Full Exposure (Independence Falls 1)

“I’ll ride with you,” he said to Liam. “While you drive, I’ll call and have the chopper ready. A flyover will give us a better idea where to put the line and set up the base camp. And I’ll call the crews. We’ll take shifts.” Then Eric turned to her. “You’ll have to get Nate up, fed, and ready for school.”

Georgia nodded. She could do all of those things. She didn’t want him worrying about Nate while out cutting trees in the middle of the night with a forest fire bearing down on him and his men.

“But I’ll be back to take him to school,” Eric said.

“I can do it.”

Eric shook his head. “I’ll be here.”

The men headed for the front door and Georgia followed. Eric paused, waiting for her brother to step out into the night, before turning back to her.

“Georgia,” he said softly, “when I get back, we need to talk.”

She waited until he disappeared into the darkness before shaking her head. Talking was the last thing she wanted to do. She needed things to go back to the way they were before she’d walked into his room and dropped her towel—before an emotional tidal wave had threatened the walls she’d constructed around her feelings, destroying the sense of security that kept her going from one day to the next. And she had to keeping going. She’d lived. She owed it to those who didn’t make it to find her way forward, not fall apart.

BY SEVEN ON Tuesday morning, Eric was running on fumes. He’d worked through the night, felling trees alongside his crew. If they held off the fire, he’d come back and salvage the downed trunks for timber. It wasn’t ideal. Nothing about a raging forest fire was.

He walked through the base camp and nodded hello to the men, who raised their hands in greeting, but he didn’t stop to talk. Smoke hung heavy in the air, and there was no mistaking the smell of burning fir trees. The mood at the camp was solemn, and no one expected chitchat. In the distance, he could see the fire jumping from the crown of one tree to the next.

It was heartbreaking to watch. His grandfather had bought this land, and Eric had grown up caring for those trees. He’d worked alongside his father, limbing them to prevent something like this from happening. One damn spark and it all went up in flames.

Eric looked away, scanning the camp. Volunteers had set up a table with to-go boxes of coffee, bottled water, and food. He headed over. If he was going to take Nate to school, he needed caffeine.

“Hey, man, you headed out?” Liam asked.

He must be more exhausted than he thought. He hadn’t noticed his friend’s approach. Eric nodded, filling a paper cup with lukewarm coffee.

“You might want to come straight back. The wind is changing directions,” Liam said. “The fire chief is talking about evacuating homes to the east.”

“I heard. Talked to him an hour ago. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He had to get Nate settled first.

Liam nodded. “If you have a chance, check in with Georgia. She seemed off last night. I’m afraid she is going to do something stupid.”

Too late for that. She’d found her latest rush. Him. Part of him was glad Georgia had come to him. It was physically safer than jumping out of planes, and the thought of her hitting on some random guy . . . damn, that felt like a punch to the gut. But hell, for all he knew, she’d been seeing half the men in the valley since she’d been home.

“I’ll check on her,” Eric said, stirring his coffee. He felt like a teenager, but he had to ask. “Do you know if she is seeing someone?”

The muscles in Liam’s jaw jumped. “She better not be. She’s not ready for that. If you hear different, tell me.”

Eric looked off into the distance where the orange flames danced on the tops of the trees: a physical reminder of how one mistake could destroy something that had taken decades to grow, like a friendship.

“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.