Her Hometown Redemption

Tanya shook Marian’s hand and relaxed into her seat. She regarded the formidable woman across the desk with curiosity—and a hefty dose of determination. They’d reached a clear understanding, but that didn’t mean Marian could be trusted. Tanya cleared her throat and crossed her arms. “So...what else do you want to know?”

Marian picked up her mug. “Nothing...for now. But I do hope you’ll come to me to talk when you’re ready.”

“Why?”

Marian took a sip of her tea. “Because I know why you’re back.”

Unease lifted the hairs at Tanya’s nape, but she stayed perfectly still, her poise practiced and perfected. “Oh?”

“You’re back because you’re running home. Sasha told me how much you dislike Templeton and you’ve made your derision pretty clear to me today. Why come back to the Cove unless you needed someone, or something, you knew would still be here?”

Heat seared Tanya’s cheeks as Marian’s suspicions hit the bull’s-eye. Hadn’t she returned in the hope Liam would accept her apology and still be there for her? Hoped he wouldn’t just help her slip back into Templeton’s community, but help her find the man who hurt Sasha when she was a child?

She swallowed and forced her gaze to Marian’s. “This was my home for twenty-two years, I have every right to be here. I want to start over and make up for some of the hurt my decisions caused. But more than anything, I’m back to get some answers.” Goddamn it, why the hell did I say that?

Marian narrowed her eyes, all friendliness vanishing from her gaze. “Answers to what?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Tanya’s heart picked up speed. She needed answers to everything. Answers to who she was. Answers to where the man who hurt Sasha now hid. Answers about the depth of Liam’s pain and what she could do to atone for the careless way she’d treated him and their love.

Marian cleared her throat and stood, sliding her purse from the desk and hitching the strap onto her shoulder. “The Cove is a good and safe place for anyone needing protection and kindness, but both need to be earned. You’d be wise to let others in. Prove you can be trusted with their offers of help. Because, believe me, the offers will come.

“When I came in here, I was prepared for a showdown with what I had been told was one hard-nosed ball breaker. You’re a pussycat. A pussycat whose eyes tell me she’s afraid of her own shadow. You’re afraid to admit you’re as vulnerable and scared as the rest of us. Take my advice. Take off the mask and let us see the ugly. We won’t run away, promise.”

Tanya stayed perfectly still as she battled the trembling in her body. She would not weaken. She would not reveal a single indication of how much Marian had rattled her. The older woman ran her gaze over Tanya’s face and hair before giving a knowing nod and heading for the door.

Counting the seconds, Tanya concentrated on breathing until Marian stepped out onto the street and closed the door behind her.

Tanya released her held breath.

Now what? Was Marian right? Did Tanya need to take off the mask and start making some confessions and apologies already?

Her stomach knotted, but Tanya pulled back her shoulders. She would seek out the people she had ignored, rejected and judged. She would own what she had done and hope they accepted her apologies. If they couldn’t, then she would learn to accept that and do everything in her power to ensure she never acted cruelly again.

It was time to take action in every area of her plans, not just with the Party Place.

* * *

IT NEARED SIX o’clock by the time Liam walked along the sidewalk toward his office. The day’s blazing heat had yet to subside more than a degree or two, and his shirt stuck to his back like paper saturated in glue.

He stared at the facade of Tanya’s office. The blinds were drawn, as they’d been when he’d left for court hours before, yet he sensed her still inside.

Indecision battled with common sense as he glanced at the closed front door. All afternoon he’d alternated between concentrating on what people were saying to him at the courthouse, to wondering what Marian’s visit with Tanya had been about. More important, what Marian had said to her. The stark vulnerability and pleading in Tanya’s eyes when he’d been at her apartment remained branded on his mind. Marian was a fireball of a woman who should come with a warning.

Eight years ago, he wouldn’t have wasted a moment’s thought about whether or not Tanya could handle Marian. However, the Tanya of today was an entirely different matter. He understood she’d had her share of difficulties since she’d left the Cove, but concern she wasn’t fully over them continued to nag at his consciousness.

He inhaled deeply and looked both ways along the street before he strode toward Tanya’s office. This was it. If he knocked on her door, he was in for the long haul. Whatever was really going on with Tanya, he would get to the bottom of it and help her...because whatever it was, it spelled trouble. That much he was certain of, even if everything else about her was causing a mess of feelings in his gut.

