Chapter One
Two Months Ago
It would have been so easy to leave. Liam’s brothers already knew the decibel level coming from the crowd and music in Bushrod’s was enough to make him itch for air, silence, and solitude. They knew he hated the bar scene that never, not once, resulted in him meeting anyone worth seeing again.
So, when Andrea Rivers walked in, laughing with another woman, Liam knew that no one would have blinked twice if he’d slipped out into the night.
Including Andi herself.
Regret, disappointment, and the stale taste of rejection made him reach for his beer and down it the way a man would if he was about to leave a bar.
Not so his younger brother Shane. Unencumbered by any regrets, disappointment, or personal experience with rejection, Shane was up and beelining to the bar to buy the women drinks. He made no effort to hide his interest in Chloe Somerset, the woman Andi was with. Chloe was on Shane’s radar, which meant the town’s new tourism expert didn’t stand a chance.
Now they’d all come back to this table to have their drink. With Liam. Unless…he left.
Or he could stay and talk to Andi. How would that go, he wondered.
Andi and Liam would say hello and give each other an awkward hug. She’d congratulate Garrett and Jessie on their engagement when they came back from the dance floor. Then Shane would persuade Chloe to dance the next time a slow song started. Garrett and Jessie would suck face or go back to dance again.
And that would leave Andi and Liam inches apart and forced to say something to each other. Dead air was not his favorite thing.
But Andi was.
His gaze slipped to the door, an escape just fifteen feet away.
Still, he stayed rooted to his seat, watching through the crowd as Shane put his hands on Chloe’s shoulders and saved her from some guy who’d already moved in. Shane received a warm smile as his reward.
A few feet away from them, Liam caught a glimpse of Andi’s long blond hair, but then Shane blocked his view.
Liam looked away, moved his empty glass an inch, shifted in his seat, and swiped slightly damp palms on his jeans. Then he checked his watch.
When he looked up, he saw her again. Closer now. Moving through the crowd. Coming straight toward this table. Her gaze was downcast, avoiding eye contact with guys who stepped aside to let her through, one of them staring at her backside like a Rottie ready to hump. Instantly, Liam sat up straighter, fisted his hands, and glared at the moron.
But then Andi reached the table and offered a tentative smile. Everything in the bar faded to background noise and colors. All he could see was hair the color of wheat blowing in the wind and eyes like a Carolina summer sky. Lips he’d kissed enough times to know exactly how sweet they tasted. A silky blue top rose and fell with a breath before she spoke, drawing his attention to her body, which was delicate, feminine, and, oh man, so perfect.
“Hello, Liam.”
“Andi.” One word, and he couldn’t get it out without it sounding like the bark of a sick dog.
“I hear there are open seats at this table.” She gestured toward the one catty-corner from him, hesitating when he didn’t move.
Because his frickin’ brain just went dead.
“Unless you’d rather I…” She pointed her thumb at the gathering of goons behind her, and one side of her mouth lifted in a smile.
“No, God, no. Please.” He started to stand and get the chair, but she slipped into it before he even made it to his feet.
She angled her head toward the bar. “She’s too kind to ditch me, but Chloe got distracted by your brother.”
“Yeah,” he said, trying so hard not to stare into her eyes. Failing, though. Talk, Liam. “He has that effect on unsuspecting victims.”
She laughed easily, a sweet sound that made her tip her head enough so that he could see the fine line of her jaw. “Oh, I don’t think she’s unsuspecting. Plus, he gave her a dog.”
“Yeah, I heard she took Daisy in.” He glanced down at his empty beer, gathering his thoughts, which were pretty much scattered to the four winds and lost because…Andi.
“Did you—”
“Have you—”
They both laughed at the awkward, simultaneous questions.
“You first—”
“Go ahead—”
And again.
Andi shook her head, putting an easy hand over his, probably unaware that just that slight touch of her long, feminine fingers felt a little like a live wire on his skin. “How are you, Liam?”
Besides being shell-shocked by the woman he never, ever got over? “Great. You?”
He could see her relax instantly. “Really good. Christian just finished kindergarten.”
Of course her first report would be about her little boy. The kid was her whole life, which was another thing he liked and respected about her.
