Lured In

by Laura Drewry

  “What about him?”

  “Come on, Finn, don’t play stupid.”

  “I’m not playing anything,” he said. “I’m just waiting for you to grab a pair of balls and come out and say whatever it is you have to say instead of tiptoeing around it.”

  Neither one of them had moved out of their chairs, but the whole room seemed to vibrate around them.

  “Fine. Sam’s coming up here in a couple weeks because he’s all horned up to see Jessie, and unless I’ve misunderstood something, it sounds like he’s hoping to get back together with her. Or am I wrong on that?”

  “What?” Jessie squinted at him as if that would somehow help her understand.

  “Sam Ross is coming up here to film his show,” Finn said, his voice eerily calm. “He’s got no claim on Jess and she hasn’t made him any promises.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  Jessie was off her seat in a heartbeat. “Excuse me?”

  “Jessie.” Kate reached over to touch her arm, but Jessie snapped it away. “You said yourself that—”

  “I know what I said, Kate! But need I remind you that it was you and Olivia who kept insisting I should throw myself naked at him the second he arrived? It sure as hell wasn’t me saying that.”

  “Yeah, but…” Kate’s brow furrowed. “You said you liked him.”

  “Of course I liked him! He’s a nice guy; he was single, I was single—who cares? That was then, this is now!”

  Shoving her hair out of her face, Jessie turned in a complete circle, trying to grasp how a nice quiet evening had flipped so fast.

  “But what about…” Kate hesitated, as though debating how or if to say it. “Olivia said you were…you know…on the phone with him.”

  “Oh my God—that’s because Olivia has sex on the brain! She came into the office and immediately jumped to some crazy conclusion that I must be having phone sex with Sam.”

  “You didn’t deny it.”

  “I didn’t admit to it, either!” Jessie snapped. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a hell of a lot easier and less time-consuming to let Olivia think whatever the hell she wants.”

  Kate couldn’t argue on that one. “Okay, but he does want to get back together with you, doesn’t he? Didn’t he say that?”

  Had he? For a second there, Jessie couldn’t remember.

  “No!” she cried. “He hasn’t. He said he wants to talk to me about something when he gets here, but he’s never once come out and said anything about us getting back together, not that it would make a spit of difference to me now anyway.”

  “What do you mean?” Liam stared straight at her, unblinking.

  “What do you mean, what do I mean?” she scoffed. “What part of that didn’t you understand?”

  “A little while ago, you said ‘that was then,’ and now you’re saying it wouldn’t make a difference to you ‘now.’ So something’s changed. What is it?”

  Oh shit.

  “I…” Gripping the back of her chair with both hands, Jessie swallowed hard and used every bit of willpower she had not to let her eyes so much as twitch in Finn’s direction. “Me. I’ve changed.”

  “So you’re telling me that in the last few weeks you’ve gone from wanting to get back together with him to not wanting anything to do with him, is that right?”

  “What? No! I never said I wanted to get back together with him!”

  “Then what?”

  “Leave her alone,” Finn said, his voice one shade this side of lethal.

  “No, Finn. I need to know—we all need to know—because our priority has to be keeping this place running, and if she’s going to blindside the one person we’re counting on to help make that happen, then we’re going to have a problem.”

  “Blindside?” Jessie roared. “How am I—”

  “Son of a bitch.” Finn stood up so fast he knocked his chair over, and Liam’s wasn’t far behind.

  “Stop it!” She grabbed the back of Finn’s shirt and pulled until he backed up a step, then she pushed between him and the table and got right up in Liam’s face. “How dare you? Have I ever done anything that wasn’t in the best interest of this place?”

  “No, but—”

  “But what? You want me to sleep with Sam so you can get a guaranteed spot on his schedule next year, is that it?”

  Finn tried to charge toward Liam again, but Jessie blocked him, pushing him back until he slumped against the wall.

