Lured In

by Laura Drewry

  “That’s not a fair question, because Finn’s not the marrying kind.” Jessie smirked as she shook her head slowly. “Not even close, actually. But if he was, he’d take his wife somewhere secluded, somewhere with crystal-clear water and their own private beach, where they’d be the only ones to see their part of the sunrise and sunset, and where there’d be no chance of hearing a cellphone ring.”

  Liam slipped his arm around Kate and they both nodded.

  “He’d take her somewhere they’d have to depend on each other for warmth and where they wouldn’t be found until they were good and ready to be found.”

  Charlotte’s friends sighed dreamily, prompting Jessie to finish it the most accurate way she could think of.

  “Yeah, he’d deck her out in a full-body bug jacket and take her camping.”

  Finn, who’d been sipping his Guinness and looking quite pleased with himself up to that point, sputtered over the top of his glass as the dreaminess vaporized from the women’s faces.

  “What?” he cried as his brother guffawed from the other side of the restaurant. “I wouldn’t—”

  “Somewhere without plumbing,” Jessie added.

  “That’s exactly what he’d do,” Liam laughed.

  “He totally would.” Kate nodded, grinning as she lifted her glass in toast to Jessie. “And he’d probably make her pitch the tent, too.”

  The slow smile Finn gave Jessie sent heat blasting up her neck and over her cheeks, but she still tipped a teasing look back at him and lifted her hands, daring him to deny it.

  He didn’t. He just shook his head slowly and took another sip of his beer, his grin never fading.

  Pretty soon every one of the guests was in on the debate over what Charlotte should do about her fiancé: keep him or leave him. And the whole time not a single person stopped to ask Charlotte what she wanted, so she just sat there, not really listening to any of them as she sipped the last of her mojito.

  Jessie couldn’t decide if Charlotte was incredibly smart for ignoring all the negativity or incredibly naïve. Either way, Jessie was in no position to judge, so she tucked in behind the bar and refilled Charlotte’s drink—on the house.

  Shortly after everyone finished dessert, the guests began to trickle off to their rooms. It wasn’t late, but by the time Jessie and the rest of them had finished cleaning up, the sun had already started sliding toward the horizon, leaving the big bay window bathed in blinding yellow light.

  Part of Jessie hoped it would be too late to meet Finn at the lake, but a brief quirk of his eyebrow and slight tip of his head cleared that up; he wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily.

  The other part of Jessie couldn’t decide if she should be terrified or happy about that.

  Kate and Liam said their good nights and headed out the back door toward their A-frame, followed soon after by Olivia, but even after Jessie changed into her shorts, she went back to the office for a few minutes, tidying up her already tidy desk, giving herself a couple of extra seconds to get her bearings.

  With a steadying breath, she grabbed her walkie-talkie in case Olivia or a guest needed her, and started out of the office, only to get stopped by the phone ringing.

  “Thank you for calling the Buoys; this is Jessie.”

  “There’s the voice I’ve been missing.”

  It took her a few confused seconds to recognize the husky drawl on the other end.

  “Sam!”

  “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “Uh, yeah…no, I just wasn’t expecting it to be you, is all.”

  Crap.

  They’d gone back and forth with emails, but this was the first time she’d actually spoken to him in a couple of months, and it immediately felt…ugh…awkward, to say the least.

  “Did you get my email last night?”

  “Y-yes,” she stammered. “Thanks. We’re all pretty excited about you guys coming up.”

  “Are you?”

  “Of course.” Sure, she was more excited for what the opportunity meant for the Buoys, but it didn’t really sound like that’s what he meant, so to cover her hesitation, Jessie swallowed, then faked a cough. “It’ll be great to see you after all this time.”

  “It’s been a crazy four months.”

  “Right.” It was kind of sweet that he’d been keeping track. “Four months.”

  “And in those four months,” he said, “guess how many times you called? Or, forget the phone, guess how many times you emailed me—and I’m not including the times when you were replying to something I sent.”

