If I Can't Let Go (If You Come Back To Me #2) by Beth Kery Read Free Book Online Page A

waters.
    No, that wasn’t honest. It was her fascination with Liam that was risky.
    Natalie had never slept with a man. She knew she was a bizarre anomaly in this day and age—a twenty-seven-year-old virgin. Liam, on the other hand, was the most confident, gorgeous man she’d ever imagined, let alone encountered. The idea of Liam and her engaging in any kind of sexual mating dance was just… ridiculous .
    “We’re going to get rain,” Liam said as he entered the kitchen ten minutes later, carrying two grilled steaks.
    Natalie nodded as she set the knife down on the cutting board. In fact the natural light in the kitchen had grown dimmer and the wind had started to howl across the dunes and the rocks, causing the window blinds to rattle. “We should go and shut your western windows.”
    “Yeah, I guess we should,” Liam said as he set down the steaks on the counter. “You get the downstairs ones and I’ll get upstairs?”
    They met back in the kitchen a few minutes later, the sound of the wind now a distant wail. Natalie was finishing setting the round oak table in a nook in the kitchen when he returned.
    “Is this okay? I know you planned to eat outside, but—”
    “No, this is great,” Liam enthused. He hadn’t seemed to notice the awkwardness that had settled on her when she realized how intimate the setting was—the approaching storm, the cozy kitchen, just the two of them sitting down to a meal. He was so comfortable in his skin he didn’t know how to recognize self-consciousness in others, Natalie thought.
    He placed the steaks on the table next to the salad and walked over to the refrigerator. “Is iced tea okay?”
    “I already poured us two glasses. They’re chilling off.”
    “Excellent,” Liam murmured with a satisfied grin as he brought the glasses over to the table.
    “It looks like it’s possible you weren’t bragging when you said you made a mean steak,” she said as they sat down together. Liam took her plate and began to serve her. Rain began to spatter on the windows.
    “I never brag. Only the absolute truth ever leaves these lips.” He’d said it so soberly, but his sudden grin was pure devilry.
    “We’ll see.”
    His eyebrows quirked in interest at her challenge, and Natalie thought she understood why. With another man, her reply would have sounded cool. For some reason with Liam, it had seemed like she was flirting.
    She rolled her eyes and picked up her knife and fork.
    The beef melted on her tongue. He’d cooked it to perfection. He was gentleman enough not to say anything out loud, but the look he gave her read loud and clear— I told you so.
    They both started to talk at once.
    “Why did you let your brother talk you out of buying this place?” he asked.
    “What else were you going to tell me about—”
    She broke off when his question penetrated her awareness. She smiled a little uncomfortably and took a bite of salad.
    “Personal before professional,” Liam said before he stabbed his fork into the meat.
    “I didn’t let Eric talk me out of moving here. I came to the conclusion this place was too much work for me.”
    “Uh-huh,” Liam said doubtfully.
    Thunder rumbled outside.
    She paused and sat back in her chair. “Why do you say it like that? Do I seem like that much of a pushover?”
    He took a swallow of his tea. “Not at all. I’ve just heard about your brother. He has a reputation for having…strong opinions,” Liam said with the air of someone who was choosing his words carefully.
    “And this reputation you speak of,” she said slowly. “Was it, perhaps, provided to you by your sister Colleen?”
    He studied her for a moment before he forked some salad. “Let me guess. Eric has given you the opinion Colleen is a bit of a steamroller herself.”
    She laughed when she saw the sparkle in his eyes.
    “Maybe they’re both a little right,” Natalie murmured, still grinning. “I wouldn’t call Eric a steamroller, necessarily, but he’s very