Lured In (23 page)

“He's not bleeding,” Finn scoffed. “Look at him—he's fine. He walked it right off like a champ, didn't you, Liam?”

“Well, I don't know about the champ part of it, but…” It looked like it hurt, but Liam still managed to smile, even though Kate glowered. “Not gonna lie, Jessie, I was more worried about walking in here than I was about a little tap on the cheek from him.”

“A little tap?”
Finn crowed. “I'll give you a little tap, all right.”

“Stop it.” Jess pinned them both with one of her “don't test me” looks before homing in on Liam. “Are you okay?”

“I'll live.”

“Good. Then grab a coffee and sit down, 'cause there's something I need to say before Olivia gets here.”

Finn had no idea what she was going to say, but he stayed right beside her anyway in case there was any doubt about whose side he was on.

Once Liam and Kate were settled at the table, Jessie sighed.

“I'm not sure I see it the same way, but Finn here seems pretty convinced that all that crap last night was honestly you just trying to watch out for me.”

“It was. It
is
. Seriously.”

“If that's true,” she said, clearly not convinced, “then thank you, I appreciate it. But at the same time I want you to know that I think you're a complete asshole for the way you threw Finn under the bus like that.”

Liam wrapped his hands around his mug and gave Finn a small smirk. “Apparently he wasn't very happy about it, either.”

“This isn't funny,” Kate snapped. “It was bad enough he hit you once, but twice?
Really?
”

“You hit him twice?” Jess croaked.

“Well, yeah.” Finn shrugged nonchalantly, then chuckled quietly when Liam did the same. “First one was for him being a dick; the second one was for him making
me
look like a dick, and you know how it is. Sometimes you gotta speak the language he understands.”

Neither Kate nor Jess thought that was funny, but Finn and Liam did; it was their go-to explanation every time they got into it with each other. And the beauty of it—albeit a crazy and childish beauty—was that a punch or two was usually all it took to get the shit out of their systems and then they were good again.

And despite everything that was said, or not said, last night, Finn had no doubt that he and Liam were just fine, especially after Liam pulled a face at Jess and pointed to Finn.

“Really, Jessie? Are you sure? 'Cause I'm a thousand percent certain you can do better than that.”

“Funny,” Jess said, lifting her mug to hide her smirk. “I've wanted to say the same thing to Kate about a hundred times.”

“Oof!” Liam slammed his fist against his chest and slumped over the table. “Shots fired!”

“Yeah, you guys are hilarious,” Kate said, offering them all a long eye roll. “But, Jessie, we really are sorry, and I know it's awful to say, and you probably don't want to even consider it, but we can't help worrying what will happen if things don't work out with you two.”

“It'll work out fine.” Of the three other people in the room, Jess was the only one smiling after Finn made this statement. The other two just stared bug-eyed. “What?”

“Nothing,” Liam sputtered. “I never thought I'd hear you say something like that. Like never.
Ever
.”

Finn pushed away from the counter and faked a lunge at him. “You wanna go again?”

Liam didn't even flinch, but Kate sure did.

“Stop it!” She waited until Finn moved back again, then clicked her tongue in disgust. “Can we focus here for a second please? How are we going to handle the Sam situation?”

“There is no Sam situation,” Jess muttered. “The only reason I'm worried about any of it is because he said if things work out, the Buoys would be an annual stop on their schedule, and that's the kind of publicity we can't afford to blow off.”

“We're not going to blow it off. We just need to tread lightly until we know what he's thinking.” Kate tipped her head a little. “Maybe it's time you fessed up to him about you and water. You said yourself that'd probably be enough to send him running.”

Finn had to blink himself clear to make sure he'd heard Kate right.

“You never told him that you didn't go in the water?” he asked. “Why not?”

“Because.” Jess sighed, her face a couple of shades paler than a minute before. “It's a long, stupid story.”

“Jesus, Jess,” he muttered, backing up a step. “Please tell me that's not why you—”

“No! Of course not.”

“It's not what?” Kate asked, glancing warily at both of them.

Finn didn't say anything, just waited for Jess to tell him the whole story.

“When all this started, Kate said I should do something about it for me, no one else, and yeah, okay, Olivia said I should do it for Sam, but that's not why I did it.”

“Did what?” Liam asked, a bit more forceful than Kate, whose eyes were almost the size of dinner plates.

“No!” She gaped. “Did you do it? For real?”

“Not completely,” Jess said. “But we're getting there.”

She glanced over at Finn, her smile wiping away any lingering irritation he had that she might have done it for Sam.