“Wow, that was fast,” he said. Not that it seemed fast to him, but he grabbed the first thing people said when they talked about kids. Truth was, it seemed like forever since he’d held her and said goodbye and tried to make her believe he understood her decision.
But it hadn’t been forever, only about three years, during which time he’d trained a hundred dogs and tried to date a handful of women, none of whom were Andi Rivers. But here she was, inches away and as beautiful and magnetic as ever.
“You have no idea how fast,” she said. “And how are all your dogs? I hear Waterford is the largest rescue and training center in the state now.”
“That’s true.”
“And I remember when it opened and I brought Christian to that grand-opening event for the town? Remember?”
Did he remember the day they’d met? Was she kidding? She’d stood in the sunshine at Waterford Farm, like an angel with a glow of goodness around her, a tiny tow-headed boy hiding behind her leg, desperate to get closer to a German shepherd Liam had on a leash, but terrified of the dog, too.
“We’ve come a long way since then. I mean, Waterford has.” Because he and Andi had made it slightly more than one month before he got pushed aside for someone else. Someone who happened to be the father of her child, but still.
“I hear nothing but good things about Waterford,” she said. “And you’re the leader.”
“Only where K-9 training is concerned,” he said. “My dad runs the operation, really.”
“The Dogfather.”
He chuckled, inexplicably happy that she remembered inside jokes his family shared. “That’s what they call him.”
“That’s what they call who?” Shane held two beers and put one in front of Liam, then pulled out a chair for Chloe, who held two glasses of wine and gave one to Andi.
“Oh, thank you,” Andi said.
“Thank Shane,” Chloe replied, lifting her glass to toast Liam. “Nice to see you again, Liam.”
With Shane back, the talk wasn’t small or awkward anymore. In a few minutes, he was telling a story about how they had four new puppies all getting leash-trained at the same time, making everyone howl with laughter.
Liam only made dogs howl, or at least he could train one to do so on command. Fat lot of good that skill did him with a beautiful woman next to him, frequently glancing at him. Quite frequently, unless that was his imagination.
“So we send Darcy out there,” Shane continued, talking with his hands and mesmerizing everyone. “Which was a huge mistake, because adding our little sister to a group of puppies is kind of like adding one more crazy puppy.”
Except Andi wasn’t that mesmerized. She took a sip of wine and shot another look to Liam over the rim. Her blue eyes held his, the tiniest smile behind the glass.
Just enough to slam him with hope.
Unless his third beer had made him dumb.
Was he imagining her gaze on him?
No. It was real. Every time he looked to his right, he’d catch her eye, and before he could look away, he read something in her expression. An invitation? An open door? Another chance?
After three years? Two since her ex was killed in a car accident. Liam had visited Andi after the guy died, to give his condolences, and she’d been understandably distant. He’d seen her around town, of course, but every encounter was brief and uncomfortable.
She certainly had never looked at him like that. Like she wanted something. Like she wanted him.
“Oh no.” She pulled out her phone on a sigh. “The text I’ve been dreading.”
“Everything all right?” Liam asked as she read.
“My sitter is wondering when I’m coming home.” She looked at Chloe. “I didn’t expect our dinner would turn into a night out, and I told her I’d be home by ten.”
“Totally understand,” Chloe said, reaching for her purse.
“No, you don’t have to leave,” Andi replied. “You’re having fun. My house is on the other side of Bushrod Square. I’ll be home in ten minutes.”
“I wouldn’t think of letting you leave alone,” Chloe said.
“Please.” Andi put her hand on Chloe’s and looked from her to Shane. “You don’t have a six-year-old, and it’s Saturday night. Enjoy yourself.”
Chloe shook her head, and Liam interjected before she could argue, “I’ll take you home.” He hoped he didn’t sound too much like a hungry dog who’d glimpsed a bone. “Let me walk you.”
Andi opened her mouth to answer, and he braced for the rejection. But she stayed speechless for a split second, then sighed softly. “Okay. That would be great.”
“Are you sure?” Chloe asked.
“Only if you have someone to take you home,” Andi said.
Shane held up his hand. “I got this.”
“Then I’m sure.” Andi turned to Liam. “Let’s go.”