  “Come on, Jessie,” Kate said. “That’s not fair; he didn’t mean—”

  “Fair?” she snorted. “You want to talk fair? How is it fair that I’ve spent most of my life working my ass off for this family, only to find out Liam here is willing to pimp me out to the first bidder?”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Really? ’Cause that’s exactly what it sounded like to me.”

  Taking his time, Liam righted his chair, then collapsed down on it as he scrubbed his hands over his face.

  “I’m sorry,” he groaned. “Really. That’s absolutely not what I meant. It’s all coming out wrong.”

  Kate reached around the corner of the table and pulled Jessie’s chair out a little bit.

  “Please, Jessie. I’m sure we can find a way to explain what we mean if we all just calm down first.”

  Jessie didn’t think any of them were about to calm down anytime soon, something she kept to herself as she turned and made her way back to her chair. But in the few seconds it took her to get there, something shifted in the air.

  Kate couldn’t seem to look at anyone, and Liam kept his twitchy gaze locked on his folded hands on the table. His face had paled, his expression grim and guilt-ridden as Jessie stared straight at him, waiting.

  “Fuck.” Liam spat the curse out fast and sharp as he threw his hands in the air. “I swear, Jessie, I never meant that you should do anything with Sam, or anyone else for that matter. It’s just that…well…you know we all love you, right?”

  “Yeah,” she drawled. “You’re making that abundantly clear right now.”

  “We do. And all of us want you to be happy, and you said yourself, he’s a good guy, so we just want to make sure…” He flicked a last worried glance Finn’s way before lowering his head a little and sighing. “We don’t want anything—or anyone—to jeopardize what could turn out to be a good thing between you and him.”

  “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” Finn’s muffled curse pulled Jessie’s attention back to him, but he’d covered his face with his hands, so she whipped around to Liam.

  “What are you trying so hard not to say?” she asked, wishing something would start to make sense. “There’s nothing between Sam and me, so there’s nothing to be jeopardized.”

  “But maybe there could be,” Kate said. “If you give it a chance, I mean, don’t you think it’s possible?”

  “No!” Jessie cried. “I don’t, and why are we even talking about this? Since when does anyone here give a shit about who I spend my personal time with?”

  Liam and Kate both started talking, their words tripping over each other so it was impossible to make either of them out clearly, but that didn’t matter, because all she heard was the quiet pain in Finn’s voice.

  “They know,” he said. “About us. And you’re right, they don’t give a shit who you spend time with, so long as it isn’t me.”

  “What!” No, that couldn’t be true—none of it. But as Jessie looked over at Kate and then Liam, their sudden silence confirmed it. “You know? How?”

  A few painful seconds passed before Kate finally sighed. “We’ve suspected for a few days but weren’t sure until…until now.”

  “Oh my God…and you…but why?”

  “Fuck this.” Finn only made it two steps before Jessie jumped up and grabbed his arm.

  “Stay.”

  “Jess—” He stopped short when she jerked him so hard that he had no choice but to look at her. She didn’t say anything else to him, just slid her hand down until it
was wrapped around his. Then she turned to Liam and Kate.

  In all the years she’d spent around the O’Donnell family, Jessie had been plenty angry plenty of times, but this…this was an anger she’d never felt before, an anger that didn’t erupt out of her in its usual way.

  Instead, this was a deep, thunderous rage, which for some unknown reason made her speak slowly, almost calmly.

  “What the hell is wrong with you two?” she asked, enunciating each word slowly.

  “Jessie, please.”

  “Don’t ‘Jessie’ me, Liam, you self-serving son of a bitch. All that talk earlier about Ashley—that was really me you were talking about?”

  “Jess, don’t,” Finn said, his voice so quiet it almost knocked her backward, but she shook it off and kept focused on Liam, who should be damn thankful she didn’t fly across that table and gouge his eyes out.

  “And so what?” she demanded. “You thought that if you pointed out to me in such a ridiculous roundabout way that Finn hasn’t had a perfect past, or that there might be a minuscule chance for Sam and me, that I’d kick Finn’s ass to the curb before he could do it to me? Is that it?”