He rapped his knuckles on the door before trying the handle just as Marian had that afternoon when she’d walked straight inside.

The door was locked.

Liam waited for an indication that the office was empty, but he only became more certain that Tanya was inside.

He knocked a second time.

Nothing.

He stepped toward the window and peered through the small gap between the frame and the closed blind. An array of glass display cabinets stood side by side, waiting to be filled with whatever party planners filled cabinets with, as well as a rolled rug or carpet. He was about to pull back and get his ass over to his own office where it belonged, when a very female shadow passed over the cabinets. Judging by the curve of breasts he remembered only too well, Tanya had just made herself visible. He smiled. “Got you.”

He walked back to the door and bent down, pushing open the letter box. “Tanya, open up. I know you’re in there. Look, I just want to talk to you, okay?” Liam darted his gaze over the gleaming white floor tiles and a stack of boxes. “If you’re still upset about the whole ‘tossing you on the couch’ thing, I’m sor—”

A brief glance of black denim–clad legs whipped into his limited vision before a lock clicked. Tanya flung the door open with such force he nearly fell face-first onto her office floor. He gripped the doorjamb and straightened.

Her sad, dark brown eyes bored into his. “You’re right. We do need to talk.”

“Good, because—”

“She’s right.”

Liam frowned. “Who?”

“Marian.”

“Ah. She bulldozed you, right? She talked so much sense at such speed you now feel like you’ve done something wrong, or not quick enough, or not the right way. We’ve all been on the receiving end of that. It’s what Marian does best.”

She crossed her arms. “Why do I get the impression you’re finding it funny that I’m her latest victim?”

He smiled. “You could never be anyone’s victim, but that doesn’t mean I want you upset by anyone, either.”

“Right.”

He frowned. “Are you okay?”

She blinked. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

His smile dissolved and something inside kicked painfully. “What?”

“I’m sorry for a lot of things, but I’m sorry for hurting you most of all.”

When a tear slipped down her cheek, Liam reached for her before he could think just how stupid a mistake that might be. “Hey, come here.”

He dropped his briefcase and pulled her into his arms. She lowered her head onto his chest, her body trembling. What the hell had Marian said to her? He gently maneuvered Tanya inside.

Keeping one hand on hers, Liam leaned down to retrieve his briefcase before kicking the door closed. Dropping the case a second time and leading Tanya to a low wooden cabinet, he lifted her up and settled her on top of it. Her knees parted and he stood between them...just the way he used to.

His heart thundered with the sudden need to kiss her, to feel her warm, soft lips on his. He dropped his gaze to her mouth. He couldn’t do that. Correction, he wouldn’t do that. Unless she asked him to.

He smoothed some fallen hair from her face. “What happened between us is in the past.”

She stared deep into his eyes. “Is it?”

He tightened his grip on her waist. In that moment, nothing felt in the past. She was here in his present and, God help him, he had a horrible feeling he’d soon want her in his future, too.

“Kiss me, Liam.”

Her whispered invitation cut through his heart and memory like a knife. He snapped his gaze to hers. “Tanya...”

“Please. Just one kiss.”

Her eyes were soft with pleading and when she flicked out her tongue to wet her lips, Liam came undone. A groan rumbled through his chest and into the quiet of the room before he leaned in and softly brushed his lips over hers. The contact, the memory, was too much to resist. He tightened his hold on her waist and took everything he’d missed for so damn long. Every hour, every week, every year of his past longing surged through him on an avalanche of pain that hurt as much as her abrupt departure.

Yet he didn’t pull away, and he didn’t refrain from putting his tongue to hers and kissing her deeply, passionately. Her hands slid up his arms to score through the hair at the back of his neck, and like a man starved, he fed deeper, longer and harder.

A whimper escaped her lips, and he slowly opened his eyes.

What the hell am I doing?

He abruptly released her and stepped back. Their harried breaths joined before Liam whirled away and pushed his hands into his hair. “I can’t do this.”

“Liam...”

He raised his hand, his back still turned to her. “No, Tanya. I can’t. It’s bad enough you’re here, but starting something with you would be too hard.”

