A Family Affair (Book 1 of the Smalltown Superstars Series)

5

Raven watched from the chair she was seated in as Liam and Harry scaled and filleted the fish they had caught for lunch. Steve built a roaring fire in the camp barbeque and lined the top with tinfoil. Clark was nice enough to provide them with some ice-cold beers, which in the heat of the afternoon were great. This day had been so pleasant so far, she hadn’t had the heart to mention the wedding and ruin it all. It had been so long since she had this much fun, she would have never expected to have it fishing, but she did and she didn’t want it to end. Besides Liam was most agreeable and friendly today. She much preferred him today than the stubborn ox he was yesterday.

She watched as Liam cut up the fish. The muscles in his arm and shoulder flexing as he cut away at the animal. She remembered what it felt like when his arms were wrapped around her in the river. She had thought casting that rod properly had been exciting until she looked back over her shoulder and her eyes met his. Those deep dark pools smoldering like there was a fire burning deep inside him threatening to engulf them both.

His arms were strong but gentle and she had been able to feel the heat radiate from him. For a moment she had thought he might try to kiss her. For a moment she had hoped he would. What was wrong with her? She was engaged to be married in s*x weeks and here she was lusting after another man. Lusting over her fiancé’s brother. Maybe she was just getting cold feet? That was normal wasn’t it?

After all Liam was incredibly attractive. She would have to be crazy not to think him so, but her attraction did not mean anything. One could be in love with someone and attracted to another. What mattered was one’s actions. “You are staring.” Maggie whispered with a giggle in her tone.

“I am not.” Raven snapped defensively. She probably had been but she was unwilling to admit it to anyone. She was a little embarrassed to have been caught.

“Please, soon you will be drooling, and who could blame you.” Maggie teased. “Too bad you are spoken for.” She sighed leaning back in her chair and lifting her beer can to her lips. “Not that that has ever stopped Dawson.” She grumbled half under her breath.

Her friend’s jab at her fiancé’s past infidelities hurt as they always did. She knew how Maggie felt about her marrying Dawson. Maggie disliked the idea all together. She thought very little of Dawson and made no attempt to hide it. In her opinion Dawson would never change and she didn’t understand why Raven put up with his many indiscretions. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.” She scolded.

“Do what?”

“Call Dawson down like that.”

“Well it is the truth. He is a cheat and I don’t know why you stay with him. I would have left him by now or at the very least cheated a few times myself. I mean what is good for the goose and all that, if you get my drift.” She said with a suggestive smirk and a nod toward Liam.

“Dawson’s changed.” She assured her friend.

“Men like that don’t change.” Maggie scoffed.

Raven was about to argue the point with her when the guys joined them and she decided to let the matter rest. Her fiancé’s bad behaviour was not something she cared to share with strangers. Liam tossed the fillets on the barbeque and dropped down into an empty chair next to Raven’s in a lazy sprawl. His long legs stretched out in front of him. He reached between the chairs and opened up the cooler that was there and retrieved himself a beer.

Steve started to cook the fish while he and Clark amused Maggie with a story of one of their many other fishing trips. “You will like the fish. Steve is a great camp cook. There is not a thing he can’t fry up over a fire.” Liam said flashing Raven a playful grin and took a sip of his beer. “So, you don’t really fish a lot, do you?” He said calling her bluff.

She had to admit she had not done very well at pretending to know what she was doing. Ray Charles could have seen she had no clue what to do. Raven blushed at having been discovered and decided to confess. “Actually no, this is my first time.”

“I would have never guessed.” He said feigning surprise.

“We borrowed the gear from Maggie’s brother so we could come down here and crash your fun.”

“I’m shocked in awe.” He said with a cocky smirk. Clearly, he had already suspected her answer.

“Yes, I can see that.” She laughed.

“So, what do you do?” He asked casually playing the get-to-know-you game.

“I cut hair to make ends meet, and in my off hours I teach dance lessons.” She said watching his reaction, but his expression never changed nor did his interest falter.

“What sort of dance?” He asked still interested.

“Ballet.” She answered. “I teach it to little girls every Tuesday and Thursday nights at the local community league building.”

He smiled. “That is really nice.” He said with what sounded like admiration. She was a bit surprised by it. Dawson had always considered her time teaching dance to be a waste of time. He had never taken any interest in it at all outside the slim flexible dancer’s body she received as a result of her efforts. “So, how did you meet Dawson?” He asked his tone turning a bit bitter as he spoke his brother’s name.

“He came in for a haircut one day and by the end of it he had convinced me to go out for drinks. One thing sort of led to another. Four years later here we are.” She smiled.

Liam gave a little impressed whistle. “Wow, four years really? I can’t picture my brother being faithful to one woman that long.” He teased. The painful truth must have shown on her face as she silently looked down at her beer because the next thing she heard was. “Oh… he hasn’t, has he?”

She looked up once more and her gaze met his and she could see in his dark eyes that he knew everything without so much as a word from her. “We have had our ups and downs, but he has changed.” She said making excuses for Dawson yet again.

“Sure, he has, and you?” He asked.

“Me what?” She asked not understanding what he was asking.

“Have you ever fooled around to get back at him?” He asked his eyes fixed on her as if he could see right into her.

“Never.” Raven swore, she had never been unfaithful despite how many times Dawson had hurt her. She just was not that type.

Their conversation was ended as Steve started dishing out lunch. Raven returned to the group conversation. The fish was delicious, and the company amusing. Clark had a guitar that he took out and entertained everyone with Willie Nelson tunes. Harry told some bad trucker jokes, which he attempted to clean up the language for the sake for the ladies, but they were still pretty dirty.

