CHAPTER 1
BROOKE
I was living a life that was a lie, and I hated every moment of it.
Well, maybe there was one exception.
Liam Sullivan.
My boss was the only thing that made my temporary move to the East Coast worthwhile.
Really, I loved the Maine coastal town of Amesport, even though I was only a temporary resident. The people were friendly, and I didn’t mind waiting tables and doing whatever else was necessary to help out in the small eatery where I worked.
I just hated the lies.
I’d run from California to Maine because I’d had to, less than a year ago. Now I was ready to drop the falsehoods and be myself again.
There was only one problem, and that deception was the one I regretted the most.
Liam Sullivan.
My boss, the owner of Sullivan’s Steak and Seafood, was a tall blond god who haunted every wet dream I’d had since the moment I’d met him for the first time. Unfortunately, the fantasies hadn’t gotten any less heated than they’d been months ago.
I let out a sigh and leaned back in Liam’s chair. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the small office of the restaurant with me. It was early morning, and the doors wouldn’t open until the afternoon. We were still running the off-season hours of early spring at Sullivan’s, so Liam Sullivan hadn’t even arrived at the restaurant yet.
“It’s almost over,” I whispered to myself right before I took a large gulp of my coffee. I’d made a whole pot, and I was already down to the last cup. “I’ll be back in California soon.”
I had to focus on going back home. For the last several months, it was the only thing that had kept me sane.
The lies had needed to continue, even after Liam had admitted that he wanted me, months ago. And that fabrication of who I was gnawed at me.
What else could I do? I couldn’t tell him the truth.
In real life, I didn’t have a boyfriend. The visitor Liam had seen and assumed was my man had actually been my brother Noah, brought to the East Coast by the billionaire Evan Sinclair. Evan, who permanently resided here in Amesport, was friends with Noah and had agreed to help me get away from California when I needed to flee my home in the West.
I was grateful, but I regretted the fact that I’d had to hide who I really was.
Liam knew a Brooke who had never really existed.
Not that I lied to him very often if I could help it, but I hadn’t been able to tell him that the man who visited me from California was really my brother.
Liam had given me a job without knowing much about my history. Evan had asked him to hire me, and Liam had agreed after he saw my references.
The agreement with my brother and Evan had been simple.
Lay low.
Don’t tell anybody my real identity.
And don’t do anything to draw attention to myself.
I couldn’t break the promises I’d made to the people who had helped when I was desperate to get away from California. They’d made those rules to keep me safe.
I took another slug of my coffee. I was on the last cup, so I knew I’d better start another pot. I was going to need it.
I yawned, despite my large caffeine intake, and tried to focus on the financials for Sullivan’s Steak and Seafood Restaurant. Liam might be an excellent businessman in most respects, but he hated doing the books and his taxes. I was good with numbers, so I’d taken over the tasks some months ago.
Being here early in the morning had nothing to do with my workload and everything to do with the fact that I was going back to California. I hadn’t told Liam that I was leaving yet, and it was causing a bad case of insomnia. I hadn’t been able to sleep, so I’d gotten up to come do the books. Really, there was no urgency. I was pretty much done except for the current month. But I’d needed a task to keep me busy.
He’s not going to care if I go home.
Since Liam’s admission that he was sexually attracted to me, and my subsequent confession that I wanted him, too, we’d been pretty distant. The conversation hadn’t ended well. Yes, I saw him almost every day. We spoke about casual things when he was in the mood, and we discussed issues at Sullivan’s. Other than that, we hadn’t shared anything more.
He thought I had a boyfriend, and, Liam being Liam, he’d backed off the moment he realized he’d said too much.
Honestly, I’d been pretty shocked that he thought my brother was a romantic interest, but I’d had to go with it. If I denied his assumption, Liam might have started asking more questions, and there were things I hadn’t been able to explain . . . until now.
Since the crisis was over and I was returning home, it really didn’t matter if he found out the truth, but I didn’t plan on telling him everything. He might despise me for having a supposed boyfriend, but he’d hate it more that I’d been lying to him.
I’d just go. Better to let him think I had a moment of weakness than to inform him that I’d been living a lie here in Amesport. As far as Liam was concerned, I’d done my job here and more. It was none of his business why I’d spent close to a year on the East Coast when my home was in California.
I knew Evan Sinclair hadn’t told Liam much. According to my brother’s billionaire friend, all he’d shared was that I needed employment and that I needed a break from the West Coast.
Liam had agreed to hire me before I’d even arrived in Maine, so I’d instantly had a job I could immerse myself in. Unfortunately, it came with one very hot boss, a man who would never see me as anything more than a helpful young employee.
Okay. He had one moment of weakness in almost a year. The day that he’d told me that he found me attractive. But he’d blown off that admission ever since, and I was pretty convinced he regretted telling me anything personal.
I’m a realist. I need to deal with the facts.
And the truth was, Liam Sullivan was never going to really care where I went or what I did as long as I left with plenty of notice.
I’d never been the type of woman to fantasize about men who were out of reach. I dated men who were safe, guys who fit into my no-nonsense world. My lack of imagination was probably why I was so good with numbers. Finance was concrete. There were no gray areas. Numbers were either correct or they weren’t.
I forced myself to stop obsessing over Liam and focus on the numbers for the current month.
By the time I looked up again, hours had gone by without me realizing what time it was.
I stood up and stretched once I was done with my task, my body aching from sitting in almost the same position for so long.
“What in the hell are you doing here this early?” The annoyed male voice made me startle as I turned my head to look at the source of the sexy baritone.
Liam.
I lowered my arms back to my sides, my heart racing just like it always did when Liam was around.
My body had some kind of Liam sensor, and it went off like lightning the moment he was within speaking distance.
God, he looked amazing. Even in an old pair of jeans and a Patriots T-shirt, he exuded a quiet confidence and control that took most people a lifetime to master.
I shook myself. “Nothing. Well, I’m not doing anything now. I just finished uploading everything to your accountant. The books are up to date.”
He still didn’t look happy, but that was kind of Liam’s usual expression. “What time did you get here?”
I stepped from behind the desk. “Early,” I hedged.
“How early, Brooke?”
I didn’t want to tell him I’d been in before daylight. For some reason, he seemed to think I put too many hours in at the restaurant, and maybe I did. But working was the one thing that kept me sane. “What does it matter?” I answered defensively. “The job is done.”
When I moved to stand in front of him, I had to crank my head back a little to gaze up at his face.
I was average height, but Liam was so tall that it made me feel petite.
The room was suddenly way too hot and small.
I tried to push past him to exit the office, but he easily stopped my progress with a powerful hand to my upper arm. “It matters to me, Brooke. You don’t own the place, and I don’t expect you to put in the same hours I do.”
Honestly, I was sick of having this discussion. I’d buried myself in work for a reason, and to help Liam as much as possible. He’d done me a favor by hiring me. I’d wanted to give back.
I felt tortured and tormented, so I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. “I quit. I’m giving my two weeks’ notice.”
Shrugging out of his hold, I pushed by him and out of the room. My only retreat was the bathroom, and I closed the door quickly and locked it, leaning against the wooden surface as I tried to get my heart rate to slow down.
Now all I had to do was live through two weeks of hell before I could figure out how I was ever going to get over the one guy who could make me completely lose my composure.