“Do what?” Liam bellowed. “Hello!”

Finn didn't know why Jess was being so bashful about it; she'd done a hell of a job. She still had a ways to go, but a little encouragement and she'd get there.

“Finn's been helping me get in the water,” she said slowly, shrugging it off.

“You?” Liam croaked. “No way!”

“It's not like I'm ready to do the hundred-meter butterfly or anything, but…it's something.”

“It's a hell of a lot more than something,” Finn said. “You should see her.”

“No, you shouldn't!” Jess laughed. “I'm not ready for that yet.”

“But how? When?”

Finn pulled Jess up beside him and kissed the side of her head.

“Up at the lake,” he said. “Almost every night for the last few weeks.”

“Are you shittin' me?” Liam asked. “Jessie—
our Jessie
—gets in the water now?”

“You bet your ass. We'll have her swimming in no time.”

“I don't know about that,” Jess choked. “I'm just happy I can walk around in it without having a complete meltdown.”

“That's so great,” Kate gushed, holding out her arms for a hug. “That couldn't have been easy.”

“Piece of cake.” Snorting, Jess unwrapped herself from Kate's arms and tucked up next to Finn again.

“Maybe for you,” he said, smoothing his hand up her arm. “Every freakin' night we went out there took another year off my life.”

Liam hadn't stopped shaking his head the whole time.

“Sorry,” he said over a couple of long blinks. “But this is all too much. I mean, the water thing is great, Jessie, really, that's…I'm so proud of you. But—”

All three of the others leaned forward, waiting.

“Yeah.” Holding both hands in front of his face, he turned his head a little so he wasn't looking at them anymore, then sputtered out a laugh. “The whole idea of you two together…I can't…I just…no.”

“Why not?” Kate's laugh softened when she locked gazes with Finn. “They're adorable.”

“No.” Still chuckling, Liam wouldn't look up. “It's too weird. It's…Oh my God, Ro's gonna shit himself sideways.”

“I had to call in sick; my arm was in a cast.”

After all the hoopla and angst over having
Hooked
film at the Buoys, Jessie wished they'd get there so the whole Sam thing could be resolved once and for all.

He'd called a couple of days after the blowup with Liam and Kate, and she'd told him the truth about her fear of water. Or, rather, she'd told him part of the truth. Finn was still the only one who knew about Tracy, so Jessie had simply told Sam that she'd had a scary incident when she was a kid and left it at that.

And while he was surprised and sounded a little hurt that she hadn't told him to start with, he was actually really good about the whole thing.

She made no mention of the fact that Finn had been helping her through it, because she was afraid she'd let something slip and they'd all agreed that, just in case, it would be better to leave Sam in the dark about that for now—at least until they were sure it wouldn't make filming any more awkward than it had to be.

And because she'd been so vague about everything herself, she couldn't really dog him when he refused to even hint at what he wanted to talk to her about, insisting that it was something that needed to be done face-to-face.

So while the next couple of weeks dragged, waiting for all that to be resolved, every moment of those same weeks flew by when she was with Finn. The time they spent together in the lake had drifted away from her original goal, but that was okay because it was time alone with Finn. She could get in the water and walk around by herself. She could even dunk under and come up again without needing him to be there to catch her. Granted, he was always there just in case, and she'd never done it in the really deep water, but still, it was so much more than she could do a couple of months ago.

Besides, out there in the deep water—she was afraid that was where she'd still see Tracy, which was why she wouldn't jump off the dock, no matter how many times Finn tried to persuade her. She couldn't bring herself to get on one of the boats, either, but she knew she'd do both eventually; it was only a matter of time.

Finn had tried to push her, but Jessie wouldn't budge, not yet. She wasn't ready. Besides, everything else had been great the last couple of weeks, so why did he have to push about that? God knows she didn't push him to do anything he wasn't ready to do; in fact, she gave him an out whenever she thought he needed one.

Like the night she'd blurted out that she loved him. She'd given him an out then, hadn't she?

So many times she wanted to kick herself for not letting him say it that night, but she'd told him the truth: She'd rather he didn't say it than only say it because he felt he had to, so she'd told him not to say it.

And he didn't.

But how much longer should she wait before she gave way to that nagging fear? The one that tried to convince her he'd never say it? That one that reminded her that she was already living on borrowed time with him and that the reason he'd crawled out of bed so early this morning was that it was the first step in him extracting himself from her life?

She should have known better, but, no, she went and let herself feel all sorts of mushy crap for him, even though she knew it was risky. She'd hoped they'd have more than a few good weeks, but—

“Oh my God,” she muttered, running her finger across the weeks on the calendar. “You're
such
an idiot.”

