BareBottomGirl (10 page)

Liam stopped mid-motion, his fingers going still on his fly.
“The one where the boat exploded?”

“Very same.”

“
Shit!
No wonder she nearly passed out when I
mentioned the river. What happened to her? Did you look up the medical records?”

“Yes. She was brought to St. Mark’s. Two broken legs, and
she was burned.”

Liam tossed his discarded clothing into the laundry hamper. “How
bad?”

“Skin grafts and plastic surgery bad.”

Liam padded into the bathroom with Chas behind him. He
glanced over his shoulder to see him eyeing his butt. “No way. Not with Wyatt
awake. Won’t even shower together, and I get first dibs.”

Chas grimaced. “Fine. I’ll shave.”

As Liam adjusted the water temperature he turned. “Wasn’t
somebody killed in that accident?”

“Yeah. The guy driving the boat. Markus Spencer. Same age as
Greer.”

Liam stepped in the shower and shut the glass door. He
remembered the accident. It had gotten a lot of play in the press because of
the ongoing debate over the amount of river traffic. The collision had just
heated everything up again. More recreational traffic on the river had
increased close calls and accidents involving commercial traffic. As Liam
remembered this case, the driver of the boat had failed to see the barge
bearing down on them. No way could one of those monsters maneuver out of the
way, if it had even seen the ski boat to begin with.

And Greer had somehow survived. More than incredible, it was
a fucking miracle.

* * * * *

The restaurant’s huge parking lot was packed with cars. As
soon as they piled out of Chas’ Bimmer, Greer heard the classic rock and roll
coming from the back of the building. How many times had she come here with
friends? She couldn’t even remember. In most cases, they’d come in from the
other side—the river, tying three deep along the shore while they ate and
partied, jumping from boat to boat.

“Come on, Greer!” Wyatt tugged at her hand.

Jerked back to the present, she saw Chas and Liam watching
her with concern. Greer took a deep breath and smiled.

“Sorry.”

“Everything okay?” The question, coming from Liam, surprised
her, as did the soft concern in his dark eyes. Two words and a look was
apparently all it took to turn her into jumble of emotion.

“I’m good.”

When they weaved their way to the patio, the band was in
full swing, the lyrics of an old Beatles tune floating out over the crowd in
the lead guitarist’s mellow tenor. Most of the tables were full, and the band
seemed to have its own group of fans hovering nearby. Greer didn’t see any
available seats. She gnawed at her lower lip, knowing what would come next. The
question was who would voice the suggestion.

“I wanna see the boats.” Another tug from Wyatt, harder this
time because Greer felt as though her feet had suddenly glued themselves to the
walkway. While people laughed as they passed by, Wyatt led her closer to the
river. Boats bobbed at their moorings, the sun glinted off the water and, in
the distance, the long silhouette of a barge chugged downstream.

Her throat started to close.

“Why don’t you let Daddy take you to see the boats, Wyatt,”
Chas suggested at the same time he firmly grasped her opposite arm. “Greer and
I are going to sit under this tree for a few minutes and listen to the music.”

She was only dimly aware of Liam swinging Wyatt into his
arms and giving her a steady, questioning look. Greer looked away. She didn’t
know what to say, how to explain, but when she looked at Chas, she saw the
knowledge in his expression.

“Breathe, Greer. We’ll talk in a minute. You need me to
count you?”

“No.” She glanced uneasily at the water. “Can we go back,
closer to the band?”

“No problem.” Chas tucked her arm in his and led her in that
direction.

Greer glanced at the musicians, an eclectic mix of guys
playing music that sat well with a clientele a little older than the crowd on
most of the boats. She sighed.

“You know, don’t you?”

“About the accident? Your injuries? Yes.” He guided her to a
seat on a bench under a towering cottonwood tree. Taking her hand in his, he
gently rubbed. “Greer, honey, if just getting this close to the river does this
to you…”

“Stop!” she hissed. “It’s not just that. We hung out here,
mostly where all those boats are docked. I’d bet if I went down there, I
probably know half the people there. I was the proverbial river rat, and so
was…”

Chas stared at her. “Markus?”