  “Uh…” Oh crap. “Gosh, I don’t know.”

  “Not once.”

  “Oh. Really? I, um…I’m sorry, I just…”

  Jessie could have kissed the phone when she finally heard him laugh on the other end.

  “I’m messin’ with you,” he said. “We both agreed it was for the best, and I heard the O’Donnells’ old man had let the place pretty much go before he died, so I knew you’d be busy. Besides, I was heading to Corpus Christi, so…”

  Jessie pulled the phone away from her mouth long enough to expel the breath she’d been holding.

  “Right,” she said. “And I guess…I don’t know…I just sort of figured…”

  “What? That that was it?”

  “Honestly?” She tried to laugh, but whatever it was that came out of her mouth sounded more like a snorting choke. “Yeah.”

  “Okay, well…um…”

  He paused just long enough that Jessie wished she could see his face so she had some sort of idea where this was going.

  “Even though we’re not…you know.” There was another short, slightly awkward moment of silence before he cleared his throat. “I was kind of hoping we could still…well…okay, the thing is, I still think you’re pretty amazing and, uh…yeah.”

  And “uh yeah” what?

  Should she be flattered? Excited? Something?

  And how much longer could she not say anything before it got too awkward to deal with? The silence probably didn’t last more than a few seconds, but it was enough to remind Jessie that one of the reasons she usually felt weird around guys was that she always felt as if she had to come up with things to say.

  Thankfully, Sam stepped up.

  “Anyway, my producer and I were checking out your website the other day. Looks like you’ve got the place set up real nice now.”

  “Thanks, we’re getting there.” Jessie frowned into the phone as questions started zinging back and forth in her head.

  Was he just making conversation or was he hinting that now that the place was up and running, Jessie should have more time for other things? Like him?

  Change the subject!

  “I’m sorry things didn’t work out down in the Gulf,” she said. “Do you think you’ll try again next season?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. We’ll have to see.”

  “I can’t imagine what summer down in Texas must be like. I’d probably melt.” With each word that spilled out of her mouth, Jessie cringed more.

  Really? Weather? Is that the best you can do?

  “Yeah, it was hot.” For the first time, Sam’s voice sounded hesitant. “Is everything okay? It sort of feels like that first time we went out, when everything was kind of awkward, but I thought we got past that. We had some good times together, didn’t we?”

  “Yes, of course we did.” Not a lie; she’d enjoyed almost every minute she’d spent with him.

  “But?”

  “No, no buts.” Oh my God, yes, there were buts, starting with the fact that no matter what Kate and Olivia had on their Jessie-and-Sam agenda, Jessie wasn’t going to be part of it. “I’m sorry, Sam, I’ve never been really good at this kind of thing.”

  And just like that, his hesitation vanished and he was back to sounding relaxed and confident.

  “What kind of thing? We’re only talking.”

  Maybe, but Jessie had no idea what they were actually talking about. On the surface it al
most sounded like normal chatter, and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was feeling her out a little.

  “Look,” he said, “I just want to make sure that everything’s okay between us, because there’s something kind of important I’d like to talk to you about.”

  “What’s that?” Jessie closed her eyes and tried to breathe normally.

  “I’d rather talk about it in person, but I’m really hoping you’ll like what I have to say. And on top of that—”

  Oh God.

  “Sam,” she said, trying to talk over him. “I don’t think—”

  He wasn’t listening. “If everything works out, my producer tells me Hooked could make the Buoys an annual thing.”

  That stopped Jess cold. If everything works out? Works out with whom specifically? Him and her? Or him and the Buoys? And did him and the Buoys depend on things between him and her?

  Sam was still talking, but it took a second for Jessie’s brain to catch up.

