Off the Hook (17 page)

“I have my flashlight,” she murmured, tugging her scarf completely off. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know.”

They were almost to her cabin when she shocked the hell out of him by slipping her hand under his arm and nudging his shoulder with hers.

“You’re
still
a hotshot pitcher, you know. Don’t talk about that in the past tense.”

Liam blinked hard, then leaned in and pressed a slow kiss against her cheek. Half an inch, that’s how close he was to those soft, warm lips he remembered all too well, but no matter how much he ached to taste them again, he forced himself to pull back and smile down at her.

Besides his agent—who didn’t count, because Liam paid him to say it—Kate was the first and only one to even suggest he might have something left, and if she’d said it any other time or any other way, he might not have believed she was sincere.

But looking at her now, with her foot up on the porch, ready to go inside, there wasn’t the slightest trace of doubt in her eyes, just those damn bits of amber flickering like little beacons.

“I, uh…” Blowing out a hard breath, Liam shoved both hands through his hair, locked his fingers together, and took a step back. “I better go. It’d really screw things up here if we woke up married tomorrow.”

“Right. Good thinking,” she said, her mouth curling into a slow, knowing smile. “ ’Cause I promise you this, I won’t be nearly as nice the next time you divorce me.”

He felt his smile start at his toes and work its way up. Oh shit, he was in trouble.

“Thanks for the warning.”

“You’re welcome.”

Laughing, he had to force his feet to keep moving backward. “Tell me the truth. Is it because of Vegas or is it because you think Foster’d fire your ass if we got together?”

“Uh…both?” Her shrug was almost apologetic. “It was hard enough getting work after I told my boss at the lumberyard to shove his job up his ass, but I can’t afford to piss off someone like Paul Foster.”

“Does he know about us?”

“God no!” When Liam raised his brow at her emphatic answer, she sighed. “I never told anyone about us and had no idea this was your place when Paul gave me this assignment; all I knew was that this was my golden ticket to prove I could not only get my hands dirty when I needed to but that I’d be the best person to manage this place when he took over.”

“
If
he took over,” Liam corrected.

“If,” she agreed. “And to be honest, when I first got here and realized it was you, part of me wanted to keep the job just so I could make you suffer a little.”

“And now?”

“Now,” she repeated over a choked laugh. “Now I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do. I’d hate to see you guys lose this place, I really would, but if it comes to that and Paul buys it, at least if he puts me in charge, I can try to keep it O’Donnell-ish.”

“O’Donnell-ish.” Liam didn’t like the sounds of that “ish,” and his brothers sure as hell wouldn’t like it, either.

“If he finds out now that you’re my ex-husband,” Kate went on, “I’m not sure what he’ll do. But if he thinks for one second I’ve hooked up with you while I’m here, I have no doubt he’ll cut me loose, because he’ll consider it not only a conflict of interest but a serious lack of judgment on my part.”

“But what if you told him I was a big hotshot pitcher?” Liam asked, waving his hands down the front of him. “Would that make him cut you any slack?”

“Uh, no,” she laughed—a dry, harsh sound that seemed to rip from her throat. “We’re talking about a man whose only interest in the Detroit Tigers is thinking about how he’d redevelop the chunk of land Comerica Park’s sitting on.”

“Sounds like an idiot to me.” Liam took another step back. “Here’s an idea—quit that job and come work with us. Sure, the pay is basically nonexistent, but we offer long hours, hard work, and as much fish as you can possibly eat, so, really, what more could you ask for?”

“Hmm,” she said, laughing quietly as she pushed open her door. “Tempting.”

Liam stopped moving altogether until she was inside and the door closed behind her. It was only then that he muttered a quiet “good night” and headed for the lodge. There he found Jessie sitting at the kitchen table, twisting her teacup back and forth between her hands, Finn’s wet clothes now laundered and folded neatly in front of her.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a tired, knowing voice.

Feigning ignorance, Liam kept moving as he pointed toward the door he was heading for. “I’m going to bed.”

“Don’t play stupid, Liam. We both know she’s a bad idea.”

Liam stopped just inside the doorway and turned. “You don’t know anything about it, so just relax.”