Greer pulled her hand away. “You were very thorough in your
research, Dr. Lynch. Did you check out my medical records too? After all, you
work at the biggest trauma center in the area.”

He didn’t need to answer. She saw the flush on his cheeks.

“I saw the edge of your burn. Saw how you reacted the other
night. I wasn’t trying to be nosy, just trying to understand.”

“Why? So you could suggest I take meds or see a shrink? Is
the next step firing me because I’m too screwed up to be around your kid?”

Before he could respond a high-pitched female voice
squealed. “Greer! What are you doing here?”

She was hauled to her feet and wrapped in a bone-crushing
hug. Even feeling the contact to her scarred flesh through her clothing made
her cringe, as if somewhere deep inside her psyche she believed they would feel
her disfigurement. As politely as she could, Greer tried to pull away.

“Where the
hell
have you been?” Cassie asked. They’d
been casual friends all through school, had hung out on the river during long,
hot summers, and Greer hadn’t seen one glimpse of her in the weeks following
her accident, let alone the years.

“I’ve been around. How are you, Cassie?”

“Good…” She saw her former friend’s eyes drifting to Chas.
Without waiting for an introduction, she stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Cassie.”

“Chas…”

“He’s a surgeon at St. Mark’s,” Greer cut in, hoping Cassie
would just go.

“One of your doctors?” Cassie flushed.

Liam and Wyatt returned before she could answer.

“Greer!” Wyatt piped. “I got on a boat.”

She scooped the little boy up, catching Liam’s eye and
seeing the flash of anger.

“Greer manages our household and cares for Wyatt.”

Cassie’s avidly curious expression flicked between the two
men as if she were mentally adjusting her internal radar. Greer could almost
see when she arrived at “gay” by the smirk on her face.

“You should come,” Cassie told her. “All the old gang’s
there.”

“Not all of them.” Greer raised her chin. “Thanks, anyway,
but I’ll stay with these guys.”

Cassie glanced between Liam and Chas again, then shrugged. “Okay.
See you around.”

Greer remained silent. Chas took Wyatt from her arms and
began questioning the boy about what he’d seen. Greer cleared her throat and
stared off toward the restaurant, feeling awkward and exposed, like her life had
just become fodder for every gossip.

“I’m sorry, Greer.” Liam’s serious whisper brought her gaze
back to him. “I didn’t think when I suggested we come here.”

She shook her head. Her heart ached for everything she’d
lost five years ago, but it ached even more to realize most of what she’d lost
hadn’t even been worth the amount of time she’d spent mourning it. This wasn’t
the time or the place for an explanation, so she just took Liam’s hand and
squeezed.

“I’m fine, Liam. There’s a table open on the deck. Should we
get some dinner before it gets too late for Wyatt?”

He tucked her hand in his elbow and covered it with his free
hand. “You’re one hell of a woman, Greer.”

She wasn’t so sure. A major part of her wanted nothing more
than to get back in the Bimmer, head back to Liam’s house and crawl into her
bed so she could hide beneath the covers. She glanced up, finding Chas and Liam
both watching her with soft expressions, and she took a deep breath. Everything
would be all right.

She was stronger than she knew, Chas concluded as he watched
the way she handled herself at the restaurant. Two more people approached
during the course of their meal, telling him something else about Greer. She’d
been well known in the area, popular, and apparently, from how people reacted
when they recognized her, had all but disappeared.

While he realized her injuries had been traumatic and her
recovery long, it seemed odd she’d completely cut herself off from her past—or
so it appeared.

By the time they walked back to the parking lot, Liam was
carrying a sleeping Wyatt in his arms. Chas kept a hand at Greer’s waist to
guide her through the lot to the car. She insisted on sitting in back with
Wyatt, so Chas had a chance to watch her in the rearview mirror. In the
intermittent light that shone on her face during the drive along the narrow
road bordering the river, Chas caught her pensive expression and wondered if
she regretted leaving her friends behind.

When he remembered how close she’d teetered on the verge of
another panic attack, though, he realized regret had nothing at all to do with
it.

“I’ll put Wyatt to bed,” she murmured when they pulled into
the parking area just off the kitchen.

“Come back when he’s settled,” Liam said. “I’d like to see
some of your artwork.”