The silence stretched before she released a shaky breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to kiss me.”

She’d gotten off the cabinet and stood before him, wringing her hands and darting her gaze from his to around the room. Her uncertainty wrenched at him and his need to distance himself from her suddenly vanished as though she’d reached in and yanked it straight out.

He fisted his hands on his hips and exhaled. “What did Marian say to you?”

“Well, she called me a pussycat, for a start.” She huffed out a laugh and wiped her fingers under her eyes. “That was a first from anyone.”

He couldn’t meet her smile. He wanted answers. “I saw her come in here this afternoon. You looked scared just now. Something I never thought I’d see. What did she say to you?”

Her gaze lingered a moment at his lips before she abruptly turned and walked to her desk. “That I need to show the people my ugly before I can expect to move forward.”

“She’s right.”

“I know.” Standing behind her desk, she crossed her arms in a feeble act of defiance, considering the panic so clearly etched in her gaze. “I shouldn’t have left as I did, but I was scared.”

He frowned. “Scared?”

“Of you.”

Liam dropped his arms and stepped closer. “Me?”

“Yes. Of what we had. Of what I felt for you. You were becoming more important to me than anything, and Mum had drummed into Sasha and me that love doesn’t last, money does. I was scared of losing everything I’d worked so hard for. Now I know just how stupid I was because ultimately, I lost you and everything else.”

Liam tried to fight the urge to walk out. How could he when there was so much unfinished business between them? Hating his need to have everything tied up in nice little boxes, Liam shook his head. “Okay, let’s get out of here.” He moved across the room and plucked her purse from an old-fashioned coat stand by the door. “We’re going back to my place. I’m going to cook you dinner and we’re going to talk. Properly.”

“What else is there to say? I’ve said I’m sorry.”

He spun around and glared, his anger and frustration returning. Her cheeks blazed red and panic shone in her gaze, but there was no way she wouldn’t be telling him more. Tonight.

“No more lying to me, Tanya. Something’s wrong. I’m not questioning if this is where you need to be. I’m questioning why you look so damn sad and nervous. Since when have you been afraid of anything or anyone? You’re in trouble. This isn’t all about you and me and what we had before. If you want my friendship back, you’ll level with me. If you can’t do that, I walk out the door and you don’t speak, look at or touch me again. Now, what’s it to be?”

Her study ran over his face, lower to his chest before she met his gaze. Liam clenched his jaw and pretended not to notice the way her eyes had darkened with unmistakable hunger.

“Fine.” She snatched a bunch of keys from her desk. “Your place it is.” She shot him a loaded stare before coming around the desk and brushing past him through the door.

She stood on the sidewalk, her brown eyes glinting with determination. She looked phenomenal. So like the woman he remembered and loved. Ignoring the hum of angry arousal simmering in his gut, Liam picked up his briefcase and joined her on the sidewalk.

She locked the door and faced him. “So, where are you living now?”

He glanced at her breasts. If only he didn’t know how she was in bed...if only he didn’t know her, period. He snapped his gaze to hers. “I’ve got one of the cottages over on Melonworth Drive. Come on. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can feed you.”

She gave a curt nod and stepped ahead of him across the street. Liam watched her go before sending up a silent prayer for the strength to get through the next couple of hours and whatever it was Tanya would soon tell him.

CHAPTER SIX

TANYA’S NECK AND shoulders ached with tension as Liam pulled his car to a stop outside one of a row of picture-perfect cottages on Melonworth Drive. A twenty-minute drive from Templeton’s town center, the pretty cul-de-sac was the epitome of Englishness. The house was beautiful, his car sleek and expensive, his suit professionally tailored. Intimidation inched into Tanya’s stomach and sat there like a lump of lead. Look at his life now and look at mine...

He cut the engine and silence fell.

Looking at him from the corner of her eye, Tanya waited. He stared straight ahead, his forehead creased with a frown and his jaw tight. Neither of them had mentioned their kiss since it happened, nor how they felt about it now. For her, the warm, soothing sensation of his lips still lingered on her mouth like the soft, sweet taste of cotton candy. No matter how sentimental and ridiculous the notion, she was all too aware of how much she would relive the kiss for days, maybe even weeks to come.

It had been a moment of weakness on her part; she had no idea what it had been for him.

