Full Exposure (Independence Falls 1)

“Another meeting with the Department of Forestry today,” he said. “I need to head out now. Can you take Nate to school?”

“Of course.” She held out a plate. “Do you have time for breakfast first?”

He shook his head. “Tell Nate I’m sorry and I’ll make it up to him this weekend. He’ll be in bed by the time I get home tonight. You OK to work late again?”

“Sure.” She moved to the table, setting the plate in front of Nate’s booster chair. “I’ll cancel my hot date.”

Eric froze, his briefcase in hand. The pond. The shower. The look in her eyes as she came beneath him on his bed. The images paraded through his mind. She’d been right there with him, open, trusting, and completely his.

“I’m kidding, Eric,” she said. “I don’t have plans. No hot dates. Go kick butt in your meetings today. Don’t worry about us. I’ll take care of Nate. We’ll be fine.”

He nodded. “Thank you. If you’re still up, maybe I’ll see you tonight.”

“You will,” she said. “Count on it.”

Eric headed for his car, trying to focus his thoughts on work. But Georgia’s words, the soapy smell of her skin, and the mental picture of her smiling up at him, stayed with him as he drove down the drive and turned onto the main road.

Last night, Georgia had shared pieces of herself that she’d kept buried for the past few months. Her trust was like a living, breathing thing, right there beside them as she’d looked at the book Liam had given him, and then back at him. It had followed them into the shower, and into the bedroom.

But was that enough? Would it keep her from walking away?

Eric parked his car in front of the Department of Forestry building, mentally leaving his uncertainty at its side. Right now, he needed to focus on the investigation threatening his company and his best friend, and have faith Georgia would be waiting for him at the end of the day.

Chapter Fourteen

ERIC HEARD THE knock on his office door and lifted his head, glancing out the window. The last time he’d looked up the sun had been dipping behind the mountains. Now it had vanished. He’d been going over crew logs and paperwork ever since he’d left the meeting with Caroline Smith, the DOF director leading the investigation. If she’d been interested in a dinner date at some point, she wasn’t today. She’d been 100 percent professional. Not that Eric had offered. He was following the straight and narrow when it came to their investigation. He wanted to find out what happened as much as they did. It was his land and his responsibility.

“Come in,” he called.

Liam walked into the room, still dressed in his work clothes after pulling a long day in the field. Eric had assigned him to a BLM land harvest, but that was government property. Caroline Smith had pretty much told him to sideline Liam, especially when it came to Bureau of Land Management projects, until he was cleared of wrongdoing. She’d said if, but Eric wanted to believe it was a when.

“I got your message. What’s up?” Liam said, pausing in the doorway.

Liam never seemed comfortable in the office. And Eric could relate. It was hard to transition from working outside to a clean, refined office space. When Eric came in from a job, he often felt out of place in his boots and work clothes.

“Want a water or a beer?” Eric asked, pushing back from his desk.

“Water’s fine.”

Eric went to the minifridge he kept in the corner of his office and pulled out two plastic bottles. Handing one to Liam, he sat in one of the two leather chairs on t

he other side of his desk. Liam took the other.

“I heard the DOF was rough on you yesterday,” Liam said.

Eric nodded. “I met with Caroline again this morning. They received an anonymous tip that our crew was running the equipment and felling trees past one in the afternoon on the day the fire started. It was called in yesterday afternoon.”

“Shit.” Liam shook his head. “We weren’t. You know that. I was pushing the crew to get as far as we could so we could focus on loading the trucks. I had the guys from B&B Trucking waiting. We started loading by twelve forty-five that day.”

Eric nodded.

“It had to be the lightning that passed through the night before,” Liam said, leaning forward, resting his forearms on his thighs.

“It didn’t rain in the section you were cutting?”

“No.” Liam’s grip tightened on his water bottle.

“You walked the perimeter of the work site that morning, checking for signs of smoke before you fired up the equipment?” Eric asked. Caroline had poised a similar question that morning. If lightning started the fire, how did they not see the smoke?