Full Circle (9 page)

Elisa checked on Laura, admired her nephews’ painted cheeks, and watched the games, until it came time for Justin and Liam to face off against the management of Windy Flats’ most popular burger joint. When Liam strode onto the sand, sunglasses on, all bare bronzed skin and charming grin, he had one hundred percent of her attention. Would her schedule in Nashville allow her to fly home every weekend to see him?

Of course, that ridiculous thought was a byproduct of her unreasonable lust and the fact that years had passed since she’d had sex. That kind of dry spell could make a person crazy, as it had obviously done to her.

If she didn’t know Justin was in his thirties and Liam nearly there, she would have sworn they were both back in school, showing off for the scantily dressed women who crowded around the makeshift court to pant and giggle. One woman in particular caught Elisa’s eye, a younger girl with beautiful curls that tumbled halfway down her back. Alexis Hunter. Her mother had been part of the gossip session outside the ice cream shop.

Alexis attended the University of Texas full-time. Elisa had a summer class with her, and they saw each other every Tuesday when she went into Austin for school. As much as she wanted to hate Alexis for her beauty and her freedom—what she herself would give to be twenty-one again without a university withdrawal and a lost child already behind her—she couldn’t deny that the girl was kind.

And gawking at Liam as though her eyes were about to fall out of her pretty head.

Elisa didn’t know whether to be jealous or thrilled. No doubt Alexis wouldn’t turn down the chance to be Mrs. Liam Barton. He was hot, he had a prestigious job, and Alexis’s mother lived alone and would probably love to help out with a handful of grandkids.

The crowd cheered when Liam spiked the ball and sent his opponent sprawling in the sand. He pumped his fist in the air and gave Justin a high-five.

Laura’s teasing tone sounded in her ear. “Not bad, is it?”

“What, the game?”

“The view.”

Elisa waved her hand. “They know it too. Look at the way these women are staring. You should be worried.”

Laura laughed. “Not a chance. Justin’s not going anywhere. You, on the other hand, might want to stake your claim.”

“Are you kidding?”

“Elisa, the man is gorgeous. I guarantee you he’ll be taking somebody home tonight and wouldn’t it be nice if it were—”

“I encouraged him to come here for the specific purpose of meeting women. Women who are not
me
.”

“Is that what you want?”

Elisa stared at her friend for a long moment. “Yes,” she lied. “That’s what I want.”

Liam lingered at a water cooler and sucked down his eighth cup of the lukewarm liquid. No way was he going to pay three dollars to drink out of plastic instead of paper, especially when he’d probably end up spending thirty bucks to quench the thirst that game had brought on.

Thanks to Justin’s last-minute save and subsequent game-winning point, they’d won the final round of the tournament. The clinic would be getting some free publicity, and Liam needed all the new clients he could get. So long as business continued to grow, Justin had agreed to make him a partner effective a couple of weeks before the baby’s due date.

“Well, hello again, Dr. Barton,” a female voice purred.

Liam lowered his cup and found himself staring into the midnight-blue eyes of Alexis Hunter. How appropriate her surname seemed at that moment.

“Please, call me Liam,” he answered in the polite tone he always used with her. Maybe if he kept some professional distance between them, it would stop her from ripping her clothes off—or his.

Granted, she was attractive. Sexy, even. She wore a black bikini top decorated with white polka dots and a solid black miniskirt. The top only covered half of her breasts and he suspected it pushed them up quite a bit as well. If he had wanted a fling, this would be it. But he wanted a family.

And in the immediate future, he wanted Elisa.

“Liam.” His name rolled off Alexis’s tongue and disappeared into a seductive whisper. “I like that.”

The polite smile. The casual nod. He tried it all.

It didn’t work.

“You looked great out there,” she gushed, one red fingernail twirling a lock of her hair.

“Thanks. I’ve been playing for more years than I can remember.”

“It shows.”

Thank goodness he’d put his shirt back on or he was certain she’d take a bite out of him.

Alexis smiled sweetly. “Are you staying for the street dance this evening?”

