Full Exposure (Independence Falls 1)

“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.”

Chapter Twenty

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.”