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  Liam’s Secret

  Smokey Mountain Dragons

  Jadyn Chase

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  Copyright © 2019 by Jadyn Chase

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  Contents

  1. Liam

  2. Amy

  3. Liam

  4. Amy

  5. Liam

  6. Amy

  7. Liam

  8. Amy

  9. Liam

  10. Amy

  11. Epilogue

  More from Jadyn

  1

  Liam

  I hopped out of the Jeep, but instead of taking my fishing tackle out of the back, I punched the seat cushion and swore under my breath. I barely veered my fist aside in time to hit the soft foam instead of the solid steel fender. I would have shattered my knuckles if I did that.

  Damn that Flynn! He was lucky I had sense enough to take my frustrations out on an innocent car seat instead of his face. I need to stop letting him get under my skin.

  Well, if today didn’t prove to him that I could swallow my pride with the best of them, nothing would. It took all the willpower I could muster to get in the Jeep and drive away before I destroyed somebody.

  I couldn’t go home until I cooled off a bit though. I yanked my rod and tackle box out of the back and set off through the trees. I followed the stream to the fishing hole. I got lost in my thoughts on the way. The woods soothed my frayed nerves. By the time I got near the bend in the rocks, I didn’t stew so much about Flynn.

  I turned my attention to what flies I would use on the bass lurking under the surface. On a hot day like today, they’d only come up for an especially tasty morsel.

  Fishing always calmed me down. The older I got, the more time I spent at this fishing hole. My brothers and cousins never found out about it, so I always had the place to myself. I could always be alone here until I made up my mind to go home and face the music.

  A cool breeze blew my hair out of my face and dried the sweat on my forehead. I actually indulged in a smile as I turned the last bend—and stopped.

  My mouth fell open and the smile vanished off my face when I looked at the fishing hole. In front of my eyes, a head emerged from the silvery water. It grew out of the glassy surface to become the most bewitching girl I ever laid eyes on.

  The water dribbled off silken golden hair hanging straight down to her shoulders. It trickled down flawless sun-bronzed skin, over her glistening eyelashes, and down her neck. The water plastered a soaking white t-shirt to her curvaceous torso and left absolutely nothing to the imagination. The lace trim around her bra cups showed plain as day through the cotton.

  She sprouted out of the pool like a goddess being born out of nature itself. I stood rooted to the spot and gaped at her in shock. The shirt stuck to her slender waist and rounded out over her hips. Frayed cut-off shorts revealed an ass that would make a grown man cry. Muscular thighs tapered down to where the water lapped her knees.

  The instant she appeared, she cast a frightened glance over her shoulder at me. She spun away and covered her chest with her arms. She plowed through the waves to get away on the other side of the pool.

  I dropped my rod and tackle box in a flurry of excitement. I rushed around the fishing hole just as she hurried up the opposite bank. “Wait a minute! You don’t have to leave.”

  She swiveled to keep her back to me and only walked faster in the wrong direction. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to…..I was just leaving.”

  I charged up to her and put out a hand, but I didn’t dare touch her. I scarcely let myself believe she was real. “You don’t have to leave. This is a public fishing hole. I didn’t mean to scare you. You don’t have to leave because of me.”

  She shot another tremulous look up at me. “Are you sure?”

  “I should be the one apologizing to you,” I told her. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just came to do a little fishing. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll stay over there and you can stay over here. I promise I won’t come anywhere near you. Just…. you know….you don’t have to rush off. It’s a perfect day for a swim.”

  Not to mention feasting my eyes on that incredible body, but I didn’t say that. She kept her arms strapped over her chest, like that could ever hide the shape of her under that wet t-shirt.

  The pressure of her self-embrace squeezed more water out of her bra cups and filled my mind full of all kinds of wild ideas. The frayed ends of her cut-offs curled against the satiny skin of her thighs. Christ, that girl was built!

  I held up both hands and backed away. “See? I’m going.”

  I inched backward toward the spot where I dropped my gear. I held my hands up like a criminal under arrest and took one careful step after another to move away from her. My mind kept screaming, Don’t leave. Please, God, don’t let her leave. Just give me a few more seconds to look at her before she evaporates off the face of the Earth.

  She cast suspicious glances my way until I got halfway around the pool. She opened her mouth, changed her mind and closed it, and finally blurted out. “You don’t have to…..”

  I froze. “Are you sure?”

  She shrugged at nothing. “It’s all right. You just surprised me. You don’t have to leave. It’s all right.”

  I let my hands drop to my sides. I couldn’t make up my mind to approach her or to leave well enough alone. I cocked my head to study her closer. My guts ached checking out every extravagant detail of her magnificent beauty.

  Did they still make girls like this anywhere in the world? How could one of them drop out of Heaven into my path, right here at my favorite spot? How did I ever get that lucky?

