Caught in the Act (Independence Falls 2)

“I didn’t see him today,” Liam said. “I was out on a job site harvesting a tract of land for Wilson’s widow. Your brothers agreed to haul the logs to the mill tomorrow.”

She crossed her legs, allowing her jeans-clad calf to brush up against his under the table. It was time to reach into the arsenal and deploy her weapons. She watched as his eyes widened in surprise. “Spent all day running your chainsaw?”

“No.” He set his glass back on the wooden tabletop, but kept his leg firmly pressed against hers. “I was operating the mechanical timber harvester. The land over there is flat. No need to have guys out there cutting with chainsaws.”

“You sat all day, pushing levers?” She shook her head, raising her beer to her lips and taking a sip—and felt his gaze drop to her mouth. “Well, that ruins the image of the tall, dark, and handsome lumberjack wielding dangerous machinery, doesn’t it?”

His eyes narrowed and he reached across the table. Claiming her hand, he turned it over and ran his thumb across her palm. Her breath caught. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who could play this game.

“Katie, if it makes you happy, I was running chainsaws from the moment I set foot on the job site.”

“Hmm,” she murmured, feeling his light, teasing touch from head to toe. “Without a shirt?”

He leaned back in his chair, withdrawing his hand as he let out a low laugh. “Not a chance, honey. Not a chance.”

The waiter interrupted, placing the spinach/artichoke dip on the table between them. Katie shifted in her seat, breaking contact with him. Looking at this man, she couldn’t picture him behind a desk, pushing papers and reviewing financials. “Do you miss being out there every day? In the forest?”

He shrugged. “Most days I still am.”

Her brow furrowed. “I thought Eric wanted you to take a larger role in the business side of things.”

“That’s part of the deal,” he said. “And I’ll tell you one thing, if all business dinners are like this one, I should have moved into the office a long time ago.”

“Doubtful.” She suspected that most of the men negotiating deals with Moore Timber had zero interest in seducing Liam. She dipped a cracker into the steaming dish.

“I’m curious,” she continued. The question of why he was here, why he’d tossed out a low offer now, when she was on the verge of closing the deal with Black Hills, was ever-present in her mind. “If your first love is working in the field, why did you agree to spend time in the office? Negotiating acquisitions doesn’t seem like your thing.”

Liam glanced out at the water. “I don’t want to follow in my father’s footsteps and work in the forest until the end. That land we walked through the other day?”

She nodded, picturing the trees and the things they’d done below them. She tried to push the thoughts away, but the memories refused to budge. Shifting in her seat, her thighs rubbed together and she drew her lower lip between her teeth.

Liam chuckled. “You remember.”

But then his expression turned serious. “I want to build my own place on that land. Make a home, something nice. You probably didn’t notice when we walked through with the goats, but I’ve already started thinning the surrounding forest. When I’m done, it will look like a park.

“But it’s about more than just the land,” he added. “I want my kids to have a future and choices—beyond logging or joining the military.”

“Wow.” She didn’t have another word. The Liam she’d known, the man she’d met out in that field, he hadn’t looked much beyond one night of pleasure.

But that was before he lost his parents to cancer. Before his sister graduated college and joined the army. Before he waited day and night for Georgia to come back, knowing he couldn’t keep her safe. Katie had a feeling that Georgia’s choice had a ripple effect, one that continued even now that she was home.

“Georgia could have done anything with her life,” he said quietly. “But for reasons I still don’t fully understand, she joined the army. If I’d had something more to offer her here, a way for her to continue in school . . .”

“She would have gone anyway,” Katie said. “Georgia wanted to make her way in the world.”

“Yeah. I know.” He polished off the last of the dip.

“But you hate losing control.”

Liam studied her, not saying a word as the server removed the dip and set down their burgers. “You remember that too, huh?”

“I was angry with you for a long time, Liam,” she said. “But I never wanted to forget that night.”

And even if she wanted to, she couldn’t escape those memories.

“Are you still?” he asked, picking up his burger. “I know your brothers hold a grudge. It was written all over Brody’s face when I stopped by. But do you?”

“No. It was a long time ago.” And that was a big, fat lie. She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t. But this time, it was about more than a grudge. She wanted payback for the way he’d hurt her—and she wanted him to stay far, far away from Summers Family Trucking.