When We Kiss (22 page)

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.”

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 want 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.

B
Y 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.

Her face was crinkled with concern, but upon seeing Aubrey's face, she smiled. “I was going to ask what's wrong, but it looks like I need to ask what's right. Did you get the decision from yesterday's hearing?”

“Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” Aubrey grinned so wide, her face hurt.

“Yes!” Stephanie came over and gave her a high five. “We should celebrate. I'll pour champagne in the kitchen.” They kept some on hand for occasions just like these.

“Definitely. Just let me give Uncle Dave a quick call.” Aubrey sat back down and dialed her uncle's cell.

“This is Dave,” he said.

“It's Aubrey, we won.” She was too excited to say anything else, and anyway, he'd know exactly what she meant.

She had to hold the phone away as he whooped. This was followed by a minor coughing fit. “Hey, don't hurt yourself,” she said, wincing.

“I'm fine. Don't I sound better? Your aunt says I sound much better.”

“You do sound better,” she said. “Better than last night even.”

Aubrey had spent last evening at their house having dinner and giving Uncle Dave the play-by-play from the hearing. She'd left out the Whitney Parker confrontation, however. What would be the point in sharing that?

“I still wish I could've been there yesterday to see you in action. Next time,” he said. “Because you're going to get a lot more work like this, I'd bet.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She wouldn't mind that. After what Alex had done to her, she'd removed wills and trusts from her book of business entirely, handing them all off to Stephanie. So Aubrey could actually use more land-use cases.

“Have you told the Archers yet?” he asked.

“Not yet. I wanted to tell you first.”

“I appreciate that.” A smile was evident in his voice. “But don't keep them waiting.”

“I won't. I'll call Emily Archer and have her set a family meeting for tonight. Stephanie's pouring champagne to celebrate—wish you were here.”

“We'll have another celebration soon.”

“I'll hold you to that. Thanks again for everything, Uncle Dave. I couldn't have done it without you.”

“You
could've
, but I was and always will be happy to help. Love you.”

“Love you, too. Bye.”

She hung up and smiled broadly. Every bit of anger from earlier with Liam had completely dissipated in the wake of this extreme joy. Damn, it felt good to win. She could hardly wait to tell the Archers.

She picked up the phone again and called Emily Archer, the one person she could trust to keep a secret. As the phone rang, she wondered if she should tell Emily about Liam's plans. Hadn't she agreed to do that when they'd spoken a few weeks ago? Didn't Emily deserve to know that he was taking an increased risk this weekend?
Someone
should know—what if something happened to him? He really was a selfish jerk.

Emily answered. “Hello?”

“Hi, Emily, it's Aubrey. Can you call a family meeting at say, six o'clock?”

There was a sharp intake of breath, but it wasn't quite a gasp. “Is it the decision?” Emily asked.

“It is.”

“Should I chill champagne or not?”

“Can you keep it a secret?”

“Of course. I'll call it dinner, not a meeting, how's that? So champagne or not? You're killing me!” She laughed nervously.

Aubrey grinned, loving this part of her job. “Champagne.”

Emily practically squealed into the phone. “Take that, Russ Parker! He always was an ass.”

So was his daughter. “So, I'll come a little after six, sound good?”

“Yes. Thank you so much, Aubrey. They're all going to be over the moon. We owe you so much. I know it hasn't been easy, everything Alex asked you to do . . . but I deeply appreciate it.”

Emotion clogged Aubrey's throat. How could she not tell this lovely woman what Liam was planning? “I'll see you later.”

“Can't wait!”

Aubrey ended the call feeling slightly less exuberant than she had a moment ago. Her gaze fell on the box on her desk. She'd take that tonight and give it to Liam. Then she'd tell him he
had
to talk to his mother before he did this BASE jumping training. If he didn't,
she
would. Oh, that would go over like gangbusters.

“Aubrey, champagne's ready!” Stephanie called.

Aubrey picked up the box and slipped it into her purse. She'd deal with that later. Right now, she had a date with a glass of bubbly.

F
ROM THE GROUPING
of cars parked between the garages at the Archer house, it looked like everyone was there. Aubrey slipped her purse over her shoulder and walked to the back door, where she let herself inside.

The moment she stepped into the kitchen, Kyle jumped out of his chair. “I knew it!” He looked at Emily, smiling. “I knew this wasn't just a dinner. Otherwise, you would've asked me to cook.”

Emily narrowed her eyes at him but without heat. “I've been cooking for this family longer than you have, and I'm every bit as good. Okay, maybe not that, but I do get to cook sometimes. I'm your mother. Sit down.”

Everyone laughed, and Kyle blew her a kiss before sitting back down.

Emily turned her head to look at Aubrey. “Good evening, Aubrey, would you care to join us?”

“Sure. But first I have some news.” Every head had already pivoted to look at her, but now those whose backs were to her fully turned in their chairs. There was excitement, tension, worry. There was also no Liam. Where was he? “Not everyone's here,” she said.

Emily pressed her lips together. “Liam isn't answering his phone.”

Aubrey heard the edge of concern in her tone and vowed right then and there to tell Emily about his BASE jump weekend. Then maybe skewer him.

“Don't keep us hanging,” Dylan practically growled. Of everyone, he had to be the most on edge. He'd spent the last year building a commercial property, and if it couldn't be a commercial property . . . Well, it went without saying that he'd be devastated.