  Still, a few questions needled their way into my brain against my will. “Who are you? I don’t remember seeing you around here before.”

  Her head shot up for a fraction of a second, and she flashed a quick smile at me that nearly made my knees buckle. Perfect straight teeth gleamed between her sweet, curved lips, and a wash of gorgeous scarlet colored her cheeks. The sun radiated off her glowing wet skin. “I’m not from around here. I just moved here.”

  “Really?” I asked. “Where did you just move to?”

  She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Over near Marlinville—at least, it’s close to Marlinville even though it’s out in the boondocks.”

  I couldn’t help but blush at her accent. She sounded so easy and comfortable and familiar. “You didn’t tell me your name.”

  This time, she looked me square in the eye. She didn’t smile, but a brilliant sparkle glinted down in their sea-green depths. “You didn’t tell me yours, either.”

  “I’m Liam Kelly.” I resisted the urge to present my hand for her to shake. Somehow, that seemed too presumptuous and humdrum. It wouldn’t be appropriate for an angelic creature like her to touch a mere mortal like me.

  “And I’m Amy McMasters,” she clipped back. “Now you know.”

  “So where in Marlinville do you live?” I asked.

  She inclined her head to one side. She still didn’t smile like that again, but her expression revealed no offense at my question. “What are you gonna do? You’re not gonna start stalking me, are you?”


  “Of course not. I only want to know out of curiosity. I was born and raised here. I know everybody for miles around. If you’re new here, I want to know all about you.” God, did I really just say that? “Tell me where you live. I probably know your house.”

  “How could you?” she asked. “Do you know every house around the area?”

  She snorted in a dismissive way, but I only nodded. “Pretty much. Try me.”

  “All right. It’s a little shingle house between Marlinville and Norton on the old Road 28L. You go all the way back to where there used to be a timber camp. There’s an overgrown cart track going back into the woods. There’s a Forest Service sign there that says, Bonneville Loop Trail. Do you know it?”

  I nodded again. “Yep. That’s Old Man Walsh’s house. He built that house with his own two hands back in the Twenties. He lived in it all his life and raised four kids and seven grandkids there. He only died maybe seven years ago, and the house and land got locked up in court ever since. I guess they only just managed to sell it. Did you buy it or something?”

  “Me?” She shook her head. “I couldn’t buy a house. What do I look like? I don’t have two pennies to rub together.”

  I didn’t want to say what she looked like. “Then how did you come to live there?”

  “My Daddy rented it. Don’t ask me who he rented it from. He handled it all himself.”

  “So you live with your Daddy,” I remarked.

  “What’s wrong with that?” she demanded.

  “Nothing’s wrong with it. I live with my family, too. We live right up there on Smokey Ridge.”

  I pointed to the mountain behind me. She looked up at it, and I found myself swimming in a dreamy haze devouring her with my eyes. Amy. Amy McMasters.

  Holy Christ, she was hot! I could stand here looking at her all day instead of doing a whole lot of other things to her, but I had to keep that under wraps for the moment. We wouldn’t be standing here having this pleasant conversation if I did anything to scare her off.

  I got her to stick around and talk to me by telling her I wouldn’t do anything. I had to play my cards exactly right to get her to stay a little bit longer.

  2

  Amy

  Liam nodded down at my arms. “You’re cold. Why don’t you come and sit in the sunshine where we can talk some more while I fish?”

  I inspected him closer. Liam Kelly. A shock of straight blonde hair fell over his eyes. A short buzz cut surrounded his ears and the back of his neck. Fiery black eyes flinted under his unruly bangs, and a crooked grin threatened to break out on his mouth at any moment. Only the most strenuous effort held it in check.

  He wore battered canvas work pants, laceless steel-toed boots, and a wife-beater tank top smudged with axle grease. A smear of black marked the upper curve of his brown muscular shoulder under his shirt. He presented the picture of the quintessential mountain man—all except that knowing spark in his eyes.

  He turned his shoulder to me to indicate the other side of the pool. A patch of bright sun lit up the grassy bank where his fishing pole and tackle box lay at odd angles to each other. The warmth sprouted goosebumps on my wet arms. I really was cold, and that sun called me to sit in it and warm up until I dried off.

  One step at a time, he led the way back to the other side of the pool. He picked up his rod, flipped his tackle box the right way up, and sat down next to it. “Come on and sit down,” he told me. “I can sing you a tune about everyone and everything and every house in five counties.”

  He unlatched the box and pried it open. He busied himself selecting a fly from the assortment inside and tying it to his line. He didn’t look sideways at me standing nearby.

  I had a choice to make: sit down and talk to him or walk away. Which would it be? He finished tying on his fly and started flicking his line over the pool with expert care and attention. He whipped it back and forth above his head on a natural rhythm. The fly touched the water for a fraction of a second before he snapped it off again.