The two words were like music to his ears.
* * *
Part of Andi knew exactly what she was doing…the part that resided in the lower half of her body. Because if she had been conducting business with her heart tonight, she would have made polite small talk with Liam Kilcannon and left with the girlfriend she arrived with. Or, if she’d actually used her brain, she would have made up an excuse and slipped out the back of Bushrod’s the minute she saw Liam, insisting that Chloe stay and have fun.
But her actions were driven by that knot low in her belly, the white-hot ache that she’d learned to ignore during her two years of self-imposed celibacy, also known as loneliness. One look at a man who never failed to shake up her hormones and she couldn’t ignore anything anymore.
Couldn’t ignore the need to put a casual hand on the masculine forearm with a dusting of dark hair. Couldn’t ignore the thrill of a three-seconds-too-long lingering look over a glass of wine. And she sure as heck wouldn’t ignore the text from her sitter, which was like a message from the great beyond saying, Let Liam walk you home and see what happens.
A few minutes later, he held the door for her, and they stepped into the hot summer night of Bitter Bark, North Carolina.
“I have my truck if you’d rather ride,” he said.
She angled her head, considering the choice, but she already knew exactly what her answer had to be. “Walk, I think. It’s the coolest part of the day, and I don’t want to miss it.”
“True,” he said, setting a hand on her back and then moving it again, as if it burned to touch her. “It’s been so hot that the only time we’re really training in July and August is early morning and after sundown.”
“Are you still training German shepherds for sale as protection dogs? What’s it called again? Schutz…”
“Schutzhund. High-protection guard dog training. Yep, still doing it. Turns out it’s the most lucrative aspect of our business, so I’ve got one dog going at all times,” he said.
“And K-9 training?”
“Sure. I’m still working with law enforcement and military trainers who bring their dogs to us, but the market for high-end, specially trained German shepherds is booming. We’ve gotten a reputation as one of the best in the country.”
“I’m not surprised, Liam. You have an uncanny ability to coax fearlessness out of an animal.”
He nodded a silent acknowledgment of the compliment. “That’s all thanks to being a military dog trainer in the Marines, and believe me, I have help,” he added with that soft note of humility always present in his tone. “It’s insane what people will pay for these dogs. One of our biggest clients is a security firm up in New York who shells out fifteen grand a dog.”
“But it takes a long time to train one, right?”
“Some longer than others,” he said. “Like I got one about a month ago, Jag. He’s protective as hell, but easily distracted. Might not command the big bucks.” He shook his head. “Sorry. You probably don’t care about the details.”
She smiled up at him as they crossed the street and headed toward the square. “I’m all about the details, remember? I’m an architect.”
“Yes, I remember,” he said with a slight laugh that told her he hadn’t forgotten a thing. “An architect who wants to be a professor someday.”
Of course Liam would remember the personal tidbits she’d shared over dinner dates with him. How ironic that Jeff Scott, the man Andi chose over Liam, never took that second-career dream seriously, but Liam remembered how important it was to her.
“I’m taking baby steps toward that now,” she confided. “Teaching an adult-ed class this summer at Vestal Valley College.”
“Wow.” He drew back and looked impressed. “Professor Rivers. Like your dad, huh?”
And he remembered that, too. Her heart hitched that she’d meant so much to him that he bothered to retain all those little facts.
“Not exactly,” she assured him. “He’s teaching urbanism and foundational computation to MIT graduate students, and I’m leading discussions on European architecture to some retirees and a few lost fortysomethings having midlife crises and taking college courses.”
“Still,” he said. “It’s a step toward what you always wanted to do, and I respect that.”
She sighed softly, appreciating his respect, but knowing that wasn’t why she’d jumped on the opportunity to be alone with him. Not tonight. Tonight she wanted…
Him.
“Look how pretty it is here,” she said, gesturing toward the parklike square lit by gas lamps and hundreds of twinkling white lights in the trees.
“This town sure likes to string lights in Bushrod Square,” he said.
“It’s probably what ol’ Thaddeus Bushrod imagined when he founded Bitter Bark and named it after a tree that’s really a hickory tree.” She gestured toward the bronze statue of the man whose name graced the square, standing next to the landmark tree that rose at least thirty feet in the air, the spot somehow beloved and sacred to all the residents of Bitter Bark. “I’m on the tourism committee, and Chloe informed us of that fact in her first presentation.”
