Lured In (21 page)

“Oh, Finn, I'm so sorry.” Ashley's laugh was light as air as she laid her hand on his arm. “I've been talking your ear off nonstop and I'm sure you have all sorts of work to do, don't you?”

“Actually, yeah, I—” he started, but Jessie cut him off.

“No it's fine,” she said, showing how big she could smile, too, and waving away Ashley's oh-so-sincere concern. “You keep right on talking; just watch yourself, 'cause he doesn't always shoot straight, if you know what I mean, and I'd hate for you to get hit by something.”

With a quick wink at Finn, Jessie gathered up her stuff and headed up the dock, only turning when he called her name.

“Where are you going?” Eyes wide, his gaze desperate, Finn ground out his words through clenched teeth. “There's still stuff to do.”

“Mmmm, nope,” she said, swallowing a laugh. “Everything else is done, and I've got…stuff…up at the lodge. Maybe you could go over the boat specs with Ashley while you're there.”

“Oh, would you? That'd be
so great.
” Ashley nodded. “Thanks.”

Leaving Finn on his own, Jessie snickered all the way back to the lodge.

“What's so funny?” Liam asked.

“Does the name Ashley Poplawski mean anything to you?”

“Mmm, no, I…oh yeah! I think she went to school with Finn. Why?”

Jessie tipped her head in the direction of the dock, even though they couldn't see it from where they were.

“No way! Really?”

“Uh-huh. And she's a little put out that you didn't recognize her when she first got here.”

“Me? Why would she care about that? It was her and Finn who had a thing, not her and me.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, I think it was her anyway.” Liam frowned through the memory. “She used to call him all the time there for a while and then suddenly…I don't know…it just sort of stopped.”

“What happened?”

Liam's eyes widened a little, but then he shook his head and scrubbed the heel of his hand over his right eye, but not before Jessie noticed the twitch.

“I don't know,” he said, shrugging as he looked away from her.

“Oh, please. You're one of the worst liars I've ever met, Liam, but before your eyeball twitches right out of its socket, relax. It doesn't matter to me what happened, I was just asking.”

“Yeah. Right. I know. But I don't know.”

“Uh-huh,” she snorted. “Okay.”

She'd ask Finn later.

And once Ashley was finally on the Helijet, heading south, the guests were looked after, and everyone else had gone to their own cabins, Jessie did ask, but not before Finn glared at her good and hard.

“God, that was worse than listening to Patsy go on about her period.”

“Aw,” Jessie teased. “You mean you didn't think it was just
so
great
that you two connected again after all this time?”

Finn blew out a slow raspberry. “How many times do you suppose she said that?”

“I don't know; I quit counting.” They were working on a puzzle in the great room, putting in an appearance in case Liam came looking for them again. “Liam says you two used to be a thing.”

“He—” Finn stopped, chuckled quietly. “No, we weren't.”

“He said she used to call you all the time.”

“Well, that's true.” He lifted a couple of pieces, eyed them carefully, then tossed them back in the box.

“Oh, poor Finn,” she said, putting on a teasing pout. “Did pretty little Ashley break your heart?”

“Uh, no,” he choked. “I mean, I liked her because…Well, you met her. Is she not the cutest and sweetest girl ever?”

“Yeah, very funny, I see what you did there. So what happened?”

Finn's wolfish smile and wagging brow earned him a smirk and an eye roll.

“You happened,” he said.

“
Me?
What did I do?”

“You stepped off the Cessna onto our dock. How did Liam put it? ‘Green around the gills and shaking like a leaf.' ” He didn't even look up, just set one of the pieces in place and nodded. “Sweet little Ashley never stood a chance after that.”

“But that was—” Jessie stopped, dropped both her hands on top of the pile of pieces, and didn't even care that she knocked a bunch of them to the floor.

“Don't worry,” he said. “Wasn't like I had a crush on you forever. Was like a couple months…year, tops.”

When he glanced up at her, she knew it was to make sure he was getting the sympathetic look he was shooting for, and that's exactly what he got.

He'd had a crush on her? She knew he'd tried to show off a bunch of times, but she chalked that up to him being a stupid boy.

“Aww, Finn.” Stumbling around the table, she wrapped her arms around his neck, dropped down on his lap, and smacked a loud kiss against his cheek. “That's so sweet.”

“What can I say?” he said, running his hand up her back. “I'm a sweet guy.”

He was only halfway through speaking when the back door opened. Jessie tried to shove off his lap, but he caught her around the waist and held her until she let him kiss her.