  I got lost in the hypnotic ripples spreading across the surface. Without really meaning to, I turned so I faced out over the pool. For what seemed like a long time, I observed the dainty dance of the fly alighting on the water before lifting off.

  Liam broke in on my thoughts. “Are you gonna sit down or what?”

  I glanced down at him. He wasn’t looking at me, but at his fly.

  My legs folded obediently under me and I sat down cross-legged on the grass. The sun warmed my skin and dried me, but my clothes stayed wet.

  As soon as I sat down, Liam broke out of his reserve to shoot me another maniacal grin. “So who do you want to know about? I know everybody’s business for miles around.”

  I stole a peek at his face. “I have to tell you something. I knew who you were before you told me?”

  His head whipped around. “Yeah?”

  I nodded. “I knew you lived on Smokey Ridge, too. Your family has something of a reputation around here, you know.”

  He settled down and went back to casting his fly. “Yeah, I know. So you knew who I was. I guess that’s no big surprise. Most people around here know enough about the Kellys to sing a tune to any new person who shows up.”

  I waited for him to say something else. “Aren’t you going to ask me what they said about you?”

  “About me? Oh, definitely not! I don’t want to know what anybody said about me.”

  I bit back a smile. He was everything I heard and more, but no one told me he would be so magnetically handsome. That must be why he had a way of attracting any girl that came near him.

  They said he was a lady’s man, that he flirted with any girl on legs. I could see that part coming true even now. No girl could miss a guy scanning her up and down or his eyes lingering on her curves the way Liam’s did.

  “I’m sure everybody in town has at least one story about me,” he remarked.

  “What about your family? Maybe you don’t want to know what they say about you, but people around here sure say some interesting things about your family.”

  “Of course they do,” he returned. “And no, since you ask, I don’t want to hear that, either. I’ve heard it all a thousand times before, I’m sure.”

  “They say you’re one of the richest families in Georgia,” I ventured. “They say you hide your wealth up on the Ridge, that you live like any other local hillbillies, but that you’ve got more money than the Rockefellers.”

  He guffawed with laughter. The sound echoed off the trees opposite and came back louder than it should have. “Is that what they say? Here I thought you might know something really incriminating. If that’s all they say, then I definitely don’t want to hear it.”

  “Is it true?” I measured every flicker of his features for any indication of deception.

  Instead of answering, he cocked his head to pierce me with those knowing black eyes. “And here I thought you were talking to me and sitting next to me because you kinda liked me. I wouldn’t have invited you if I had known you were after money.”

  I turned away to hide my burning cheeks. “I didn’t mean that.”

  He jabbed me with his elbow in between casts. “I know you didn’t. I’m just joshing you. In the first place, my family doesn’t have any more money than anybody else around these mountains. We raise a few cattle up on the Ridge. That’s the only way we can keep body and soul together, and if you went up there, you would see we live in regular houses like everybody else. In the second place, even if my Clan had money, it wouldn’t make any difference to me. I have to work every day like anybody else. My Pop pays me by the hour to fix the trucks and Jeeps and stuff, now that I’m good enough to get paid for it. Other than that, I don’t have any more money than the next guy. Do you really think I would dress like this if I did? I mean, come on. I’m a working stiff like everybody else.”

  I scrutinized him one more time. He was right. He certainly didn’t present a picture of wealth and status. He looked like he just walked o
ut of an auto garage. Black grease clogged his fingernails and stained the creases in his hands. Crisscross lines of soot soiled his pants, and two long streaks discolored the thighs where most working men wiped their hands on their pants whenever it suited them.

  I relaxed into the moment. The sun made me sleeping, and I drew my knees up to my chest. I rested my cheek on my arms and watched his expression change with the motions of his casts. “What else can you tell me about your family?”

  He grinned at me sidelong. “It sounds to me like you already know enough. Why don’t you tell me about my family—or better yet, you can tell me about your family? Do you have more money than the Rockefellers?”

  I snorted again, but I didn’t smile. “Hardly. Do you think my Daddy would rent that house if we did? We’re flat busted. That house was the only one in a hundred-mile radius we could afford to rent. That’s why we moved here.”

  He raised his eyes to my face and I cringed. I shouldn’t have told him that, but something made me want to confide in him. I had to watch myself so I didn’t give too much away.

  His features cleared. “Is that so? How did you wind up so broke?”

  I looked away at the pool. “None of your business.”

  “You don’t have to tell me,” he replied. “I’m just making conversation. So is it just you and your Daddy, or do you have other family with you?”

  I didn’t turn around. I didn’t want to look at him. In a flat second, I wanted to be a million miles away from him and anybody who might actually care enough to talk to me. “It’s just the two of us. Mama died two years ago of a chest infection, and Barb ran off to Toledo with a boy from high school. We haven’t heard from her since, so it’s just Daddy and me. I had a job back in….”