“Sounds like town heresy.”
She laughed, watching a few people stroll through the square, several getting in their evening dog walks and a runner or two. Bushrod Square always felt safe, and never more than when she was with a man as big and protective as Liam.
Walking next to him, she wanted to slide both her hands around his arm for the sheer pleasure of hugging that solid bicep and feeling the warmth of his body. Just the thought of it tightened everything in her that was already pretty darn tight.
“So, how’s your little guy doing?” he asked.
She smiled, of course, at the mention of Christian. “He’s good. So, so good.”
“He’s, um, over the tough stuff?”
“Pretty much,” she said, recalling that when Liam had visited her a month or so after Jeff’s death, she’d shared some of the sleep and social problems Christian had because his father had been gone, come back, then disappeared forever. “He’s a quiet kid, so it’s hard to figure out his feelings.” She glanced up at Liam, who was also quiet and challenging to discern.
“And how about you?” he asked, the question tentative enough for her to know he was inching into personal territory with great care. “Over the tough stuff?”
She didn’t answer for a few seconds, long enough to decide he deserved honesty. “I survived,” she finally said. “Maybe a little too easily.”
He slowed his step, looking down at her, his expression a mix of surprise and something else she couldn’t quite read. Confusion? Hope? Admiration? “You’re stronger than you realize,” he said.
“I was also not as in love with Jeff as I, well, as I would have liked.”
He choked softly, but didn’t say anything. Considering all he could say at that, it was a true point in his favor.
“Is that an awful thing to admit?” she asked, hoping the conversation didn’t veer off into a discussion about how much Jeff had changed after he returned to her life. It would only make her feel worse about what she’d done to Liam.
“No,” he said.
“Even though he cost us, well, us?”
He swallowed visibly, taking a moment to collect what he was going to say, making her get a tiny bit closer, because experience had taught her that when Liam said something from the heart, it was right and real and worth listening to.
“You didn’t make that decision because of us, Andi. You made it for Christian.”
She stopped completely, looking up at him, the little white lights on that tree in the center of the square blurring in her eyes for a second. “I did, and it’s very sweet of you to remind me. Very sweet of you to talk to me at all.”
“Sweet isn’t something I’m accused of too often,” he said, a smile taking his strong-boned face from handsome to heart-stopping. “You know I only wanted you to be happy.”
“I know.” And she knew he’d been disappointed when she broke off their budding relationship to give Jeff a real chance. Liam being Liam, however, she had no idea the extent of that disappointment, or if he harbored resentment toward her. “I know I hurt you.”
“But you were really nice about it,” he said, turning to face her.
She sighed at the way he said it, placing a hand on his shoulder for the pleasure of feeling how strong it was.
Somewhere across the square, a dog barked. A dove hooted. Conversations from other people drifted by like the scent of jasmine on warm summer air. But Andi didn’t hear much beyond the steady pulse in her head. Heat and need thrummed from those veins down, down, down to the center of her, everything warm just from looking at him.
She closed her eyes and pressed a little harder, loving the breadth and muscularity of his shoulder.
As if it were the most natural move, he put his hand on her waist, inching her closer. “Didn’t make it hurt any less, but you were nice.”
Exhaling, she dropped her head back a little bit, her eyes shuttering.
Just one kiss. One.
“It’s good to talk to you, Liam,” she whispered. “To…” Very slowly, she put her free hand on his other shoulder, dragging her palms down a bit, each move like a choreographed dance getting them closer and closer. “It’s good to be with you again.”
She let her fingers hold the thick cords of his biceps, thumbing under the sleeve of his T-shirt that just about covered a tattoo of a bulldog and two German words.
Teufel Hunden.
Devil Dog. It popped into her head along with a memory of a night she’d run her fingers over that tattoo and Liam had told her Marines had the nickname because they were so fierce that they were considered dogs from hell. And as a military dog training specialist, the image and nickname meant even more to him.