“Relax?” Shoving out of her chair, Jessie dropped her cup in the sink, then leaned against the counter, arms folded tight over her chest. “In case you’ve forgotten, we don’t have time to relax, and she should be a constant reminder of that. Don’t get me wrong, she’s great, she works hard, and I really like her, but the fact is she’s working for Foster, not us, so come the first of July, when we’re staring down that tax bill, where d’you suppose she’s going to be standing—beside you or Foster?”

“Come on, Jessie.”

“I’m serious, Liam. Besides, Kate’s a smart woman; she got burned the first go-round with you, so you can bet your ass she’s not going to risk everything she’s worked so hard for just because she likes your smile. And you’d be a total prick to even ask her to.”

“You’re getting a little ahead of yourself here, Jessie. Nothing’s happened between Kate and me.”

“Good. I hope it stays that way.”

“Gimme a break.”

“Not on this I won’t,” Jessie said, shaking her head. “You’re an O’Donnell and you’re crazy. Sure, you guys seem normal and you always start out great with women; everything’s sunshine and roses, but it’s only a matter of time. It won’t matter what she says or does: In the back corner of that stupid brain of yours, you honestly believe every woman is exactly like your mom and Mandy—that they’re all out to screw you over. So one day, before she has a chance to do it to you, you’ll be gone again, only this time she’ll not only be losing you, she’ll probably lose her job, and good luck trying to get another one with something like this stapled to her résumé.”

Tucking her chin down, Jessie lowered her voice and did a really bad impersonation of someone doing an interview. “So, Miss Hadley, I see here you were recently fired from the Foster Group. What happened there?”

Jessie opened her eyes wider and blinked rapidly for a second as she shifted into what Liam assumed was her impersonation of Kate. “Yes, well, apparently they didn’t like the fact that I was sleeping with the owner of one of the properties Mr. Foster was trying to buy. Do you think that’ll be a problem here?”

Liam wanted to tell her she was wrong, that she didn’t know what she was talking about, but the sad fact was, she did know. And she probably wasn’t wrong.

“Look,” she said, huffing out a breath. “From the minute you guys decided to take this place on, you were the one who said we needed to be smart about this, so that’s all I’m asking you to do now. Think with your head—and I mean the one with the brain in it! If you honestly and truly believe you can have something with her, something that’ll last longer than it took me to say that—”

“Very funny.”

Jessie tipped him a “tell me I’m wrong” look, even as she kept talking.

“—then God bless you both. But I’m pretty sure your brothers would agree that our focus needs to be on the Buoys right now, not on trying to scratch an itch.”

“An itch?” Liam repeated, then clamped his jaw tight before he said something he’d regret. When he was sure he had it under control, he rolled his shoulders and exhaled slowly. “I
am
focused on this place, Jessie, but by all means, if you think I’m slackin’ on the job or not giving a hundred and fifty percent, then please, tell—”

Halfway through his rant, Jessie had covered her face with her hands and sighed.

“I’m sorry,” she grunted. “I didn’t mean that. I’m just…You’re right. We’re all doing our best here and we wouldn’t be anywhere if you hadn’t stayed on. I’m sorry I bitched at you; what you and Kate do is none of my business.”

She turned back toward the sink, but her movements were stiff, almost clunky, as she rinsed her cup and set it inside the dishwasher.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” She lifted a hand to wave away his concern, but even as she did, her shoulders started to slump. “Tired is all. I’m gonna go to bed.”

“Come on, Jess, what’s up?” He’d seen her slump like that before, and most of the time it meant she had something else on her mind, something that was the real catalyst behind her unexpected mood.

Nudging her arm, he pulled a chair out for her, and that’s when he noticed it again: the laundry pile on the table. God, how could they have been so stupid?

He waited for her to sit, then pulled a chair up next to hers.

“It’s okay, Jess. Finn’s fine.”

“No,” she said. “You don’t know. You weren’t there.”

She worried her lip for a long time before she went on, her eyes filling more and more with each word.

“He just…oh God…One second he was there and then…and then he wasn’t. He was running so fast and then…and then he couldn’t stop, and I…I don’t know…he slipped or tripped and then…and then he went under so fast and I—I couldn’t move, Liam. I just froze. He could have died, and I—”

Her hands flapped as she spoke, as if she could somehow brush the panic away before it got too strong.

