Lured In (7 page)

She was wrong, though. There was one woman Finn trusted with his life, and she was the one who clomped around the Buoys in too-big gum boots and a twenty-year-old sweater that could have easily wrapped around her twice. She was the one who called the three of them out on all their crap, and she was the only person who'd always accepted him as he was, warts and all.

Smart and quick, she only needed to watch someone demonstrate something once and she had it figured out. She was the one they all looked to when they needed something, and that was never more true than the night he called to tell her Da had died.

He knew she was out with Sam that night and knew it wasn't the easiest thing getting in and out of the Buoys, especially for her, so he'd resigned himself to the fact that he'd be on his own until at least the next day, when either she or one of his brothers made it in.

Two hours later Jess stepped off the Helijet and then just stood there on the dock, holding him so tight until he finally got himself together again. For someone her size, she sure could hug tight.

She was damn cute, too. When she didn't have her black toque pulled down over her ears (yes, she even wore it in the summer sometimes), her dark brown hair usually hung in long loose waves around her shoulders, except when she needed to focus on whatever she was working on; then she pulled it back into some funky kind of twisty knot.

As far as Finn knew, the only makeup she ever wore was cherry ChapStick (did that even count?), which was just fine with him, because there wasn't a single thing about her smooth skin or bone structure that needed any help. She always had a fresh, clean, easy look that instantly drew people to her, and those eyes of hers, the same warm dark brown as her hair, could snap him out of a shitty mood with nothing but a single glance.

He could sit with her for hours in the great room, her reading one of those damn romance novels, him usually only pretending to read whatever book he had in his hand, while he was actually watching her expression change from page to page.

Lee Child's and Robert Jordan's books had never once made Finn laugh or yell, or God forbid cry, but Jess couldn't get through one of those romance things without running the gamut of every emotion. And while he didn't like to see her cry over anything, he loved that no matter how tough and capable she was with every single thing at the Buoys, those books never failed to bring out the softer girlie side of her.

“Finn!”

It took Finn a couple of really hard blinks to see through his fog, and a few more to realize he was still standing in that damn fish shack with Liam.

“Even if she's not with Sam, which could be a definite possibility, it's a horrible idea. Worse than horrible, because we both know you've never lasted more than a month—two tops—with any girl, so when the inevitable implosion happens and you dump her like yesterday's trash, where's that going to leave us? I mean, besides the fact this whole place would fall apart without her running it, it's
Jessie,
for God's sake. She deserves a hell of a lot better than that.”

Better than what?
Finn?

He didn't ask, because he refused to admit anything to Liam: not the truth about what he was feeling and not the fact that he knew Liam was right. Jess deserved someone she could trust, someone who'd trust her, and since she'd watched him screw up every relationship he'd ever been in, there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell she'd even consider that he'd be any different with her.

Smart girl.

Finn swallowed hard, then cocked his jaw to the side as he raised his brow at Liam.

“You about done?”

When Liam didn't answer, Finn shoved past him and jerked the door open.

“Jesus, Finn.”

Liam followed him outside, but neither one said a word until they were mere steps away from the lodge. That was when Liam growled low in his throat.

“Please don't do anything stupid, okay?”

“Great advice coming from someone who met, married, and deserted a girl all in the span of five days.”

“Fuck you; that's night-and-day different from this.”

“This what?” Finn asked, one hand on the rail, one raised in guiltless question. “I haven't done a thing, so you're getting your panties in a wad for no reason.”

“Oh, don't even—”

The door opened before they could reach it and out stepped Jess, holding the stack of clean rags for the fish shack. Her gaze, instantly knowing, instantly fed up, flicked from Finn to Liam and back again.

“Oh God,
what
? You were both fine when you left here half an hour ago, so what could possibly have pissed you both off already?”

Finn tipped a look at Liam, challenging him to say something that he couldn't prove, something that would no doubt screw things up for no reason, but Liam just rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Thirty years old,” he groused. “And Finn still can't hospital-corner the sheets.”

Long wisps of her hair caught the afternoon breeze and blew around her face, catching on her eyelashes and bottom lip before she wrangled them free again.

It wasn't cute at all. Nope. Not at all.

