Sara Stone - Full Exposure

“I’ll beat the crap out of any man who tries to take advantage of her right now,” Liam added. “You’d do the same.”

“I would.” But not for the same reasons. Eric had taken advantage all right. Sure, she’d come on to him, dropping her towel in his bedroom. But he should have walked away. And shit, he should tell Liam. The guilt was one more thing weighing him down.

“Keep an eye on her for me,” Liam said. “She barely listens to me. But you? She’ll pay attention.”

His mind flashed to the image of Georgia on her knees heeding his commands. She’d listened. And if Liam found out, he’d have his balls.

“I’ve got to get going,” Eric said.

He headed for the makeshift parking area. Since he’d ridden over with Liam last night, he’d arranged for one of his crew to leave a company truck for him. After working through the night, driving would take all of his attention. He’d caught an hour of sleep at the base camp his men had set up and had woken up hard, dreaming about replacing Georgia’s hands with his mouth. He ached to taste her. Instead, he had to go home, take Nate to school, and then tell his nanny last night had been a one-time thing.

Eric pulled into the attached garage and headed for the entrance to the kitchen. Not bothering to take off his dirt-covered boots, he opened the door and called inside. “Is Nate ready?”

His blond, blue-eyed nephew raced into the room holding a pair of stuffed frogs. “Look, Uncle Nate, two froggies!”

“Only one of those can go with you to school,” Georgia said, following Nate into the kitchen. She wore the same thing as always, jeans and a plain gray T-shirt. This one read Army across the chest. Only today, knowing how she looked beneath the clothes, just the sight of her made him ache. Shit, he should be too tired after working through the night to even think about sex. And it sure as hell wouldn’t help the conversation he planned to have with her later.

“New froggie,” Nate said, carefully setting old froggie on one of the kitchen chairs.

“Got your bag?” Eric asked.

“Right here.” Georgia thrust the child-size backpack into his hand, careful not to touch his skin.

“Thanks. I’ll stop back after I drop him off, and then we’ll talk.”

Georgia shook her head, pressing her lips together. “Eric, you don’t have to.”

“Yeah, I do.”

Eric led Nate to the car and buckled him into his car seat. The minute they pulled onto the road, Nate started talking, sharing every thought that popped into his head. Eric tried his best to follow along and comment when necessary. Over the past few months, Eric had learned that life with a three-year-old was one endless monologue.

Once they’d parked and unloaded, Eric took his nephew’s hand and headed for the door. “Ready for your first day of school, buddy?”

Nate stopped and looked up at him, his expression too damn serious for such a little kid. “Is my mommy watching?”

Eric pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes before crouching beside his nephew. In the first six months after the accident, he’d told Nate that his mother and father would always be watching. He’d thought it would help him cope, not that he knew shit about how a toddler dealt with losing both parents. “Yeah, buddy. She’s watching. Your dad too.”

Nate nodded, his solemn expression vanishing in an instant, replaced by a smile. “I’m ready.”

Twenty minutes later, after his nephew was settled into his new classroom and happily playing trains with another kid, Eric drove out of the school parking lot and headed for home.

He couldn’t stop thinking about what Liam had said. Georgia had looked “off” last night, ready to seek out a new thrill. Liam’s words confirmed what Eric had been thinking—Georgia hadn’t wanted him, just another rush.

His grip tightened on the steering wheel. Last night was wrong on many levels, but he sure as hell had wanted Georgia. If anyone else had pulled that stunt, he would have walked away.

He shook his head as he turned into the driveway. Georgia was an emotional mess. Liam was right on that front. And the fact that she turned him inside out with need didn’t matter.

Eric pulled into the garage, turned off his truck, and headed for the kitchen. The smell greeted him at the door. Bacon. He followed it inside, stopping to remove him boots. He should probably take a shower first, but his stomach objected, especially when he saw the spread Georgia had laid out on the table—fried eggs, the yolks runny just like he liked them, buttered toast, hot coffee, and a whole pile of God’s gift to hungry men everywhere, bacon.

But all the bacon in the world couldn’t change the fact he had to tell the woman he was dying to get his hands on that last night couldn’t happen again.

“SMELLS GOOD IN here,” Eric said, hovering in the kitchen doorway.

Georgia stood by the fridge, pouring a cup of juice. She appeared calm and in control, nothing “off” about her. Maybe she’d gotten it all out of her system. That thought—it should have led to relief, but it didn’t.

“Sit and dig in,” she said. “I know you haven’t eaten anything since what? Lunch yesterday?”

“I had a donut last night.” Sometime after he’d caught an hour’s sleep and woken up aching for her.

He pulled a chair out from the table and sank into it. It felt good to sit after cutting down trees all night. He piled his plate high and picked up his fork. Georgia claimed the seat across from him. Quietly sipping her coffee, she watched him eat. Three bites in, he paused, knowing he had to do this now. He had to set things straight between them. “About last night—”

“We don’t need to have this conversation. It won’t happen again.”

“It can’t,” he said. “I’m your boss, your friend, and Liam’s friend. And Georgia, that’s where we need to draw the line.”

She shook her head. “You don’t need to explain.”

“After what we did, believe me, I do. If we start something and Liam found out . . .” Eric shook his head.

“Liam’s my brother. Not my father or my keeper.”