“I’m not sure. Dr. Haley’s wife isn’t feeling too well, and I think I’ll be heading back with them to help out.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said a familiar female voice, as footsteps sounded behind him.

He almost spit out his water when he turned and saw Elisa standing there. How much of the conversation had she heard?

“It’s all taken care of,” she continued. “I’m going back to help Laura with the boys so Justin can stay here and talk up the clinic.”

Alexis clapped her hands. “So you’re free, then?”

“I don’t—”

“As a bird,” Elisa answered for him. A grin filled with ulterior motives stretched across her face.

“Elisa, are you sure Justin and Laura don’t need me for anything?”

“Absolutely.”

“You’re positive.” Liam stared at her, willed her to hear the words he wasn’t saying, the ones he couldn’t say in front of Alexis.
You’re positive you don’t mind if I spend the day with another woman. Even after what happened at my place.

He could see in her eyes that she understood.

“Positive.” She quickly turned to Alexis and gave her a friendly smile. “You two have fun. Have him home by midnight,” she teased with a wagging finger.

Alexis laughed. “I don’t know about all that.”

The younger girl winked at him, and Liam pushed aside the guilt he felt for enjoying the attention. Elisa had made it clear she wanted him to find someone else. He’d hoped she had been playing hard to get, but if she could stand there and order him to spend the evening with a willing, beautiful woman, then she truly wasn’t interested. It hurt, but at least he knew the truth.

He had to move on. Now was as good a time as any.

“All right,” he conceded. “I’ll see you later, then.”

“Monday morning, eight o’clock sharp.” With a quick wave, Elisa spun and walked back to the blanket where Justin, Laura, Kevin and Jack sat eating sandwiches beneath the tree.

Liam swallowed his sense of loss and studied Alexis. She
was
lovely, and she did want him. He’d be a fool to blow her off. One day with her wouldn’t hurt anybody, least of all Elisa.

“You two know each other?” he asked.

“Yeah, we have a class together. Elisa’s really sweet. I’m sure it’s great having her for a secretary.”

Liam cringed, glad that Elisa hadn’t been around to hear that comment. Though he could tell Alexis liked Elisa and hadn’t meant to be negative, Elisa would have been insulted. She had such big dreams and being a secretary certainly wasn’t one of them.

“Elisa’s very sharp. Fun to be around,” he said absently, envisioning her daily post behind the front desk and the way he longed to kiss her every morning when he walked in the door.

“She’s kind of quiet in school. But she always gets A’s and that’s what I’m jealous of. I guess she spends a lot of time studying. I’d rather have some fun, you know what I mean?” With a giggle, Alexis placed her palm against his back and led him across the grass to introduce him to a group of her friends.

A few hours later, the street dance was in full swing. Liam had to admit, he was having a good time. He’d spent the afternoon meeting nearly everyone in town, had given out several business cards and even been invited to lunch by a single thirty-something after he’d saved her dog from heat exhaustion. The woman owned a small tax business and had moved from Houston to Windy Flats to care for her widowed mother, only to end up loving the town so much she’d decided to stay.

Then there was Alexis, who had made it clear she attended college only to please her mother and would be more than happy to stay at home and raise “two or three cute babies”. Every time he turned around, he met a kind, attractive woman interested in giving him exactly the kind of life he’d come here to begin.

If only he hadn’t run into Elisa first.

He wasn’t quite sure why he was so drawn to her. Sure, she was pretty and spunky, and when she let her guard down, the most passionate woman he’d ever met. Though they had only been together one night so long ago, he would never forget how fascinated she had seemed by everything that happened between them and all the ways he had touched her. It wasn’t too surprising, given that her only other experiences had been at the hands of a self-centered prick.

Still, there was something else. Was it the challenge? In college and at his private practice in Dallas—not to mention the bars—women had hit on him enough that Elisa’s new witty, distant attitude had a way of turning him on.

But in the long-term, he didn’t want a challenge—he wanted a wife and children. He wanted to realize his mother’s dreams of a big extended family, and pass on the happy childhood he had spent with his parents and three brothers. Given all the ladies who had shown him interest during the picnic, why did his mind remain on Elisa, who didn’t want any of it?