“Whatever.” Her frown deepened as she fought to untangle her hair again, this time from over her eyes. “Can one of you run these down to the shack please?”

Finn was already reaching for them. Anything to get away from Liam.

“I got it.”

“Great. Thanks.”

In case his jackass brother was watching, Finn made a point of not letting any part of him touch any part of her in the handoff and then headed straight for the path that led to the dock, as Jess's voice hung in the air behind him.

“Okay, seriously. Do I want to know what happened?”

“Nah,” Liam answered. “It's nothing.”

Jess's short harsh snort made Finn grin. She knew bullshit when she heard it.

“Yeah, right,” she said. “Pull my other leg; it's got bells on it.”

“You can separate the men from the boys by the size of their rods.”

It didn't matter how many guests came and went from the Buoys, there was always something new. This week there'd be three women in the Green cabin, two in the lodge, a couple of guys in the Orange cabin, and another four inside the lodge. The men had all booked in for the full week, but the women were all only there for four days.

Bottom line, they still had empty rooms.

But as Kate pointed out—
again
—as they all trekked down to the dock to welcome the new guests, once word got out about Sam Ross coming up, they'd be turning people away.

“That's right.” Liam nodded, giving Finn a pointed look. “Having Sam here is going to be exactly what we need, and if we have any hope of
Hooked
making us an annual stop, we can't do
anything
to screw it up, so that means playing nice with him and his crew and not letting them think there's even the slightest wrinkle with anything or anyone.”

It was on Finn's tongue to tell him to fuck off, but when he glanced up, he saw Jess watching them through narrowed, questioning eyes, so he choked it back.

Luckily, the roar of the approaching Cessna distracted all four of them enough that she never got the chance to ask what Liam meant or why he looked at Finn that way.

“Here we go.” Like he did every time a new batch of guests arrived, Liam rolled his shoulders and led them down to the end of the dock.

Since he was still recovering from what
SportsCenter
called a “spectacularly devastating pitch” that ended his career, Liam's job was to greet the passengers and direct them to the lodge, while Finn, Jess, and Kate unloaded and distributed the luggage to the appropriate room or cabin.

By the time Finn made it into the great room, everyone had been served the drink of their choice and was gathered to hear Liam's welcome.

With one of her small soft smiles, Jess handed Finn a pint and they both tucked in along the side wall.

“Welcome to the Buoys,” Liam said, lifting his glass in a toast. “First things first, let's do the introductions so you all know who you're dealing with here. Over there against the wall is Jessie; she's pretty much run this place for most of the last dozen years or so, so if there's anything you need or if you have any questions, don't be shy to ask her.”

One of the three Green-cabin women tugged her friends in closer and whispered something that made them all do a double take in Jess and Finn's direction, but, unlike on some weeks, not a single guy in the room whistled or asked something stupid like if Jess was single.

Good. Finn hated shit like that.

Once Jess had given the crowd her standard hello wave, Liam moved on.

“Next to her is Finn—”

“Him.” One of the guys from Orange cabin nudged his buddy's arm and nodded in Finn's direction. “He's the fish whisperer.”

Fighting a scowl, Finn gave the same wave Jess did. It was stupid, that nickname; it wasn't as if he had some magical power that lured fish in, it was just that he knew how to be patient, when to reel, and when to let the drag do its job.

It was like Da used to say: “Good things come to those who wait.”

“This here's Kate.” Liam slid his hand around her waist and grinned the stupid grin he always wore around her. “She and Finn will be your guides, and you'll each have the opportunity to go out with both of them. Schedules are in your rooms.

“You all met Olivia, our chef, when you came in. She's going to blow your socks off this week, so I hope you brought your appetites. And she can adapt anything on the menu to fit those of you with allergies or food restrictions, so if we don't already have your requests on file, just let us know.”

Olivia gave a quick wave from the kitchen doorway before disappearing back into her sanctuary.

“I'm Liam, and I'm the designated gofer for now.” Using his left hand, he pointed at his right shoulder. “But once this heals, I'll be back out on the boats, and then Kate and Finn'll be the ones cleaning the rooms and mopping the floors.”