  “Obviously, the viewers who know anything about the Buoys will be expecting to see the fish whisperer and the ballplayer out on the boat with me, and to be honest, I’m pretty pumped about getting out there with Finn myself, but once we’re done shooting for the day, I’m sort of hoping to get some time alone with you to catch up and talk about things. I hated how everything ended so abruptly between us.”

  Abruptly? Jimmy had died. What did Sam expect her to do, sit there and order dessert?

  “Time alone,” she repeated, scrambling for something—anything—to help her out on this. In the end, she could only offer a short laugh. “Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot of space around here to get much privacy.”

  “Maybe not,” he said. “But there’s a big wide ocean out there, and I’m sure your bosses won’t mind if we take one of the boats out for a while, will they?”

  “Uh…n-no,” she stammered. “Probably not.”

  A tiny voice in the back of her brain screamed for her to tell him the truth, to put it out there before either of them said another word, but she was still trying to grapple with the idea that her reaction to him and his “wanting to talk” could have a direct impact on his show filming at the Buoys.

  Besides, what if he turned out to be one of those Camp B types who insisted he could be the one to get her over her fear? The only way around that would be to tell him Finn was already helping her.

  And for reasons she didn’t want to think about too deeply, she didn’t want him or anyone else to know about the time she’d spent with Finn in the lake.

  It was too personal.

  As if her crazy, jumbled, racing thoughts had summoned him, Finn suddenly appeared in the doorway.

  “Hey.” His slow grin made her smile back, which was weird because it was the first natural thing she’d felt since answering the phone.

  Jessie pointed to the phone, then held up her finger, realizing Sam had said something and was waiting for her to respond.

  “Sorry, Sam, what was that?”

  “You sound distracted; do you need to go?”

  “Yeah, sorry, I, uh…” Looking down at her desk, she straightened the pencil so it lined up perfectly next to the pen. “Finn and I have some work to do, is all.”

  “Okay, I’ll let you go. It’ll be good to see you again, Jess.”

  Jess? He’d never called her Jess before, always Jessie. So why did it sound so weird for him to call her that now? And why was she overthinking every single thing that came out of his mouth?

  From the corner of her eye, she caught Finn waving at her, and when she looked up, he thumbed over his shoulder.

  “Meet you down there.”

  And that’s when it hit her. Finn always called her Jess, never Jessie. Finn, who was backing slowly out of the room, brows raised, waiting for her to acknowledge his statement. Finn, whose smile always made her smile back without even thinking about it. Finn, who she could sit and talk to for hours or not say anything and still be perfectly comfortable.

  Finn, whose voice made her gender-neutral name sound feminine and soft. Sexy.

  What?

  Oh no, that’s not what she meant to think.

  No no no no no.

  She needed to scrape that ridiculous notion from her brain right now, and for the love of God, she needed to stop blushing.

  And somehow she needed to sort out the two different conversations she was having without letting on to either one of them what had just swirled through her obviously half-crazed brain.

  Right.

  Covering the mouthpiece of the phone, she nodded briefly at Finn.

  “I’ll be two seconds.”

  Then she turned away from him and nodded against the phone as if Sam could somehow see her.

  “It’ll be good to see you, too.” Why did that sound so hollow? A cute-as-hell great guy who she liked was looking forward to seeing her—so why couldn’t she be excited to see him, too?

  “I’m really sorry,” she mumbled. “But I have to run.”

  “Right. Okay. I’ll talk to you later. ’Night, Jess.”

  She closed her eyes and tried to ignore how much she hated him calling her that.

  “ ’Night.” Exhaling slowly, she held on to the phone for a few seconds after she’d set it back in its charger, trying to calm the crashing waves of chaos in her gut.

  “You okay?” Finn’s voice, so unexpected, made her jump, squealing as she spun to face him.

  “God almighty, Finn,” she sputtered, brushing her hair back from her face. “I thought you’d gone.”

  Any hope she had that he’d forget his question was immediately dashed when he took a step toward the office again and repeated himself.

  “You okay?”