Chas turned to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of wine and
holding it with an arch of his brow. When Liam nodded, he found a corkscrew and
set about opening it. They’d just taken it and a plate of cheese, fruit and
crackers into the den when Greer stuck her head in the door.

“Can I get—”

“Your artwork,” Liam finished. “I’m serious. I want to see
what you’ve got.”

Greer swallowed, trying to think of some protest to make and
totally unable to come up with a thing to say that wouldn’t sound rude. Instead,
she nodded.

In her room, she went to her drawing table, looking at the
sketch of Liam she’d started. Not that. Without overthinking it, she grabbed
her portfolio and her most recent sketchbook, all the time telling herself she
needed to look at this from a professional standpoint. When a sculptor as well known
as Lee Carle asked to see her work, she showed him the best she had and didn’t
try to find reasons to wiggle out of it.

Any of her fellow art majors in school would be green with
envy if they knew where she was and who was asking to see her portfolio.

That still didn’t prevent her from feeling overwhelmed when
she got back to the den. With a nervous swallow, she handed her portfolio to
Liam and set her sketchbook on the table in front of him. As he untied the
strings holding it closed, Chas gestured for her to sit between them.

“Wine?” he asked while Liam flipped through the work.

“Yes, please.”

The portfolio held everything she’d done in two years at the
University of Louisville before the accident, before she’d quit. Liam smiled at
some of her sketched portraits, but his examination slowed, becoming more
intent as he looked at the watercolors. He glanced at her, his dark brows knit,
and returned, this time pulling out a couple of different pieces. When she saw
one of them was a nude she’d done of Markus, she downed the rest of her glass
of wine in one gulp.

“These are old… Just things I did in college…before…” She
stopped.

Chas took her hand, his thumb chafing the back of it.

Liam set the painting down, picked up her sketchbook. His
brow furrowed even more, making her so nervous she was afraid she’d throw up.

“These are new,” he commented.

“Yes.”

“The others are good. These are better, more mature. You’re
going deeper into your subject, interpreting instead of just observing.” Liam
set the sketchbook down. “Why didn’t you finish?”

She glanced nervously from him to Chas, her heart pounding.

“I couldn’t. I tried. After I got out of the hospital.” Chas
pulled her back so she rested against his side, as if he thought the feel of
his body behind hers would offer the support she was unable to give herself.

Liam’s eyes narrowed. “What happened?”

She fought the panic hovering around the edges of her
thoughts. “My professors were all understanding, but I couldn’t concentrate,
couldn’t finish anything. So I quit.”

“But now you’ve started again. When?”

“When I worked for Mrs. Henry. I had a lot of down time.”

He flipped to the sketches, some in charcoal, some in
pastels, most depicting scenes from a garden. “These.”

“Yes.”

“Very safe. Flowers.”

She swallowed, feeling stung by his remark.

“It was all I could do.”

He flipped through several pages. “Did you even realize what
you did with each of these drawings?”

“What do you mean?”

He tapped a bright pastel with his index finger. “Each one
contains blossoms in every facet—bud, opening, full bloom, fading and dead.
Most people don’t compose a drawing that way.”

“I drew what I saw,” she defended.

“You drew what you knew,” he countered, “what you felt, what
you’d experienced.”

She leaned more tightly against Chas, taking comfort when he
wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“But you’ve changed even since then.” Liam spoke almost as
if he talked to himself. “Your newest drawings are predominantly people.” He
glanced up. “Have you ever tried three-dimensional media?”

Greer shrugged. “Some. In high school.”

“Why didn’t you stick with it?”

“We just weren’t taught much. We learned basic pottery
techniques, but didn’t really work sculpting.” Her stomach jumped nervously,
her brain afraid to even consider where this might be going.

“Would you like to try?”

Try working with Lee Carle? Try having a sculptor of his
stature as a mentor? Her former classmates would kill for this opportunity. But
there was so much more at work here—her insecurities added to the developing
personal relationship with Liam and Chas. She’d felt connected as she hadn’t
before. Every touch, every look, and yes, every kiss they gave her was a clear
message where they were headed. How did working with Lee Carle fit with that?

“I don’t know.”

