Sara Stone - Full Exposure

Georgia stepped between them. She’d had enough of the anger and accusations from her brother. And Eric still hadn’t said a word. His face was a bloody mess and his eyes were downcast, as if he believed Liam’s words.

“Eric didn’t strip me down. I took off my own clothes, thank you very much,” she said, meeting her brother’s fury head-on.

“Georgia—”

“No. It’s your turn to listen. He did nothing wrong. We fell in love.” She pressed her index finger against her brother’s chest. “And don’t you dare tell me I can’t handle that. I know what I’m capable of.”

“No, Georgia, you don’t,” Liam snapped. “You had a nightmare just last night.” Her brother looked over her shoulder at Eric. “Did she tell you about how she wakes up terrified? How she is afraid to sleep?”

“He knows, Liam. He’s the one who woke me up.”

Liam stepped around her, grabbing the front of Eric’s shirt. “You know and you still thought, ‘What the hell, I’ll fuck her’?”

“Because he loves me and trusts me,” she said. “Right, Eric?”

She moved to her brother’s side, placing her hand over his. Liam released his hold on Eric’s shirt. Georgia laid her palm over the place where her brother’s had been—over Eric’s heart.

“You love me,” she said.

“I do, Georgia,” Eric said finally. “You’re my friend—”

“Not anymore, she’s not,” Liam growled. “If she were your friend, you’d have treated her with some goddamn respect.”

Eric stood tall and strong despite his physical pain, but looking into his eyes, she could see his uncertainty. It was as if Eric believed her brother, as if he thought she didn’t know her own heart.

“Enough, Liam,” she said. Inside, her emotions ran wild. In a matter of minutes, feelings would overwhelm her, reduce her to tears and force her to acknowledge the simple fact that her heart was breaking. She was losing someone she loved, even though he was standing right there in front of her.

He’d been trying to explain, she realized. Earlier, when he’d held back, telling her he couldn’t touch her, he was pushing her away. His reasons, whatever he used to justify walking away from love, didn’t matter. Her list was longer, but she’d still come back and fought for him.

One tear escaped and she backed away. She refused to fall apart in front of Liam and Eric.

“I thought you were stronger.” She looked at Eric. Blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth. She’d so rarely seen him out of control, except maybe for a moment that first night in his bedroom. But right now, he looked lost. “I thought you had the courage to follow your heart.”

“Georgia—”

“Are you in love with me, Eric?” she pressed. “Because if you’re not, nothing else matters.”

“It’s not that easy,” he said.

Georgia bit her lip. Hard. Needing to feel something other than the rushing, all-consuming heartbreak.

“There are some things worth fighting for,” she said. “Against all odds, in spite of the obstacles. I thought we were one of them. But I can’t change how you feel. I can’t make you fall in love with me.”

She waited for him to object and admit that his love for her trumped everything.

“Georgia,” he said. “I need to do what is best—”

“I’m leaving now.” She turned away and went to retrieve her bag from the kitchen counter. She couldn’t stand to hear him profess his desire to do the right thing again. “But I’ll be back.”

“You’re not working for him and you’re not living here,” Liam ground out. “He can find a new nanny. You’re moving home.”

“No. I’m not staying here or moving in with you, Liam. I’ll sleep at a friend’s house. And I’ll continue to care for Nate.” She looked back at Eric one last time. “I’ll never walk away from him. I love him too, and I refuse to let what happened between us hurt him. I’ll be there when he gets out of preschool. Today and the day after that. You have my word.”

Her head high, Georgia turned and headed for the door. She stepped into the garage and ran for the Jeep. Inside the car, she turned the key and backed out. She drove until she reached the main road. Once she felt certain they’d stayed behind to fight instead of chasing after her, she pulled out her cell and dialed.

“Hello?”

“Katie,” she said, her voice wavering as the tears started falling. She couldn’t hold them in any longer.

“What’s wrong?” her friend said. “Did something happen? Are you OK?”

“Liam found out. And he threw punches,” she said, fighting back a sob. “It’s over. Between Eric and me. He’s not in love with me.”

“Oh, Georgia,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

She drew a deep breath. “At least I wasn’t afraid to go after him, right? I had the courage to fall in love. And he . . . well, he didn’t.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Katie said. “I believe Eric loves you.”

“Not enough.” Georgia closed her eyes. “Not enough.”

GEORGIA WAS GONE. Eric stared out the kitchen window, watching the Jeep disappear down the drive. And this time, she wasn’t coming back. Not for him.

“Forgetting for a minute that Georgia’s my little sister,” Liam growled, “I would have thought the idea of starting something with a woman who’s likely to bolt would have kept you away. I was there every time one of your parents’ new friends walked out, forgetting about you as quickly as they did your parents. Hell, by the time you were sixteen, you believed everyone who said they loved you would walk away. In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never had a serious relationship. You were always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Eric’s hands balled into fists. The friend who knew him better than anyone else had just handed him the truth. So many people had vanished from his life, over and over again. Even his mother was leaving him behind soon.

Georgia’s nightmares, his misplaced desire to do what he thought was right for her—those were excuses. That wasn’t why he let her walk out of his life. He’d been so damn worried she couldn’t be the person he required in his life that he hadn’t stopped to ask if he could be the man she needed in hers.

And he wasn’t. Not if he walked away at the slightest sign of trouble.