Wrenching open the freezer, she pulled out the nearest tub of Ben & Jerry's and reached for the biggest spoon in the drawer.

Finn walked in just as she stuffed the first spoonful in her mouth.

“Can I get you a bowl?” he snickered. “Or a trough?”

“Keep talkin',” she grunted. “But be warned—I'm in the throes of a full-on PMS attack, and you already made my hit list before you even walked in here.”

“Oh jeez.” He smiled, but it was tremulous at best. “If I gun it, I can get whatever you need in Port Hardy and be back in—what—a couple hours.”

At first she thought he was kidding, but then he dashed a kiss across her cheek and started for the door. Finally able to at least smile a little, she hurried after him, the tub still clutched in her hand.

“Stop,” she said. “Just the fact that you offered without being a complete jerk has saved your life for now.”

“You sure? 'Cause you're kinda looking at me like you're going to gut me in my sleep.”

Jessie stuffed another spoonful in her mouth before breathing out a resigned sigh.

“Yeah, I'm sure. But you might want to hide the knives tonight just in case.”

“Okay, good tip.” He slipped his arms around her and pulled her close, ice cream and all. “What can I do?”

“Nothing.” God, was that her being so whiny? Ugh!

“Jess.”

“Fine—you can tell me why you snuck out of bed at the butt crack of dawn this morning without so much as a hello, goodbye, or kiss my ass.”

The fact he smiled at her like that, the exact same easy way he always had, only made her feel worse. She knew it was the PMS that had her thinking and talking like a crazy woman, but the fact remained he had snuck out on her this morning and he still hadn't said he loved her.

“Hey,” he said, pressing a soft kiss against her frown. “Hello.”

“Too late,” she grumbled.

“Goodbye.” He pressed another one to the tip of her nose, then grinned as he leaned in closer and breathed the last kiss against her lips. “Kiss my ass.”

She didn't want to laugh; she wanted to be mad, so why was she smiling at him?

Damn it.

“I couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd go back to my room instead of flopping around and disturbing you.”

“You didn't disturb me.” Another scoop of ice cream and the sugar finally started flooding her system.

“That's 'cause I left.” His fingers were un-freaking-believably soft as he tucked her hair behind her ear. “Figured it was going to be a busy day; you'd probably want to get as much sleep as you could.”

“ 'Kay, well…damn it…thank you.” Feeling every bit the idiot that she was, she tried to smile but was pretty sure it came out more like a grimace. “And for the record, I want to apologize for being pissed at you earlier and for being pissed at you later today.”

“Later?” he choked. “But I haven't even done anything.”

“Doesn't matter.” Jessie licked the spoon clean and dug in for some more. “Every once in a long while, PMS takes my crazy to a whole new level, and this, my friend, is what it's like.”

“Great. Maybe we should turn everyone around when they get here today?”

“It might not be a bad idea.” She was kidding, mostly, and with another few scoops, she might even be completely kidding.

“Too late.”

They couldn't see the dock from where they were standing in the kitchen, but that didn't stop either one of them from turning in that direction when they heard the whirring of the approaching Helijet.

“Okay, here we go.” Before tucking the tub back in the freezer, she took one more scoop for good measure, dropped the spoon in the sink, then straightened her shoulders and forced the biggest smile she could. “This is going to be so great!”

Liam and Kate, both looking a little worried, were already standing near the fish shack when Jessie and Finn got there. They waited until the pilot cut the engine and climbed down to help his passengers out before Liam and Finn made a move.

“Remember,” Liam said as the first person—Ashley, who'd added her name to the roster a couple of days earlier—stepped out onto the dock. “Be nice.”

“Say that one more time,” Finn growled, “and I'm gonna rip your fucking arm right off.”

With the narrow dock filling up, Kate hung back by the fish shack with Jessie, craning her neck every time someone else stepped off.

“Okay, I was wrong,” Kate muttered. “We totally should have put them out in the A-frames. Are you sure you're all going to be okay down there?”

“It's two nights, Kate; how bad can it possibly get? Now smile.” Jessie took a step forward and extended her hand. “Ashley, it's so great to see you again.”

From behind, Kate covered her snort with a cough before doing her part to welcome Ashley and then Ryan and Chuck, the two cameramen.

And then, finally, Sam. He really was cute—cute enough to make Kate gasp a little—with his summer-bleached hair and his clear blue eyes, but the only thing that made Jessie smile was the fact that Finn was just behind him, smiling at her.

