aubrey glanced at him. Would she tell them? Oh, the hell with it. “She asked me to come back for the zoning hearing,” Liam said.

Tori pivoted toward him. “And?”

“I'm thinking about it.”

“That's what he's deciding,” Aubrey said.

Kyle stirred his drink. “I can tell you right now what his answer will be: no.” He gave Liam a look that dared him to correct his assessment.

And just because Liam liked to be contrary—or as Kyle put it, liked to be a prick—he smiled. “I'm deciding yes, actually.”

“You are?” The harmony of the question coming from his sister and his former lover rankled him even further. Damn, he was on edge today. He blamed the hangover.

“Don't sound so shocked.”

Tori braced her hand on the counter. “Why not? That's about the last thing I expected to hear from you. This project has held absolutely no interest for you. Less than no interest. You tried to give your portion away, if I remember correctly.”

“But he couldn't,” Aubrey said softly.

Kyle sipped his drink and set it on the counter with a clack. “Didn't stop him from trying. What gives? Why the sudden interest?”

Liam glared at his brother. “Why do you suspect something devious?”

“I never even thought the word
devious
.”

“But you admit you're suspicious.”

Kyle's voice climbed a bit. “Hell yes, I'm suspicious. You've made no secret about not wanting anything to do with this project. You've weighed in on
nothing
. And now you want to participate out of the blue.” Kyle shook his head. “Makes no sense.”

“You have to agree it doesn't,” Tori said, her tone far more palatable than Kyle's.

Liam told himself to stop being a dick. He could do that, right? Did he always have to push them all away? Maybe for once he could just keep them at arm's length, instead of increasing the divide. “You're right—both of you.”

Kyle glanced toward the back windows. “Holy shit, did I just hear the four horsemen of the apocalypse outside?”

Aubrey cracked a very brief but incredibly gorgeous smile. Maybe he should admit his fallibility more often. “Very funny. I've actually been thinking I should do . . . something. Aubrey came up with the perfect way for me to participate. I've been involved with dozens of zoning changes in Denver. I realize the laws are a bit different, but my experience will be helpful.”

Tori exchanged looks with Aubrey. “Just remember that Aubrey's the attorney.”

He just hoped she was good enough to take on Parker's bulldog. “I don't pretend to be a lawyer. This is Aubrey's game.” To win or lose. Suddenly it seemed imperative that he was here—he wasn't going to let them lose. Not to Whitney Parker and her dad.

“So you'll come back for the hearing—that's when?” Kyle asked Aubrey.

“Likely next month.” Her eyes briefly met Liam's, and they held a guarded look that he wanted to figure out. “But maybe you could make yourself available for consultation on the brief I have to file.”

Wait, what? She wanted to consult him? He'd already said he wasn't a lawyer. Unless . . . she was
trying
to involve him. Wasn't that her job as assigned by Alex? Entice all of them to return to Ribbon Ridge, to rediscover their roots and embrace family and all that bullshit. It was such a crock. If Alex had really wanted them all to come home, he would've stuck around to be part of it. And that was one of many reasons Liam hadn't done it. After all he'd done for Alex, the least the bastard could do was be here when Liam finally came home. Except that would've ensured Liam never did. It was a damn Catch-22.

Liam took a drink of his Bloody Mary. “Sure. I'll hang out for a few days, will that work?”

“What about your precious real-estate empire?” Kyle asked.

“Boyd can manage things. It's not like I'm going to be on Mars.”

Tori speared him with a piercing stare. “Of course not, but your job has always been your primary excuse for staying away. I'm with Kyle—this is suspicious. I'm also very glad, regardless of the reason. It'll be good to have you here, even if it's only temporary.” She moved toward him and kissed his cheek. “Welcome home, Liam.” Then she flashed him a smile and left the kitchen.

“I'm speechless,” Kyle said. His lips twisted into a smile. “Savor it, because it doesn't happen very often.” He followed Tori out.

Aubrey cleared her throat. “I want to be very clear. I have no interest in you beyond this business with your family. I've moved on.”

Liam shrugged off his siblings' doubt. “I saw that last night. How's your lumberjack boyfriend?”

She crossed her arms but still held her glass. “Lumberjack?”

Liam shrugged. He noted she didn't question his use of
boyfriend
and tried to ignore the discomfort that caused—like an itch in the middle of his back that he couldn't reach. “He had a beard.”

She rolled her eyes. “He's an accountant.”

“I remember. I imagine he's pretty stiff.”

She offered a half-smile. “In all the ways that count.”

Her words left him ice cold. He cursed at himself, pissed that he'd somehow forgotten that despite the heat of their kiss last night, she'd sent him packing. He'd endeavor not to forget that again.