“Do you want Nate to grow up like that?” Liam pressed. “Do you want to watch your nephew’s heart break when Georgia falls apart and runs away? Because it is only a matter of time, man. She’s not the same person she was. We both know that. She’s barely holding it together, moving from one rush to another. That’s all you were, man, another high.”

“Enough,” Eric said firmly. “We were wrong to keep this from you. But don’t you dare think less of Georgia. This wasn’t about her finding another adrenaline hit.”

“Yeah,” Liam said with a grim laugh. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“She went through hell, and she kept going. She’s not weak, Liam.”

“What about you?” Liam challenged. “Have you moved beyond your past? Because if you haven’t, you had no right to touch Georgia.”

“No, I haven’t,” he said, meeting Liam’s intense stare. “And you’re right, I should have stayed away. But I’ve cared for your sister for most of my life. I’ve wanted her for so long, and I knew what was at stake if I ever made a move.”

Eric looked out the window at the pond. He could still picture Georgia poised to dive into the cold depths. “These past couple of weeks, I couldn’t resist falling for her. I’ve never met a woman whose beauty ran so deep. Her courage, her sense of duty, her passion for living—Georgia is amazing inside and out. I love her. So much it scares me.”

Liam folded his arms across his chest. “If you loved her so damn much, why’d you let her leave?”

“She is facing her demons head-on. But that doesn’t mean they are gone. I was trying to do what is best for her. And for Nate.”

And for himself. He’d been fighting hard to keep his heart safe. He’d thought if she could just commit to him. But she had, and he still couldn’t believe she wouldn’t walk away.

“But I fucked up,” he said.

“Yeah, you did.” Liam shook his head and opened the front door to the bright late summer day. “Not that it’s worth much, but I still want your word you’ll keep your hands off her.”

Eric nodded. “You have it.”

“Good.” Liam gave a curt nod. “And I don’t give a damn about the outcome of the investigation. You can consider this my resignation.”

Eric watched his best friend walk out of his life, slamming the door behind him. Slowly, because every inch of his body was crying out in pain, he turned to the freezer. Opening the door, he pulled out a bag of peas and held it up to his jaw. He’d deserved every hit, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

By the time you were sixteen, you believed everyone who said they loved you would walk away.

Eric closed his eyes. Liam’s words felt like one of Georgia’s arrows spiraling toward a target, hitting home and hurting more than the damage his best friend had done with his fists. And knowing he’d just let the woman he loved walk out of his life without a fight because he was afraid? That was the hit that drained the air from his lungs, leaving him leveled and heartbroken. Part of him wanted to go after her, but hell, after today?

“I don’t deserve her.”

GEORGIA LAY ON Katie’s bed, staring up at the pink horses dancing across the ceiling. She’d fought for what she wanted, faced her fears, and opened her heart. But it wasn’t enough.

“Are you OK?” Katie stood in the doorway to her bedroom, dressed in her cowboy hat and jeans. Her friend had been out riding while Georgia lay here wallowing.

“You know, it’s funny,” Georgia said, sitting up on the four-poster bed fit for a nine-year-old little girl, not her twenty-something friend. “I feel more broken now than I did when I first returned home from Afghanistan. I just feel empty.”

Katie came in, pulling the door closed behind her, and sat on the edge of the bed. “Have you talked to him?”

“Only a few words here and there when I arrive in the morning and again when he gets home at night. Nothing more than whether Nate ate breakfast or took a nap.”

“You should,” Katie said. “He’s probably hurting too. And you should call your brother.”

Georgia flopped back on the bed, returning her attention to the horse wallpaper. “Did Liam stop by again?”

“Yeah, but my brothers chased him away.” Katie set her hat on the wooden dollhouse in the corner.

“That was nice of them.”

Katie crawled up on the bed beside her. “Trust me, it was their pleasure.”

“You know, I’ve never understood why they don’t like Liam,” Georgia said. “They’ve always been friendly with Eric.”

“They had a fight,” Katie said. “Years ago. My brothers are good at holding a grudge. It’s a family trait. Even if they liked him, they’d keep him away for you. They don’t know the details. And I don’t plan to tell them. But they know you’re hurting.”

“Because I spend all my free time holed up in your room staring at your wallpaper?”

Katie laughed. “Yeah. That’s part of it.”

“I know I can’t stay here forever. Tomorrow I’ll start looking for an apartment.” Georgia rolled to her side and propped up her head with her hand. “You could move in with me. Live in a room that isn’t decorated for an elementary school student. And your three brothers wouldn’t be down the hall.”

“Tempting, but I need to live close to my horses. I don’t plan to move until I have enough saved to take them with me. If that day ever comes, and that’s a big if given my measly salary from the company, I’m going far away, not an apartment in town,” Katie said. “And I’m still hoping you’ll work things out with Eric.”

Georgia sighed. “I think you’re the only one.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Katie said. “You should have a little faith in him. He lost his best friend and the woman he loves in a single morning. Give him a few days to get his act together.”

“He’s not in love with me.” If he was, he’d fight for her, wouldn’t he? Love and life—those were worth fighting for, no matter what the circumstances. They were so lucky to have the opportunity to fall in love, to have found each other. Why couldn’t he see that?

“He’s just scared. We all are sometimes,” Katie said.

Georgia stared at a purple horse. “If he’s scared,” she said slowly, “it’s not for himself. He’s afraid for Nate’s sake. He would give up everything to do what he believes is right for that little boy.”