  Liam didn’t even look at her, just kept his head down. “We were trying to protect you.”

  “Protect me?” she cried. “From who—Finn? Your own brother? Can you even hear how messed up that is?”

  “I know,” Liam muttered. “And I’m sorry, but you know what he’s like, Jess.”

  “Yeah,” she said, nodding emphatically. “I know exactly what he’s like. And I know why, too.”

  “So do I.” Lifting his gaze to Finn, Liam raised his hands for a second before letting them fall back to the table, the sound echoing through the sudden stillness. “What did you think—that Ro and I somehow slept through the racket that night? Jesus, Finn.”

  Finn had yet to say a word; he just stood there, shoulders down, watching Liam through pain-filled eyes.

  “For God’s sake, Liam.” It took another second before Jessie could breathe again. “Why didn’t you ever say something?”

  “What was I supposed to say? Talking about shit wasn’t how we were raised—you push it down and keep moving. Good and bad, there’s a whole bunch of shit we’ve never talked about.”

  She knew that was true; she hated it, but the O’Donnells were who they were, and talking things through was still a relatively new concept to them.

  “Look.” Liam took a deep breath and huffed it out. “I know there’s no way a kid can hear his own mother say shit like that and not be fucked up by it, and I’m sorry, I really am. But Maggie didn’t leave because of you, you stupid shit. She left because she was a bitch. She chose to marry the old man, she chose to move halfway around the fuckin’ world with him so she could get away from Dublin, and she chose to have three kids—you didn’t force her into any of that. And if she was so fuckin’ overwhelmed with just Ro and me, then she should have done something about it, but she didn’t.”

  The silence was so thick Jessie could almost touch it.

  “So then you have to understand—” she started, but Liam growled like a mad dog.

  “It doesn’t matter what I understand, Jessie; it doesn’t change anything. You know as well as I do that this is going to end the same way it always ends with Finn. It’s just a matter of time.”

  “A matter of time?” she cried. “Who the hell do you think you are to say that about him? To say that to me?”

  “Oh, for—” Liam shoved out of his chair again and paced the floor behind it. “You think this is easy for me? You think I like standing here and saying these fuckin’ things about my own brother? I don’t—but you’re my family, too, Jess.”

  “Bullshit!”

  “What—”

  “All those years you were off playing ball, how often did you call me just to chat, to wish me a happy birthday or shoot the breeze? How many times do you think Ronan did it?”

  “Well, I—”

  “Not once. Sure, you guys would call to see how Jimmy was doing or how the lodge was getting along—hell, sometimes you even phoned to let me know you’d be coming in—but not once did either of you ever make me a part of your family.”

  His mouth opened like a great stupid fish, but Jessie held up her free hand to stop whatever was going to come out of it.

  “Now guess how many times Finn did those things,” she said. “Go on, guess.”

  Of course he didn’t have to. Everyone in the room knew the answer.

  “I’ve got a shoe box full of birthday cards downstairs if you want to see them. He called me every week, even when I was living in the city, and he’s the only one who’s ever asked to meet anyone in my family.”

  “Well, I didn’t think—”

  “That’s right,” she cried. “You didn’t. If I were your family, Liam, if I meant anything more to you or Ronan than just someone who kept this place running, then you would have thought about it. Finn did. So if you want to know why I’ve changed and why nothing will ever happen between Sam and me again, it’s because of him.”

  She still had Finn’s hand clutched in hers, which unfortunately for him meant that when her hand sailed through the air and backhanded him against the chest, he basically hit himself.

  “That’s right. I’m in love with Finn—and if Sam Ross is too stupid to see we never stood a chance to start with, then that’s his problem. And I don’t give a flying shit what he does with his stupid show anymore! He can shove it up his ass for all I care.”

  It wasn’t until she realized how long Liam stood there, openmouthed, gaping at her in unbroken silence, that Jessie’s brain registered what she’d said. Finn still hadn’t moved, either, just stood there beside her, head bowed, as the muscle in his jaw twitched.