Eric looked her straight in the eye. He had to make her understand. He had to do this right. But he didn’t want to hurt her. “He’s my friend. He trusts me, believes I’ll never take advantage, never touch you.”

“You didn’t. If anyone took advantage . . . I did. I shouldn’t have come on to you like that,” she said, shaking her head. “Especially not like that.”

“It’s not that I didn’t like what we did.” He had a feeling he’d remember the way Georgia’s hands moved over her body for a long time. And every time the image popped in his head, he’d be left wanting.

She studied her coffee. “It was too wild. Just too much.”

“No.” His voice was firm, but in the back of his mind he knew she wasn’t talking about the kink factor. He had a feeling last night had overwhelmed her. Add that to the list of reasons he couldn’t go there again. Still, he refused to let Georgia blame herself. “Hell, if the circumstances were different, I’d be on my knees begging for a repeat.”

She raised a single eyebrow. Back when they were growing up, he’d always envied her ability to give a look that basically called bullshit without saying a word.

“I’m serious, Georgia.”

She cocked her head to one side and studied him as if she could read his mind. Maybe after all these years, she could. “I always figured you were straightlaced.”

“I am. But not when it comes to you. I like you, Georgia. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to you. But none of that changes the fact last night was a one-time thing.”

She nodded. “It was. I just needed . . . something.”

“OK then.” He’d said what he had to say. Hell, he’d said more. He hadn’t planned on revealing he was attracted to her. Still, they were on the same page.

But there was one question he was dying to ask. After his conversation with Liam this morning, he had to know.

Eric reached across the table and took her hand. The feel of her skin, warmed from her coffee mug, made him ache with a bone-deep need to touch her. He’d held her hand before. But after seeing all the places he couldn’t go, this simple skin-to-skin contact drove him wild.

“Why me, Georgia?” he said quietly. “After all these years, knowing what’s between us, why me?”

GEORGIA HAD BEEN living in a constant state of need for his touch. And now that he held her hand with his calloused fingers, made rough by long hours of physical work, she was suddenly thrust back to that exposed place. Her emotions quickly rose to the surface while her body silently begged for him to stroke her everywhere, not stopping until she came on his kitchen table.

She withdrew her hand and looked away.

“Why’d you come to my room?” he pressed.

She couldn’t tell him she’d wanted him forever. If last night had made her feel emotionally weak, saying those words, admitting she had fantasized about him for years, would be like painting a bull’s-eye on her heart. Biting her lip, she hesitated, searching for an explanation. “It’s been a long time for me. For sex, I mean. I’ve had orgasms . . .” God, she was making a mess of this. “But not like that.”

“Proximity. You needed a rush, and I was there. I get it.” He sat back in his chair. “I guess it is safer than jumping out of planes.”

No, not by a long shot, but she kept her mouth shut.

“But I can’t be your next big rush,” he added.

“I know,” she said, unable to hide the frustration in her voice. “We’re clear on that.”

He reached for the bacon. “So what’s next on your adrenaline hit list?”

Georgia blinked. Did he really think it was that easy? That she had a list of things to check off to prove she was alive and worthy of moving on with her life? That if she made it to the end she’d be fine after all she’d seen?

“It’s not like that,” she said.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Then why are you doing this? Seeking out one big hit of excitement after another?”

“You don’t know what I saw.”

“Tell me,” he demanded.

She shook her head. No. Getting through this, moving forward, that was on her. She hadn’t told anyone—not her brother, not the few remaining girlfriends she’d kept in touch with, or the military shrink—about what it was like to watch her fellow soldiers lose their lives. She couldn’t. No one else could understand.

“Georgia,” he said, “tell me. Please.”

Georgia pressed her lips together. She didn’t have the words. Not yet. Maybe she never would.

“I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” She pushed back from the table, picked her keys up off the countertop, and headed for the door.

“Georgia, wait.” Eric was on his feet. “Don’t leave like this. Please. I don’t want you to do something stupid.”

She spun toward him, unable to bury the thunderstorm of emotions—anger, fear, panic—rising to the surface. “Like get naked with the next guy who happens to be in my proximity?”

“Not what I meant.”

She turned the key over and over in her hand, rubbing the pad of her thumb along the jagged edge. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not going to sleep with every available guy.”

She didn’t want anyone else. Just him. Always Eric, with his sharp blue eyes and powerful body.

“I’m damn glad to hear that.” His hands formed fists at his sides. “But after seeing what you were willing to do . . . Georgia, there are other ways. I want to help you, believe me, I do.”

“No.” Right now, she was dealing with it by burying the emotions until she was ready. Jumping from one thrill to the next, craving the physical reminders that she was alive, might seem crazy to the people around her, but it was the only way she knew how to keep going.

Turning away from him, she opened the door to the attached garage. Behind her, she heard Eric let out a frustrated breath.

“Georgia. Please.” She heard the note of frustration buried beneath his even tone. “Stay. Talk to me.”

“No.”

Georgia stepped down into the garage. She knew she was acting childish, but right now, she needed to be somewhere else, away from him and the wanting she felt whenever they were in the same room. Opening the door to the Jeep Eric had leant her while she was working as his nanny, she slipped inside and pulled out her phone. She didn’t have many girlfriends left. The ones she had kept in touch with lived in different worlds. While they’d been getting married, she’d been living in a war zone. That didn’t leave them with much common ground.