They drank some more and then decided to go rafting down the river. The guys had brought along a few rubber pool rafts, and an air pump for a bike. It didn’t take too long to blow up the rafts and they then trekked it up river to the far end of the camp ground where there was a public beach. Harry and Liam tied the lines together so that each raft was connected so no one would float away. Not that anyone was really worried. The river was shallow in most spots and the current wasn’t terribly fast.

They tossed the rafts out onto the water. They had only brought four, they had not expected guests, but each raft was more than capable of carrying multiple riders. Raven was about to suggest that she and Maggie share a raft when Maggie dived onto one right beside Steve laughing and settling nice and close instantly they were lost in each other’s eyes and grinning like fools.

Well then, she supposed that meant she was stuck sharing with one of the others. Liam moved over and patted the space beside him. “I will make some room.” He offered.

“Let those two have their fun.”

Raven accepted his gesture and she climbed onto the raft stretching out on her belly beside him. The close quarters forced her body up against his. She was disturbingly aware of how lean and hard his body was. “They do seem to be hitting it off, don’t they?” She laughed.

“That is an underestimate.” Liam said laying back his arm beneath his head.

“Is this safe?” She asked as they began to float down the river.

“Perfectly.” He assured her closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth of the late afternoon sun. “Just relax and soak up the sun.”

Raven took in a deep relaxing breath and laid her head down. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the way the rafted rocked and swayed with the gentle motion of the tiny rapids as they floated down river. Everything had been so nice. She didn’t have this sort of fun with Dawson. This wasn’t his kind of thing. Dawson was more in to parties, and gallery showings. Swanky mixers with high powered people. In fact, everything he did was related to work in one way or another.

He slept, ate, and breathed his job. The only time he wasn’t thinking about work in one fashion or another was when they were having s*x and they rarely did that any more since their schedules rarely coincided. Then again for all she knew he very well could be going over progress reports in his head at the same time and she would never know. It wasn’t that the s*x was ever bad, just that he was often distracted, and once it was over he was back on his cell phone or answering an e-mail, sending out a report or working on some proposal in the home office. She simply couldn’t compete with his job.

Most of the time she did things alone, ate alone, watched TV alone; sure, sometimes he was home but for all meaningful purposes he might as well had not been. It was really quite lonely, but it would change. Dawson promised, as soon as he made partner he would have more freedom, he would have more time to spend with her and they could start a family. She simply had to be understanding and patient until then. Still she sighed as the warm summer sun bathed her body. It would be nice to share a day like this with someone she loved.

Raven opened her eyes and saw Liam’s handsome face so close to hers. His eyes still closed. He looked so peaceful and content. She couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to be the woman he loved. She bet he didn’t leave his woman waiting up all night, or work all hours so he never saw her. He struck her as the kind of man that worked to live, unlike Dawson who lived to work. She wondered what it would be like to kiss Liam, to feel him kiss her back. Raven shook the thought out of her head and scolded herself for even thinking it. She had to stop fantasizing about this man.

They floated down to the spot where they had been fishing that morning and the guys jumped off the rafts and pulled them onto the bank. Liam offered his hand and helped Raven off the raft and then lifted the raft from the water. They headed back up the path to the camp site where they shared dinner and drank some more.

It began to get dark and Raven realized it was getting really late. It had to be well past ten by now and they still had to drive all the way back to the city which was at the very least two hours away. “We should be going, it is getting late.” She said to Maggie.

Maggie thrust out her bottom lip in a pout. “Must we?”

“Yeah it is a long drive.” Raven insisted.

“You can’t possibly.” Steve protested. “You have been drinking all day.”

“He is right.” Clark piped up. “You are too drunk to drive. You girls will just have to stay the night here.”

“I like that idea.” Maggie grinned.

“I don’t know. We didn’t bring a tent.”

“That is not a problem.” Steve winked at Maggie. “I can squeeze one more into mine, and I’m sure Liam would put you up seeing as how you two are practically family.” He told Raven.

Raven looked over at Liam who was lounging in his chair. He grinned and shrugged as if he had resigned himself to the fact that neither of them had a real choice in the matter. She supposed they were right. She did feel rather light headed from all the beer. She probably shouldn’t be driving. She supposed she really didn’t have much of a choice. “Ok we will stay.” She said giving in.

They stayed up a little later and drank a little more. Clark turned in first and then Harry. Soon after Maggie was making suggestive eyes at Steve and the two of them disappeared into his tent leaving Liam and Raven alone. Liam rose from his chair and kicked some dirt into the fire to put it out. “Let’s go to bed.” He said quietly. The simple sentence sending delightful shivers through her body. She scolded herself once more knowing he had not meant it the way it had sounded.

Raven rose and followed Liam into the tent trailer. It was very dark and she saw in the shadows that to one side was a bed made up and waiting and to the other was a place where a bed should have been but it was piled high with gear and other camp stuff but no mattress. Liam raked his fingers through his dark hair and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Normally this junk heap is a bed too but I wasn’t expecting company so I left the other mattress back on the ranch. I’m afraid I just got the one bed.” He said apologetically.

She understood his awkwardness. The idea of sharing a bed with this man was unnerving. He pulled back the covers and crawled into the bed and slid over as far as he could go. Raven looked at him and then back out at her car. Maybe she should just go sleep in her backseat. “I promise to be a gentleman.” He smirked as if he could read her mind. “Hands to myself I swear.”

Reluctantly Raven crawled into the bed beside him and Liam tossed the blanket over them both. He then rolled over and gave her his back. Raven was tense for some time, unable to sleep until she heard the steady breathing that assured her Liam was sound asleep. Raven closed her eyes and soon she was too.