  Shit.

  “What?” she snapped, ripping her hand free of his. “No one has anything to say about that? No smart-ass remark, no joke?”

  Her chest heaved with each breath and a knot of bile stuck deep in her throat, but she wasn’t sorry she’d said it. She might be later, but right now she was too pissed off.

  Using every ounce of inner strength she had, she inhaled deeply, lifted her chin, and forced back the tears that threatened to start welling. Oh no, she wasn’t having that.

  “Right, then,” she said. “I’m going to bed.”

  Chapter 13

  “Sometimes you really have to squirm to get off the hook.”

  Finn shouldn’t have punched Liam, at least not more than once. The first one he’d deserved, because he was being a prick, but the second one…

  He hadn’t swung that second time because Liam had admitted to knowing about Ma, and it wasn’t even because Liam and Kate had basically come out and said Finn would never be anything but a screwup. He wouldn’t deny those things cut him, and cut him deep, but that’s not what made him swing a second time.

  The only reason he took the second shot, cheap as it was, was that he was pissed off at himself and he’d hoped Liam would fight back, maybe knock him on his ass for a minute.

  The whole time Liam and Kate had laid him out like that, Finn hadn’t done a damn thing. Even after Jess defended him and then stunned all of them by announcing she was in love with him, he’d just stood there like a big dumb shit and let her walk out of the room.

  If anyone had deserved a good pounding, it was him, not Liam.

  What the fuck was wrong with him? He never should have let her take one single step without telling her what he’d known for weeks: that in his whole life he’d never felt the way he did when he was with her and that it scared the shit out of him, because he knew he was going to do something sooner or later to screw it up.

  And they all knew it, too.

  But instead of stepping up and saying something—anything—he’d let her walk out and then he stared at the floor until Liam made the mistake of calling him a fuckin’ idiot.

  Having it out with one of his brothers usually made him feel better, but not tonight. Tonight it ma
de everything worse, not just because Liam’s bad arm made it impossible for him to fight back, but because Finn knew Jess would be pissed that he’d done it. Worse, she’d be disappointed.

  As the hours ticked slowly past, Finn gradually began to accept the truth. Sure, he could be as pissed off as he liked over the fact his own brother had tried to warn Jess away from him—and he was plenty pissed, no question. But despite the way that shit-show played out upstairs, at the end of the day, Kate and Liam were only trying to protect Jess, and Finn couldn’t fault them for that.

  And, sure, he’d been more than a little humiliated to realize none of them thought Finn had it in him to change, but the fact was, Finn had never given them any reason to think differently.

  He could punch Liam a hundred times and it wouldn’t make any of that less true.

  Frustrated and exhausted, and after about the twentieth time of kicking his blanket off and then pulling it back on, Finn finally gave up and left it balled at the foot of the bed.

  The only blanket he wanted was the one he’d had last night: Jess’s soft naked body sprawled on top of him, her hair tickling his chest, her breath fluttering against his skin.

  Best night ever.

  Maybe if he went and talked to her, told her what he should have said hours ago, maybe that would help him sleep. But it was the middle of the freakin’ night; she was probably sleeping.

  “You’re not,” he muttered.

  Three times he started for the door, then stopped. What if she wouldn’t talk to him? What if that crazy brain of hers had already run her through all the possible outcomes and had convinced her that she’d be better off cutting her losses now?

  “And what if you just stop being a wuss and go do it?”

  Before he let his fear talk him out of it, Finn pulled on a pair of boxers, yanked open the door, and ran smack into Jess.

  “Ooof.” Grunting, she stumbled back a step, but Finn caught her by the arm before she could fall.

  “You okay?”

  Her big brown eyes blinked up at him for a second before she slowly shook her head.

  “No.”

  He would have expected her to be pissed off, sad even, but she wasn’t. Instead, she looked a little flustered, a little uncertain, and a whole lot adorable standing there in her orca-print nightgown.