She also remembered that she’d almost slept with him that night as things had grown from heated to desperate on her living room sofa, but since she had a toddler who’d wake up at sunrise and expect his mommy to be sleeping alone, Liam had been far too considerate and controlled. Without spelling it out, they’d both silently agreed they’d find a better time and place…but Jeff Scott had shown up at her front door a few days later asking for a second chance, and Andi had been forced to make a sudden and difficult decision.
“It’s so good to hold you again,” she said, tipping her head back so there could be zero doubt what she wanted.
“Andi…” He barely whispered her name as he closed the space between them and kissed her.
She felt the heat of his mouth just before it touched her lips, tentative at first, then with a little more demand. She melted into the kiss. Parting her lips to breathe him in, she slid her hands up and over the breadth of his shoulders, squeezing the hard and masculine muscles, already imagining how his skin would feel against hers.
It had been so long. So long. So lonely.
He tasted delicious, like a tangy beer and sweet, hot man. Like the Liam she remembered and had long ago told herself to forget.
Large, hot hands coasted over her back, lingering every few inches as if he wanted to appreciate each new place he touched.
“Liam…” She broke the kiss but not the full-body contact, leaning against him for the rush of his hard chest against her sensitive, aching nipples. His heart was beating like hers, pounding with the same kind of need. And lower, more need was evident as she felt the pressure of a man seconds away from full arousal.
He trailed some kisses down the jaw she offered, while she inhaled the musky, sexy scent of him, an aroma that made her anxious and desperate for more.
No. One kiss was not going to be enough. Not for a woman who had spent way too many nights utterly and completely alone and empty. She didn’t want to be alone tonight. She didn’t want to be empty.
She wanted Liam in her bed and in her body, and she’d wanted it the minute she walked up to the table and saw him. She attempted a ragged inhale and kissed him again, with even more intent and a clear message of desire. Finally, she loosened her grip and inched away. His eyes were black with the same arousal that rocked her.
“I knew this would happen,” she murmured.
He looked stunned by that. “Was that why you let me walk you home?” He eased farther back. “Because I’m pretty surprised by it all.”
“Mmm.” She gnawed on her lower lip, hard enough to hurt.
“Hey.” With one finger, he gently eased that lip from under her tooth. “Use that lip for better things.”
That made her smile, a nervous, shaky smile, as she searched his face. Was he going to make her ask him to come home with her?
During their few weeks together, Liam and Andi’s kisses had hummed with an undercurrent of electricity, but he was patient, easing her closer every time they were together, a man one hundred percent comfortable with taking his time.
Of course, he hadn’t known time would be cut short.
But that was then, and this is now. Liam might be patient, but Andi wasn’t. She dug around for a way to invite him home without sounding like the sex-starved, celibate-for-too-long, single woman she was.
“Christian’s asleep,” she finally said, and from the look on his face, she was certain he knew exactly what she meant. And she could have picked a leaf off the ground and knocked him over with it.
She laughed a little. “I know it never happened before, Liam, but it was about to.”
Until her ex-boyfriend showed up and wanted to be a full-time daddy. And then she’d made her choice, and it hadn’t been Liam.
“I haven’t said more than ten words to you in two years,” he said.
She gave a teasing smile. “Hey, that’s a big conversation for you.”
He choked softly, as if he really couldn’t believe this was happening. “Look, Andi…”
Oh God. That didn’t sound like, Hell yeah, let’s go.
“Have you thought this through?” he asked.
She didn’t want to think tonight. She ran her fingers over the nape of his neck, slowly, knowing she owed him some kind of rationale besides I want you. Except, that was the truth.
“When I saw you tonight, I thought…well, yeah. When I saw you tonight, I started thinking it through pretty hard.”
He stared at her, silent.
Really? Didn’t people just hook up nowadays? Yes, she had a six-year-old who’d taken her off the market, but she shouldn’t have to persuade him to have sex with her, should she?
“I trust you, Liam. I know you. I’ve…” She wet her lips. “I’m not with anyone, ever. I’m celibate, is what I’m saying. And when I saw you, it hit me so hard how much I want to…change that. Tonight. With you. Don’t you?”
“Pretty sure how I feel about it is five minutes from obvious.”
“Then let’s try this again.” She gave a meaningful look. “Christian’s asleep.”