“Finn,” she cried quietly, laughing against his mouth. “They're coming!”

His hands opened, and with no time to make it to her chair, Jessie dropped to her hands and knees behind the table.

“Hey, Finn.” Liam stepped into the room ahead of Kate, and they both stopped.

“Hey.”

“Did, uh, Jessie go to bed?”

“Nope, I'm down here.” Lifting her face, and a handful of puzzle pieces, Jessie gave her best smile and pushed to her feet. “Knocked half the box off the table.”

A look passed between Liam and Kate, one that made Jessie think they were wishing she hadn't popped up, but then they each pulled up a chair and went to work on the puzzle, too.

“We didn't get a chance to debrief after Ashley left,” Liam said, eyeing Finn carefully. “So how did it go with her?”

Finn tipped his head a little, smirked at Jessie, then grinned, big and toothy. “Just great.”

Why was Jessie the only one who thought that was funny?

With a wary glance at Kate, Liam cleared his throat and turned to Finn.

“I'm serious, Finn. Don't be a dick to her again.”

“Again?” Finn choked. “When was I a dick to her the first time?”

“Oh, come on.” Mouth set firm, Liam stared straight at Finn, while both Jessie and Kate glanced back and forth between the two of them. “You know what I mean.”

“No,” Finn said, all traces of joking gone. “Actually I don't.”

“What he means,” Kate said, “is that apparently she had it bad for you, and you were…well…”

Finn dragged his disbelieving gaze from Kate to Liam, then back again.

“Are you two shitting me right now?”

“No. She's just as important as Sam when it comes to that show, so—”

“Hold on there, Kate. I don't know what numb-nuts here told you, but Ashley and I were never a thing. And even if we had been, it was high school—who cares?”

“She's a woman, Finn,” Kate said. “She would care.”

“Even if that's true, then today should prove that she's not holding any kind of grudge, not that she had any reason to.”

“Okay,” Kate said, twisting her hands together. “That's good, then.”

In the momentary silence that followed, Jessie dared to hope that that would be the end of it. She should have known better.

After a long sigh, Liam cleared his throat and folded his hands loosely on the table, and even though he didn't say anything, the look he shot Finn said plenty.

“What?” Finn snorted. “You don't believe me?”

“Come on, you guys.” Jessie shoved all the pieces in front of her toward the middle of the table. “Don't turn this into something stupid.”

“No, I want to hear what they have to say.”

Once cornered, an O'Donnell didn't back down, so Liam didn't even hesitate.

“Gimme a break, Finn. Can you blame us for being a little skeptical? It's not like you have the best track record with women.”

“Oh for God's sake,” Jessie muttered. “Six months ago we could have said the exact same thing about you.”

Cocking her jaw slightly, she started to shake her head, then stopped when she saw the way Finn was looking at Liam: pointed, irritated, and daring his brother to spit out whatever else he had to say.

And going by Finn's expression, Jessie would bet he already knew what that was going to be.

“Tell me you're not going to play her the way you play every other girl.”

“And by her,” Finn said, drawing out each word as though he was trying to bait Liam, “you mean…Ashley?”

Liam didn't even blink, which made the already weird vibe between them even weirder.

“Untwist your panties on that one,” Finn grunted. “I couldn't give half a shit about her.”

“See, but that's part of the problem,” Kate said. “Even if you don't like her, you still need to be nice to her.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I
am
nice! Tell 'em, Jess, tell them how nice I was to her all afternoon.”

“He was nice,” Jessie said, nodding quickly. “Super nice, in fact.”

“Yup, that sounds about right,” Liam said, tipping his head to the side. “He's always super nice at the beginning; knows just how to lure them in, doesn't he?”

Jessie didn't usually take sides between the brothers, but Liam's tone was really beginning to get on her nerves.

“Meaning what?” she asked, but Liam didn't answer her; Finn did.

“Meaning this has nothing to do with Ashley.”

“What do you mean? Then who?”

Neither Finn nor Liam answered her. Instead, Liam sat back in his chair, his mouth twisted to the side a little, and he looked at Kate for a couple of long seconds before she answered his unspoken question with a slight quirk of her brow.

“Okay,” he finally said, leaning over the table with a sigh. “Forget about
Ashley
for a second. What about Sam?”

Stuck between the way he'd said Ashley's name, almost as if hanging finger quotes around it, and the mere mention of Sam, Jessie was still trying to make the transition when Finn spoke.

“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.”