“Oh, Liam!” Alexis left the girlfriend she’d been talking with and rushed to his side as slow, rhythmic music began to play over the speakers. “I love this song. Let’s dance.”

She grabbed his hand and marched to the middle of the main street that ran through Windy Flats, a section of which had been blocked off to accommodate the celebration. Couples swayed all around them, and Alexis wasted no time wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning close to him.

Chapter Seven

Elisa didn’t recognize the slow melody that played in the distance, but its thumping bass line magnified the loneliness that had been rippling through her since she’d left her brother’s house. When Justin had arrived home from the picnic, he and Laura had settled in for a quiet evening and Elisa had returned home, where she now sat in her driveway, alone with her thoughts.

Her car’s overhead light faded and left her shrouded in blackness. A couple of blocks to the east, Justin and Laura were curled up on their sofa watching TV together. To the west, most of the people in Windy Flats danced, drank and laughed…together. Elisa had never been much of a romantic, and she didn’t understand the moisture that burned behind her eyes for the second time that day.

She couldn’t stand to be alone for another minute. She shoved the door open and got out of the car, looking down the street to the glow that emanated from the extra lighting the town had set up for the dance. Not knowing exactly what she planned to do when she got there, she took off toward the party, her shoes crunching on loose pellets of gravel. She slowed her pace as she approached. Most of the crowd had paired off for a slow dance, and she didn’t want to appear more isolated than she already felt.

As she stood in the dark outside the rectangle of light that encased the celebration, she caught sight of what she hadn’t known until that moment she wanted to find.

Liam Barton and he wasn’t alone.

A golf ball-sized lump of regret lodged in her throat at the sight of his arms around the tiny waist of that younger, prettier woman. Yes, she had told him to spend the afternoon with Alexis. She’d said that she was okay with it—she’d practically made him go.

But she hadn’t
meant
it—hadn’t he seen that? Didn’t he know that when she succumbed to kissing him, something she hadn’t been able to do with any other man since her life changed, she had given up all hope of being indifferent to his relationships with other women?

Of course he didn’t. He couldn’t have known that. Because she hadn’t even known it until just now.

As fast as she’d made the decision to rejoin the picnic, she turned around and hurried away.

“You smell so good,” Alexis cooed, nuzzling the front pocket of Liam’s shirt. “What is that cologne you’re wearing?”

He didn’t answer. He couldn’t even think straight and he was beginning to feel sick. Alexis rested her head on his shoulder, and his back went rigid.

Something about being at the party with this girl seemed very wrong. It was nearly dark. The fireworks display would be starting soon, but the only woman he wanted to hold in his arms beneath the colorful show of light was Elisa.

His mind kept drifting to their kiss from a couple of weeks ago, and the time they’d made love years before that. It wasn’t a lot of intimacy, but it was enough. Elisa wasn’t the kind of woman who would take her clothes off for anyone who asked. They had shared something, and standing there holding another woman—a girl he didn’t know or want—felt like a betrayal. The second chance he’d longed for in his youth had been staring him in the face since his first day at the clinic.

The look in Elisa’s eyes when she’d walked away that afternoon had been one of anxiety, not happiness. She rarely told the truth regarding her emotions, and once again she had played the card of indifference. He had convinced himself that she didn’t want him. He had done it to make himself feel less rejected and less guilty for spending the evening at Alexis’s side.

He had made a huge mistake. And if anything was going to happen between them, he had to find out now.

He unraveled himself from Alexis’s grasp. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”

“Now? But—”

Her objection faded into the distance as he made his way to his car. He didn’t want to be rude, but he also didn’t want her to follow him. He had things to think about, and he wished he had just left earlier when Laura and Elisa had taken the kids home.

The five-minute drive seemed to take an hour. He glanced at the clock on his car stereo. It was after nine—too late to call Justin and get Elisa’s phone number?

No, that would be obvious, and he didn’t want Justin to think he was preoccupied at work. His first inclination was to go straight to Elisa’s house, but that event had scared the daylights out of both of them last time.