“Jess.” Liam took her hands in his and held them tight until she finally blinked up at him. More than the tears, it was the absolute terror in her eyes that worried him the most. “He’s fine. He wasn’t hurt; you know that. You got him dry clothes, remember? And, shit, you know Finn; he could swim from here to Maui and back if he had to.”

Her head nodded, but he didn’t think for one second she was agreeing with him, especially since she immediately started hyperventilating.

“Yeah, but what if…what if he’d hit his head when he fell? Or what if he’d taken the boat out for a run and it caught fire out there? Then what? What would I have done?” The faster she went, the wilder she looked. “How would I have gotten to him? I couldn’t—and then the water—and I wouldn’t—but he wasn’t—and I can’t—because it’s—”

“Jessie.” Liam jerked her hands to get her attention. “Stop.”

“But he was in the…” she huffed. “Water…and it’s…so…deep…and…”

“Stop,” he repeated, louder. “Close your mouth. Tighter.
Tighter
. Good. Now breathe through your nose.”

She did as he said, but her chest was still heaving.

“Slow,” he said, his voice mimicking his instruction. “Slower. Good. Look at me. Inhale…deep…good…exhale…keep going…good.”

Neither moved for a long time; they simply sat there breathing in sync until most of the panic faded from her eyes and her hands relaxed in his. He didn’t let her go, though, not yet.

“He’s okay, Jess.
You’re
okay.”

“Mm-hmm.” This time when she nodded, it was much more believable, even though she looked completely mortified. “Oh my God, Liam, I’m sorry. What I said about you and Kate…I didn’t mean—”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” he said. “You’re just a little freaked out, is all. It’s fine.”

“I really like Kate,” she went on. “But I want you both to be okay.”

“Ha,” he laughed. “Don’t you worry about us. Worry about yourself, because we all need you to be okay. This place’d crash and burn without you.”

That at least earned him a fraction of a smile.

“I’m okay.” She pulled one of her hands free, swiped it across her eyes, then half-pointed, half-waved toward a second mug, over near the sink. “But Finn’s not.”

From where Liam sat, he could see it was filled almost to the rim, but there was no steam, so it had to have been sitting awhile.

“He wouldn’t open the door.”

Liam ground his teeth together, then pushed to his feet and pulled her up, too.

“He’s fine, Jess. He’s just being Finn.” Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he steered her toward the back staircase, which led down to the family living quarters. She might not be family, but she’d had a room down there for as long as Liam could remember. “By tomorrow morning he’ll be back to normal and driving you crazy.”

After opening her door, she turned and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “I’m really sorry I bitched out at you.”

“Forget about it,” he said with a shrug. “You sure you’re okay?”

A short nod and a forced smile: Not very reassuring, but it was probably the best he was going to get for a while, so he forced his own smile, too.

“All right, then get some sleep, ’cause I’m going to work your ass off tomorrow.”

The second her door closed, he marched down to the other end of the hall and shoved that door open without so much as a knock.

“What the—” Finn sat straight up in bed, shielding his eyes from the sudden burst of overhead light. “I’m sleeping here.”

“Too bad.” Pushing the door closed, Liam leaned against it and tried not to growl. “I know you’re pissed about the boat, but get over it. We don’t have time to mope; it was an accident, shit happens, move on.”

“Fine. Whatever. Now screw off so I can go back to sleep.”

Liam wasn’t even listening to him.

“You scared the shit out of Jessie today and then freaked her out again when you wouldn’t let her in to check on you. It was a stupid cup of tea, for God’s sake; would it have killed you to just open the door, say thank you, and then hermit back up again?”

Sitting straighter, Finn brought his knees up under the blanket and wrapped his arms around them, but when he didn’t say anything, Liam cursed under his breath and reached for the doorknob again.

“And Jessie thought the drama was going to come from Kate and me.”

“You should’ve seen her face.” Finn lifted his head a little, but he kept his gaze fixed on the blanket. “I’ve never seen her that scared before, not even when the old man fell off the roof.”

“Yeah, I bet; just took me half an hour to get her to breathe past the panic that’s been clawing at her all night.”