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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.
54 www.samhainpublishing.com
Full Circle
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.
www.samhainpublishing.com 55
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.
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