She met his steady, unreadable gaze. “Changed your mind? Because if you have, I can walk back—”

“I haven’t.”

She swallowed, hating how her relief lightened the weight in her stomach.

His gaze dropped to her mouth before he turned and stared through his side window at the cottage. “It feels surreal you are about to enter a house that once upon a time I thought would be ours rather than just mine.” He faced her. “You do know by inviting you into my home, I’m opening more than one door, right?”

Unease rippled through her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, despite how I might have acted since you’ve been back, I still care about you. I want to help with whatever it is going on with you, if I can.”

She smiled, tentative joy speeding her heartbeat. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “Just don’t let me down. I need to know everything or nothing.”

Her mouth dried. Was this some sort of ruse that she’d blindly walked into? Did he expect her to bare her entire heart and soul to him right now? She opened her mouth to respond, to tell him she needed more time, more confidence, when he yanked on his door handle. He was out of the car in a flash and Tanya snapped her mouth closed.

What choice did she have but to go with him? Who, if not Liam, would believe her remorse for her actions both in Templeton and since? She had to do this. She had to share at least some of what had brought her to this sorry, lonely point. If she messed this up, she had no one else to lean on, and goddamn it, no matter how much she told herself she could go it alone...alone was lonely.

Taking a deep breath, she got out of the car and walked to Liam’s garden gate. He stood at the open front door waiting for her. As she walked up the paved walkway, she cast her gaze over the neat and tidy garden, bursting with color. The cottage roof was thatch and the windows latticed. It was beautiful. So far from what she expected Liam’s home to be, yet suited to the confident, almost mysterious man Liam seemed to be today.

Whereas chaos had once ruled supreme in Liam Browne’s life, Tanya now sensed a deep sense of organization and control. Something she’d said she needed from him eight years ago when she lived her life that way. How the tables had turned...

When she reached him, he held her gaze. “I hope you like dogs.”

Surprised warmth spread through her. “You have dogs?”

He grinned, devotion clear in his eyes. “Three.”

“Three?” Tanya raised her eyebrows and glanced around the regimented garden. “How is that possible when you have such a perfect garden?”

“They’re well trained in the art of doing as I say, just like my clients.” His smile faltered and his blue eyes darkened behind his glasses. “Unfortunately, other people I know take longer to fall into line.”

The insinuation was clear and Tanya smiled. “Maybe it’s just as well I’ve come back to challenge you on this dictator thing, then.”

His eyes flashed with amusement before he stepped over the threshold and held out his arm, gesturing her inside. Tanya entered the hallway and her breath caught. The place was stunning. Dark wood paneled the walls, and landscape prints, or maybe even original paintings, dotted the space and lined the wall leading upstairs. She glanced at the titles of the leather-bound books that filled the floor-to-ceiling bookcase beside her. A sucker for the Tudors, she smiled to see biographies of past kings and queens between volumes of law books.

At least they could talk about the merits of Henry VIII’s reign if all else failed.

Liam brushed past her toward a closed door at the end of the hallway. He paused with his hand on the doorknob. “You ready?”

Tanya stiffened. “For what?”

He waggled his eyebrows and she breathed in his playfulness like oxygen. Before she could match his smile, he pushed open the door and a mass of white, black and golden fur raced toward her with a barrage of scratching claws along the hardwood floor. “Oh my God.”

The dogs—large, medium and small—crashed into her legs, sending her teetering backward from a trio of wide-open mouths and slathering tongues. Tanya gripped the edge of a radiator and held on for dear life.

“Max, Domino, Luther, down. Now.” Liam’s voice boomed from the walls and the dogs immediately halted and fell from their hind legs to a much safer four-pawed stance.

Laughter bubbled in Tanya’s throat. The dogs’ demonic smiles were fabulous. “They’re...they’re...”

“Well trained.”

She met Liam’s soft gaze and her heart flipped over. His eyes sparkled with laughter and his smile was wide. “They only bite if I tell them to.”

“They’re beautiful.” Risking another barrage of licking, Tanya straightened and held out her hand to pet the dogs. All three of them collapsed onto their backs, their legs akimbo and their bellies exposed. She laughed and sank to her haunches. “Ah, all male. I should’ve guessed.”

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