Liam raised his brows as if he found her response as hard to
imagine as she did herself. Nerves working overtime, she gathered her work
together, clutching it to her chest as she stammered. “I mean, I— There’s
Wyatt…and the house…”

“If you’re not interested,” Liam said as if he didn’t care, “just
say so. I’ve got plenty to do without taking on a student.”

She needed to explain, needed him to understand. She closed
her eyes, her throat working as she tried to calm herself and her churning
stomach.

“Greer?” Chas stood, taking her work from her before guiding
her over to a chair.

She shrugged away from him, knowing she had to make Liam
understand.

“Itwasmorethanjustnotbeingabletoconcentratethatmademequit.”

“Excuse me?” Liam queried coolly.

“I panicked,” she whispered. “They had to take me back to
the hospital.”

Liam crossed the room and knelt in front of her, taking her
hands in his and holding them softly. “No pressure, Greer. I let Wyatt come in
to play with clay. Why don’t you bring him, and both of you can.”

His look was steady, easy, his hands comforting and warm.
She held his gaze and some of her tension evaporated. He smiled at her, and it
eased even more.

“The nice thing about clay, baby? If you don’t like it, you
can smash it back into a big blob and start over.” Liam leaned in and pressed a
soft kiss against her lips.

She was about to respond when they all heard Wyatt cry. Liam
jumped up, but Greer stopped him.

“I’ll go. You stay with Chas.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. If he wants someone to get in bed with him, I’ll fit a
whole lot easier. Besides, it will give me time to think.”

Wyatt sat in his little toddler bed, a teddy bear clutched
in one hand while he kept his other hand clamped in a tight little fist and
rubbed his eyes.

“Hey, baby,” Greer whispered as she hurried across the rug. “You
have a bad dream?”

He held up both arms, his bear hanging limply by one foot. “Y-yes.”

She sat next to him on the bed and pulled him into her lap,
his pull-up-clad bottom feeling a little bigger under his Elmo pajamas. Greer
let him lay his cheek against her chest while she stroked his hair.

“You want to tell me about it?”

“Cat Woman’s on the roof. She’s comin’ down the chimley.”

Greer pictured Julie and had to admit it was just a bit
scary. She kissed the curls on top of Wyatt’s head. “You want me to check to
make sure she’s not there?”

He leaned back so he could look at her. In the glow from the
nightlight, his eyes were wide. “You’re not scairt?”

Greer shook her head. “I’ve been trained in monster and bad-guy
defense tactics. I have a black belt.”

“Like Kung Fu Panda?”

“Exactly.” Greer looked around. “I’ll need a flashlight.”

Wyatt scrambled off the bed and hurried to his bag. “I gots
Buzz Lightyear.”

He held out a flashlight shaped like the movie character,
and Greer took it. “That’s perfect. You wanna help?” He clutched his bear and
shook his head. Greer smiled. “That’s okay. Climb in bed. You can watch me.”

She turned on the flashlight and tiptoed over to the
fireplace. With elaborate exaggeration, she bent low, shined the flashlight up
the fireplace and looked inside. The flue was closed, of course, but she still
moved the light around as if searching.

“Nope, no Cat Woman. No monsters. You want me to look
anywhere else?”

Wyatt nodded and pointed to the windows. Greer nodded, happy
to see when she stopped in front of the full length panes the locks were high
enough and sturdy enough little hands couldn’t open them. But she could, so she
opened the first window, pushed it up and leaned out to look around.

“It’s all clear.”

She shut the window and looked over her shoulder. Wyatt sat
with his back to the wall and his thumb in his mouth. When he saw her looking, he
took it out really fast. Maybe that was part of the reason Mommy was the bad
guy.

“You want me to stay?”

He scooted over. “Will you sleep wif me?”

Greer smiled. “Sure. I think we can both fit. I’ll stay ’til
Daddy and Chas come. Okay?”

He nodded. Greer tucked him in then stretched out on top of
the colorful bedspread. Liam and probably Chas too had taken a lot of time
creating a room in which Wyatt could be comfortable. The least she could do was
stay with him until he fell asleep again.

She knew what it was like to have bad dreams. They’d haunted
her in the months following the accident.