“Nice try, Sporto.” Smiling sweetly, Kate leaned up and planted a quick kiss on Liam's mouth. “But that's so not gonna happen.”

As usual, it took Liam a couple of seconds to catch his breath when she did that, but then he continued on with his speech, going over safety issues, being bear-aware, and the importance of respecting the land and water. On and off as he spoke, the Green-cabin women continued to whisper and cast quick glances in Finn and Jess's direction.

Jess cleared her throat quietly, then covered her mouth with her hand and spoke so softly Finn almost didn't hear her.

“Seems like you've got some admirers.”

Finn turned forty-five degrees so that instead of facing the whole room, he was peering straight over Jess's head toward the front where Liam was.

“They're not looking at me,” he murmured. “They're looking at you.”

“Yeah.” Jess's laugh was muffled behind her hand. “Only because they're waiting to see if I'm going to kiss you the same way Kate kissed Liam.”

It took more control than Finn even knew he had to keep his knees from buckling right there, especially after she lowered her hand, giving him a clear line of sight to her mouth just as her tongue darted out to moisten her bottom lip. God, he'd about kill to have her kiss him like—

No! Don't look at her; look at Liam.

“So that's it, folks. Your bags have been delivered to your rooms; make yourselves comfortable, get settled, do some exploring, and whenever you're ready for dinner, the restaurant's right through that door. The boats leave at seven tomorrow morning, so if you need a wake-up call, just let Jessie know.”

Not one of the guests got out of their chairs, which wasn't unusual. Not only was the great room full of incredibly comfortable furniture, but the lack of rhyme or reason to the layout led to easy conversations between the guests, even if they'd never met before. More often than not, the whole layout of the room would change over the course of an hour as guests shifted their chairs to join in on other conversations.

It was like a giant family room, complete with a huge rock fireplace, bookcases filled with paperbacks, movies, and old CDs, and a flat-screen TV that hooked into the Wi-Fi so they could run the MLB app on it.

There was no cell service to be had at the Buoys, but that didn't stop guests from pulling out their phones and tapping into the Wi-Fi—even as they talked to the people around them.

Finn would never understand that. What could possibly be so important that a person had to be online every waking minute? Hell, even Liam and Kate packed their phones around with them.

“Come on,” Jess murmured, nudging his elbow. “Time to mingle.”

While Jess wandered over to talk to the two Orange-cabin men, Finn headed straight across the room to talk to Art Fraser.

“Mr. Fraser—it's been a long time.”

“Call me Art.”

The old fellow made like he was going to stand up, but Finn waved him back, then pulled up a footstool so he wasn't towering over the chair.

“This kid here,” Art said, speaking to the group around him but thumbing toward Finn, “was our guide the first time I came up here with Walt—what—almost fifteen years ago? I didn't think he'd know diddly squat about jigging or trolling, but he sure showed me.”

“That's not quite how I remember it,” Finn chuckled. “I seem to recall you showing me a thing or two that week.”

With a slow smile, Art lifted his glass and tapped it against Finn's.

“This your family?” Finn asked, nodding toward the group.

“Yuh.” He pointed toward the two men nearest him. “These are my boys, Doug and Hank, and that one there is Doug's boy, Connor.”

Art's “boys” were at least ten years older than Finn, and the kid, Connor, looked to be about eighteen or nineteen.

“It's great to have you all here,” Finn said to the group. “I think you're with Kate in the morning, and then we'll swap out and I'll get you the next day.”

“Just like your old man used to do,” Art said. “He always wanted to make sure all his guests got time out on the boat with you.”

“I don't know about that,” Finn laughed. “I always thought it was because he didn't want to saddle any of his guests with the same punk kid all week.”

“Nope.” Art's steady gaze followed Finn as he pushed up from the stool. “He knew you had something special.”

They could probably argue that all night, but instead, Finn gave Art's shoulder a quick squeeze.

“I have to go make the rounds, but I'll catch up with you later.”

Like Kate, Liam, and Finn, Jessie made her way around the room, getting to know a little bit about each of the guests.