“Then what?”
Now she choked an uncomfortable laugh, echoing his. “Then…” He wanted her to spell it out? “He’s a good sleeper. You could stay…for a little bit.”
“A little bit?” The question came out rough. “How about the night? Another month? Longer?”
Exactly the very reason she was the lonely sex-starved celibate woman. “No, Liam. No.” She shook her head. “I can’t do that. I won’t do that. I will never do that again.”
“Like actually date someone and have a relationship?”
“No,” she said, drawing back to make her single-word statement stick. “I can’t ever take that chance again. Christian struggled when Jeff left.”
He had nightmares, and tears, and so many questions. She’d never do that again.
“Jeff died.”
“I know, but…” Would Liam even be standing here if Jeff’s car hadn’t gone off an icy mountain road? She couldn’t be sure. She might have stuck it out with Jeff for Christian’s sake. But what difference did that make? He was gone and Andi was alone. So alone.
“So this is different,” he said. “We have another chance.”
She shook her head again. “Things don’t always work out. They usually don’t work out. Heck, they almost never work out. One minute, you have a plan, and the next, wham, life throws you a curve ball. Nothing is certain in this life, Liam. And I have learned the hard way to protect myself—and my son—from that reality.”
“So that would keep you from taking a chance on…” He swallowed, and for a moment, she actually thought he was going to say love. “Happiness?”
“I can’t risk that instability in my son’s life again, Liam. Especially now. He’s six, and while he was always a quiet kid, he really retreated into a shell of painful shyness after Jeff died. I vowed I’ll never bring a man into my life while he’s growing up.”
“But you’d have sex with one while he’s asleep?”
She felt the blood drain from her face. “Ouch.”
“I don’t say that to hurt you, Andi. You can do what you want, you’re a grown woman, and I…get it. But I…” He took a slight step back, not even an inch. But it felt like a football field of space between them. “I’m not going to be that guy for you.”
She looked up, certain she looked as stricken as she felt. “I guess I deserve this after what—”
“No.” He cut her off. “I’m not punishing you. That’s not what’s going on here.”
“Then what is, other than my failed seduction?”
“Look,” he said on a rough exhale. “Maybe I am the lug nut Shane says I am, because I should probably be dragging you home by way of the nearest drugstore right this minute. Or maybe I’m a few months shy of forty and I know there’s more to this than sex. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to have sex with you since the day I saw you at Waterford, but not…like this. Not a hookup after seeing you at a local bar.”
She winced, knowing he didn’t mean to make her feel bad about the offer, but she did anyway. Bad, rejected, and a little embarrassed she’d asked.
“This is all I can offer you,” she said softly. “I will not open my heart or my life up for any man but the one I’m raising.”
“Well, I want more from you,” he said simply. Of course, Liam was never one for fancy words or declarations or verbal sparring. He said what he thought and meant what he said.
And as much as she appreciated what he was saying, more was never going to happen.
“I won’t settle for a few hours with you while Christian’s asleep,” he said. “I deserve more than that, and so do you.”
She eased away from him completely, wrapping herself in her own arms now. “Wow. I honestly forgot men like you existed.”
“Idiots? We’re all over the place. We just keep a low profile.”
She tried to smile, remembering how much she liked his self-deprecating humor. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Just go out with me. Have dinner with me. Come to Waterford, bring your son, and let’s pick up where we left off.”
Oh. She stared at him for a long, long time. With each heartbeat, she knew what she had to do. Who she had to protect from hurt. Not her, not Liam. But the boy who owned her heart and soul.
“I can’t do that, Liam. I won’t do that. I’ve made this decision, and I’m not changing my mind.”
He blew out a breath. “All right.”
“My house is right there,” she said, pointing to the three-story brownstone on the corner.
“I know where your house is.”
“Then you can watch me to make sure I get in okay. I know you will anyway.” She blinked, and her eyes misted over again. “Goodbye, Liam.”
He just looked at her, silent. Liam would never say a word unless it was the right one. And this minute, there was nothing left to say.
She turned and crossed the street, heading into her home still knowing that nothing in life was ever certain…except the fact that she’d be sleeping alone tonight.