“You want me to tell you a story so you can fall asleep?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. My Mommy used to read this to me…so I memorized it—

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night

Sailed off in a wooden shoe—

Sailed on a river of crystal light,

Into a sea of dew.”

As she continued the rhyme, Wyatt listened, his eyes
gradually drifting shut. By the time she finished, he had drifted off to sleep.
Greer watched him, curling her hand beneath her cheek.

Yes, she knew what it was like to have nightmares, but it
was so hard to recall those when she stared at such sweet innocence. She
swallowed. Wyatt was just three. Had Markus… No, that was the past. She had a
future now finally beginning to look brighter.

She thought of Liam’s offer. Maybe if she tried working in a
different medium, she would have fewer problems. She knew just how generous his
offer was. To be able to study with someone as knowledgeable as him was more
than an honor. Students would pay to be able to do it.

* * * * *

Chas glanced at the clock. “She must have fallen asleep with
him.”

Liam nodded. “Let’s pick this stuff up and head upstairs.
You know, maybe she should move into your room while Wyatt’s here, so she’s
close to him.”

“Not a bad idea. It’s not like I use it. Wyatt knows we
sleep together, and he’s cool with that. So having Greer upstairs would just
make things easier.”

They’d walked into the kitchen by this time, carefully
scraping the crumbs off the plate into the garbage, then rinsing everything.
Liam leaned his back against the counter. “So, if he’s adjusted to the idea of
you and me, how hard do you think it would be for him to adjust to adding Greer
to the equation?”

Chas shook his head. “I don’t think it would be a leap at
all. Clearly, he’s already taken to her. I don’t think he’s the problem at all.”

“So would it be Greer…or Julie?”

Chas sighed. “Both. Until Greer opens up about what’s
happened to her, I think it would be difficult for her to truly accept a
relationship with either one of us, let alone both of us.”

“What about last night?”

“Sex. The heat of the moment.”

Liam crossed his arms across his broad chest. “This might
seem premature, but I want more. What about you?”

Chas’ jaw tightened. “Yeah. Neither one of us have ever made
a secret of the fact we like women. You just got hooked up with the wrong one.
Finding one we’re both attracted to is amazing.” His eyes softened. “She’s
pretty special. Like you.”

“Yeah. I don’t want to fuck this up.” He thought of the way
Wyatt looked at her. She’d already won over his son—and them. “I’ll admit, at
first, I had my doubts about her even working for us, but she’s perfect.”

“In every way.” Chas agreed. He stepped over to Liam and
brushed his lips in a quick kiss. “Let’s go check on her.”

Liam led the way up the stairs after they turned off the
lights. Once again, he stopped in the doorway, caught by the sight in front of
him. Chas looked over his shoulder, his hand squeezing gently.

“See that?” he whispered at the sight of Greer and Wyatt
together. “She has to stay with us.”

Liam nodded, unable to take his eyes from his son and Greer.
She was curled around his tiny body, her arm protectively over him. He wanted
to curl around them too.

“Julie never did that.”

“Slept with him?”

“Went to him when he woke. It was always me.” Liam
swallowed. “It’s what worries me about her having primary custody. Who’s with
him when he cries? And here’s Greer, little more than a stranger to him, yet
she holds him as if he were her own.”

Chas rubbed his shoulder. “You want me to carry her?”

“Yes. I’ll make sure Wyatt stays asleep.” He stopped Chas as
he started to move past him. “Take her to our room. I don’t want her waking by
herself, not sure where she is.”

Their gazes held for a moment. Unspoken between them was the
feeling of rightness. She fit them as if she’d been dropped on earth
specifically to complete a relationship already more loving than anything Liam
had known before.

She stirred only enough to wrap her arms around Chas’ neck
and lean her head against his shoulder, then Liam saw her go boneless again as
Chas passed him. He wanted to touch her, let her know how much her care of his
son meant. Even more, he wanted her to know how much she meant—his gaze shifted
to Chas, to the way his face was angled toward her. Greer had affected all of
them.

Liam knelt next to Wyatt’s bed, and he wondered. Was it
possible they could make a life together? The three of them? There were
practicalities to consider. He closed his eyes. Opened them again. And he was
getting way ahead of himself. Greer might not be on board. It wasn’t as if
their relationship would fit the norm.