“Sam—welcome to the Buoys!” What was she supposed to do now? Hug him? Shake his hand? Give him one of those stupid up-nods that guys gave each other?

Oh crap, his arms were already open.
Okay, hug it is.

“Jess…it's so good to see you.” As Sam pulled her into his arms, Finn winked, mouthed her name silently, then smirked when she narrowed her gaze at him.

After a quick pat on his back, Jessie stepped to the side and waved Kate forward.

“Sam, this is Kate Hadley. Kate, Sam Ross.”

“Nice to meet you, Kate.”

“Yeah, you, too.”

They only had about an hour before the first planeload of guests arrived, so Jessie went straight into work mode; they needed to get the gear off the dock and the luggage taken care of first, then Ryan and Chuck could start setting up on
Fishin' Impossible
.

“As full as we are,” Jessie said, as she and Kate led Ashley downstairs, “I'm sorry to say our options for where to put you are a little limited: Sam or me. Your choice.”

Please pick Sam. Please pick Sam.

“You.” Ashley didn't even hesitate. “It would feel awkward sleeping with him, you know?”

Kate pointed to the cot lined up against the wall outside what used to be Ronan's room.

“You wouldn't be sharing a bed,” she said. “Just the room.”

“Right, yes, of course.”

It was possible Jessie misread it, but it sure looked like a shot of panic that made Ashley's smile waver ever so slightly.
Crap
.

“My room it is,” she said, hoping her smile didn't look as painful as it felt as she waved Ashley toward the door.

Kate waited until Ashley had gone in to set her bags down before grabbing Jessie's wrist. “Are you crazy?”

“It's a couple nights, Kate. It won't kill me.”

“Maybe not, but how happy do you think Finn's going to be about getting ousted?”

“He's got Ro bunking with him.” They'd opted not to tell Ronan about her and Finn until they'd made it through the
Hooked
filming, because the last thing they needed was Ro in a rage.

And even though Finn had said he didn't give a shit how mad Ronan was going to be, his right eye twitched every time Ro's name came up.

Lugging Ryan's and Chuck's bags into Liam's old room, Kate was still shaking her head.

“I've got a bad feeling about this,” she muttered. “I don't know why, I just do.”

“Nah, it'll be fine.” If Jessie tried hard enough, maybe she'd be able to believe her own words.

With bags delivered, Kate and Ashley left to help organize the gear, while Jessie ducked into the office to check messages.

They'd been bang on right about one thing: Reservations were off the charts already. The Buoys was booked solid for the rest of the week because Sam was actually there, but they were also booking well into next season, and that would only increase once the
Hooked
episode aired.

She'd always loved the chaos of getting ready for guests but never more than now, because it meant she didn't have to be alone with Sam yet. Every time she got anywhere near him, he'd smile at her as if…well, she didn't even know, but it was weird. Sort of as if he knew something about her.

They'd just finished organizing the camera gear on
Fishin' Impossible
when the first guest-filled Cessna swooped down onto the water and pulled up to the dock. It got crowded enough out there when the plane wasn't full, but with all those extra bodies, Jessie's chest started to tighten.

“Sam—can you and your guys head up to the lodge, please? Olivia'll take care of you while we get everyone sorted out, and then we'll all meet up there in about an hour or so.”

Nodding, he gave her another one of those odd smiles, but Jessie didn't wait for him to answer; instead, she turned and hustled down the dock to help tie up and unload the luggage.

The last of the guests had barely made it inside the lodge when the sound of the second Cessna arriving had Jessie and the others hustling back down to the dock.

“What's so funny?” Finn asked, nudging her elbow a little.

“Nothing, why?”

“You haven't stopped smiling, is all.”

“I can't help it; I've missed this—the days when the place is overflowing with people. Don't you love that?”

Finn's eyes softened. “Yeah.”

One by one the passengers deplaned until finally…last one off: Ronan!

Before Jimmy died, it was a rare day to have all three O'Donnell boys together at the lodge, so when it happened, it always had the same effect on Jessie, especially when she got to witness the very first moment they saw one another again.

Ronan O'Donnell was large and fierce, just like his da, but every time she saw him hug his brothers like that—his big arms curled around their necks as he pulled them in and kissed their heads—it made her cry.

“Why can't they always be like that?” Kate murmured as she tucked a tissue in Jessie's hand.

“God knows. Let's hope we can get them up to the lodge before they piss one another off.”

Dabbing the corner of her eyes, Jessie waited until Finn and Liam stepped back before she threw herself into Ronan's hug and kissed his cheek.