  “What? Oh…yeah, I’m fine.” She waved a dismissive hand toward the phone, then reached for her sweater. “Shall we?”

  —

  No matter what Jess might think, Finn wasn’t as stupid as he looked. Something about that call with Sam bothered her, and that, in turn, bothered him, especially when she shooed him off ahead of her before he could press her for the truth.

  The surrounding old growth blocked all but a few thin streaks of dying light that somehow managed to break through the thick branches and shimmer across the near end of the lake. It wouldn’t be long before they lost those bits of light, too, but with any luck it would last long enough to get Jess into the water for a while.

  He was already knee-deep when she arrived, but instead of waiting for her to get into the water by herself this time, he waded up to the shore and held out his hand.

  She hesitated a second, then started to reach her hand out before suddenly snapping it back and fisting it against her chest.

  “Sorry,” she muttered. “Just give me a second here.”

  “No rush.”

  Closing her eyes, she took a couple of long slow breaths and reached for his hand again. It couldn’t have been more than a fraction of a second that her hand hung free, but it was enough to make her start clawing the air as though scrambling for him.

  He folded his fingers around hers; the clawing instantly stopped and her breathing evened out, but Finn didn’t say a word until she opened her eyes.

  “There you go,” he murmured, loving how the fear in her big brown eyes gave way to a tiny burst of hope.

  Everything about her right then—her fear, her strength, the way she looked in those old cutoffs—made him smile. And for some reason, that made her smile, too.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  “No.” The word fell off her tongue as she contradicted herself by taking her first step into the water, then her second.

  Just as it had last night, the first tiny wave across the top of her feet made her suck in a breath, but this time she seemed to force her fear back and kept moving, slowly, carefully, until she was shin-deep and quivering.

  The whole time she kept her eyes locked on Finn’s, as he moved backward in time with her steps. He had to be out of his mind to do this, to pu
t himself in a situation like this, where the feel of her hand wrapped so tightly around his was slowly driving him a little bit crazy. And where those trembling ChapSticked lips of hers, trying so hard to smile, were only making him want to lean in and kiss her until he was the reason she trembled.

  “What?” she asked. “You look like you’ve got something to say.”

  He had a lot to say, actually, but none of it was going to help either one of them at the moment, so he forced his mind somewhere else.

  “For the record,” he said, quirking his brow as he smirked at her, “camping’s damn romantic, and it’d be the perfect way to honeymoon.”

  “Is that right?” Her words came out as a croak as the water crept slowly up toward her knees. “For a guy who’ll never have to worry about that, I’m kind of surprised you’ve given it any thought.”

  “How do you know I’ll never have a honeymoon?” Finn did his level best to sound offended, but it was an effort wasted on Jess.

  “Seriously?” She half-choked over a short laugh. “You, of the ‘all women are the devil’ attitude? You, who’s never given a woman a chance to get close enough to find out for herself that you’re not such a bad guy, that, aside from the obvious flaws, you’re actually pretty great?”

  His grin, which had started to fade, widened again. Leave it to Jess to point out he wasn’t perfect. “Obvious flaws?”

  “Cha,” she grunted. “Your snoring rattles the walls and, no, I’m not exaggerating.”

  Her grip tightened around his hands as they stepped a little deeper, and even though she didn’t say anything, he could see the panic growing stronger in the depths of her eyes.

  “Breathe,” he whispered. “Just keep breathing.”

  “Right. Breathe. Okay. Crap oh crap oh crap oh crap.”

  “You’re doing great. And my snoring’s not that bad.”

  “It’s what keeps the bears away from the lodge at night.” She’d completely ignored his praise and looked like she was concentrating more on her breathing than on what she was saying. “You have an atrocious temper, even if it does only flare up around your brothers.”

  Finn couldn’t deny that.

  “And…” The water was halfway over her kneecaps by now, and each breath seemed to be more and more of an effort. “You have—crap oh crap oh crap, whew—serious trust issues.”