There were the Frasers in the corner; the two Orange-cabin guys, middle-aged brothers from Washington State, who tried to get to at least one lodge on the coast every year; the three Green-cabin women, from Edmonton, who all looked to be in their early twenties and who'd only ever fished from shore; and then there were the other two women, best friends from southern Saskatchewan, who'd been saving for two years to get out to the coast.

“We've never seen the ocean,” Marlene told Jessie. “So we probably won't be inside the lodge much.”

“Why didn't you rent one of the cabins instead?” Jess asked. “They're twenty feet from the cove; you'd be right at the ocean the whole time.”

Marlene had only shrugged, but Jess figured it had to be because the cabins were more expensive than the lodge. Finn, who'd been talking to the Orange-cabin guys, immediately excused himself and walked straight over.

“Sorry,” he said. “I couldn't help overhearing. You've never seen the ocean? You mean the Pacific or any ocean in general?”

“We've never seen any ocean,” Marlene said. “Never even been off the prairies.”

Jess loved watching Finn's face when he met people like this. The idea that a person could live her whole life without seeing the ocean—that was just too much for him. Shocked the hell out of him every time.

“Wow. Okay, so what's the biggest body of water you've ever seen?”

They didn't even have to think about it.

“We went trout fishing on Lake Diefenbaker a couple years ago. That was kind of cool.”

“Diefen—” Finn choked over a laugh, which made everyone laugh with him. Or at him. “I guess as lakes go out there on the prairies, it's not a bad size, but…holy hell.”

By that time, some of the other guests had joined in the conversation, each sharing bits about the different places they'd fished, what types of rods they preferred, and who had the best halibut recipe.

The only thing Finn loved almost as much as fishing was talking about fishing, so Jessie was a little surprised when he excused himself a short while later and headed out of the room.

But she knew exactly where he was going, and she also knew if she didn't get to him soon, he'd no doubt do something Finn-like and she'd be left with a virus-eaten computer again. As quickly and discreetly as she could, she worked her way out of the room and headed straight to the office.

Leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest, she couldn't help but smile at him, hunched over the keyboard the way he was, staring intently at the screen.

“I thought we agreed you wouldn't touch the big bright electronic items anymore unless you had supervision.”

His frown of concentration faded to a slow guilty smile.

“They've only got four days,” he whispered. “We need to get them as close to the ocean as we can.”

Of course that's what he was doing. Laughing quietly, she rolled her eyes and shuffled into the room until she was right up next to him, angling her head so she could see the screen through the late-afternoon sun glaring through the window.

“Good God, Finn. Steve Jobs spins in his grave every time you get near this thing, you know that, right?”

“Whatever,” he said, chuckling low and easy. “This is your thing, not mine. What am I doing wrong?”

He lifted his hands from the keyboard and sat back in the chair, his upper arm pressing against hers. It was nothing; it was just his arm against hers, something that had happened dozens, maybe hundreds, of times over the years.

So why did it feel different? And why did it make her swallow so hard and blink so fast?

“Did you…? Oh jeez.” Moving the cursor over the screen, she shook her head slowly. “Please tell me you didn't cancel the original reservation.”

She didn't even wait for him to answer, just nudged him out of the chair and took his place, inhaling the faint scent of lemon he left behind.

Jess didn't mind the smell of fish that came off the boats with Finn; she kind of liked it, actually. But she loved that he used Olivia's leftover lemon halves to try to scrub the smell off.

It was—no, it wasn't! The scent of lemon mixed with the salt air was many things, but sexy wasn't one of them.

Not on anyone else, maybe, but on Finn O'Donnell it's sexy as hell.

Since when? God, what was wrong with her? The fastest way to freak out Finn—or any of the O'Donnells—would be to let them know that she thought anything about Finn was sexy, especially something as completely insane as the smell of his hands.

Jessie blinked hard and long, only opening her eyes when she was sure she'd be able to focus on the registration program in front of her.

As she worked the trackpad with her right hand, she rolled her ChapStick idly in her left.

“See,” she said, waving the tube between Finn and the screen. “You just have to click on this and then—”

“Sorry, what do I click on?” Stepping closer, he leaned over to get a better look just as she turned to him. The resulting crack of their foreheads made them both curse and laugh at the same time.