Aubrey's pulse sped up. “I heard back from LUBA this afternoon. They declined the Parkers' appeal.”

The shouts and exclamations of joy started as soon as she said “declined” and drowned out the rest of her sentence. They leapt out of their chairs and hugged each other, exchanged high fives, waved their excited hands in the air. Then they descended on Aubrey, practically mauling her in their jubilation.

She laughed and grinned until her face hurt. Emily and Rob appeared with four bottles of chilled champagne, and Rob popped the first one open. The sound of the bottle opening elicited more whoops and hollers, and the clink of champagne flutes lining up on the granite peppered the background.

Rob handed the first glass to Aubrey. “Thank you.”

She nodded her head. “You're welcome.”

Soon everyone had a glass, and they looked around at each other, probably to see who wanted to say something first. “Tori, you go,” Sara urged.

Tori looked to Aubrey and smiled. There were tears in her eyes. “I can't thank you enough for all you've done to bring Alex's dream to fruition. It might've been his idea, and we were his minions, but you were the engineer behind the scenes ensuring that this could even happen. To Aubrey.” She lifted her glass, and everyone followed suit.

Aubrey took a drink and managed to swallow past the lump in her throat.

Kyle raised his glass. “I want to thank Aubrey for showing the Parkers which end is up. You were a total firecracker in court. They might've had some fancy, legendary counsel, but we had the better lawyer. Cheers to you.”

Everyone joined in saying cheers, and they all drank again.

Aubrey had already had two glasses of champagne at the office earlier. She needed to be careful she didn't end up like she had after girls' night at the pub. “If you all take turns, we'll need to pace ourselves.”

“Agreed,” Chloe said, chuckling. “We speak from experience.”

While the girls laughed, Emily suggested they finish the dinner she'd made. Aubrey joined them, and they spent the first part of the meal reliving the high points of Tuesday's hearing before moving on to excited discussions about the soft opening.

“We need to get cracking on promo,” Kyle said.

“It's a soft opening, remember?” Sara pointed out.

“We still need promo,” Evan said. “I'm on it.”

Aubrey listened to the joyous conversation and settled into a haze of contentment. Until she remembered that Liam was still missing. Where the hell was he? That reminded her of the box in her purse, which she'd left on the counter in the midst of her overwhelming arrival.

Seated between Emily and Chloe, she murmured, “Excuse me for a minute.” She stood and grabbed her purse, then made her way up the back stairs. She'd had a tour of the house at one point last year and knew exactly which bedroom was Liam's. She went straight there and stepped inside.

It still bore the look of a teenager's room, but it was flawlessly neat and organized, with hints of his personality and lifestyle here and there. The closet door was ajar, revealing a wet suit as well as a pair of hiking boots. A compass and a hydration backpack hung from a board with hooks on one wall. A skateboard leaned against the corner. She hadn't realized he'd been a skateboarder in his youth. Maybe he'd been born an adrenaline junkie, and Alex's request had only encouraged him to embrace it.

She withdrew the box from her purse and looked around for a place to put it. His desk, which held his closed laptop and was clearly where he'd been working, given the stack of paperwork, seemed the most logical choice. She set the box next to his computer and stepped back. She ought to leave a note but didn't see any spare paper. Instead, she whipped out her phone and texted him.

I left you something on your desk.

She tried to think of what else to say, but there really wasn't anything. Except about talking to his mom. After a moment of consideration, she typed more.

You HAVE to talk to your mom about this weekend. She's already worried that she can't reach you tonight. You're going to do what you want anyway, what does it matter if you tell her first? So you have to listen to her counsel for a bit. There are worse things. I'd love a mother like yours.

Too much? No, it was just right. She hit send.

She stuffed her phone into her purse and left. When she got back to the kitchen, she saw that dinner had been cleared and champagne glasses were in the process of being refilled. She was ready to call it a night.

She cleared her throat. “Thank you, everybody, for this great celebration, but it's actually my second one of the day, so I think I'm done.” She was glad things had turned out so well. “I appreciate all of your kind words so much. I'm excited to get to the finish line on this project. You've all worked really hard, and you deserve massive success.”

“It's all due to you,” Maggie said, smiling.

“Thanks.” Everyone took turns hugging her, including Rob and Emily. Aubrey inwardly vowed to follow up with her on Friday morning to make sure Liam had done what he was supposed to. If he hadn't, all bets were off.

As she drove off into the night, a thread of melancholy wound its way into her heart. The project now had an end in sight, as did her interactions with the Archers. Sure, she called them friends, but without the project to throw them together, would they maintain this level of closeness? She knew how friendships worked—they ebbed and flowed as lives changed and evolved.

One thing was certain, she didn't have to maintain anything with Liam. The acknowledgment pinched her chest but also gave her a sliver of relief. Maybe now she could really move on.

L
IAM WOVE HIS
bike through the cars parked between the garages. Clearly he was missing some sort of get-together. He wondered if they'd heard back on the zoning hearing, but he didn't see Aubrey's car.

Maybe not, then.

After stowing his bike and helmet in the garage, he walked into the house and immediately heard voices coming from downstairs. He poked his head into the kitchen, found it empty, and went to the lower level.