Off the Hook (30 page)

“I’m fine,” he said, looping his left arm around her waist and tugging her so close their noses brushed. Shifting against the edge of the counter, he widened his stance a bit and nudged her to stand between his thighs. “God, I missed you.”

“Yeah?” She brushed a soft kiss against his bottom lip, drawing a sigh from somewhere deep inside him. “You didn’t find yourself some hot California girl down there to keep you warm?”

“You’re the only girl for me.” He slid his palm along her jawline and brought her face up to his. “You’ve always been the only one, Kate.”

She pressed her hands flat against his chest, letting her fingers toy with the edge of his sling. “Does that mean you’re going to stick around?”

“I will if you will.”

“No getting up in the middle of the night and sneaking away?” She couldn’t help but smile when he tipped her a look. “I didn’t leave in the middle of the night; it’s different.”

“You’re right. You waited until I was out of range of the radio before you bolted.”

“Whatever,” she laughed. “Just answer the question.”

He hesitated a second, his eyes searching hers until he seemed to find what he was looking for.

“I’m not going anywhere, Kate. Everything I want is right here.”

“Oooh,” she murmured. “Good answer.”

She kissed him again, slowly this time, soaking in everything she’d been without for so long. His fingers danced up her spine, pulling a shiver with them and making her lean against him for support.

“I’m sorry about Foster,” he murmured, pressing a kiss against her temple. “Finn had a bad feeling about him from the start; I guess he was right. The guy really is a snake.”

“Maybe.”

“What do you mean ‘maybe’?” Liam asked, leaning back so he could gaze down at her. “He used you, Kate, to try to ruin this place. To ruin us.”

“But he didn’t ruin us.” Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes, then smiled against his neck. “He helped fix us. If he hadn’t sent me up here, I never would have had the chance to do this again.”

As she kissed her way across his Adam’s apple, she slid her fingers under his T-shirt and spread them wide across his belly, then lower toward the waistband of his shorts.

“Kate,” he growled. “I—”

The radio suddenly crackled to life behind his head, making both of them freeze as Finn’s voice filled the small room. “I hope you guys aren’t doing anything in there that’ll scare the fish.”

Laughing, Kate eased her hand back to his belly again. “Think we should go up?”

“No.” He leaned in to kiss her again, then stopped, his lips still pressed against hers. “Okay, fine, but we’re not hanging out up there long.”

“Damn right.” Threading her fingers through his, she sighed at the feel of his palm pressed flat against hers. God, she’d missed him. “Couple minutes. We’re in and we’re out, quick quick quick.”

And then she planned on spending the rest of the night alone with him, going slow slow slow.

“Hang on a sec,” Liam said when they stepped out of the shack. “I want to get a quick peek at this new boat. Ro said you’d explain where it came from.”

“Right.” Laughing lightly, Kate tugged him down the dock toward the new Whaler. “Look—they let me name it.”

“Stock Options?”
Liam’s quirked brow lasted only a second or two before his eyes flew wide. “You didn’t.”

“ ’Course I did. We needed another boat, didn’t we? And after finding out what a weasel Paul was, I was only too happy to cash those suckers in, especially since it meant this place would benefit.” There was that smile of his again, the one that warmed her straight down to her toes. “What?”

“Nothing.” He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, and they turned and headed toward the lodge. “I just like it when you say ‘we.’ ”

“Yeah?” Linking her fingers through his again, she tugged their joined hands down and pressed them both against her breast. “Good, because I like saying it.”

Chapter 14

God, I hope I wear this jersey forever.

—Derek Jeter

Liam didn’t need any of them to try to explain their sides of what they’d done or why; none of it mattered anymore. All that mattered was that about an hour after they’d walked into the lodge, Kate had suddenly disappeared.

She’d been gone almost ten minutes, which wasn’t long, but he hated that she’d just up and left without saying anything. He’d tried again and again to cut his brothers and Jessie off so he and Kate could get out of there, but none of them were having it, which was made clear again when Jessie slid another fresh pint of Gat toward him.

They wanted to know everything, wanted to hear every detail of every game, and he felt obliged to answer, since they were part of the reason he’d gone to Oakland in the first place.

“I forgot how hot it gets down there. And standing up on the—”

The door between the kitchen and the pub swooshed open, and there was Kate.

“Holy shit.” Liam tried to swallow and couldn’t. He tried to breathe and couldn’t. Shit, he couldn’t even blink.

“You about done here?” she asked, her wide smile rendering him even more useless than he already was.

In the couple of minutes that she was gone, she’d let her hair down, so it fell all loose and wavy over her shoulders, and she’d changed her clothes.

Her yellow gum boots replaced the old running shoes she’d had on, and instead of her jeans and T-shirt, what she now wore—
all she wore
—was a jersey. Not the one she used to wear, white with the fancy “D” on the chest and Verlander’s name on the back.

Hells to the no.

The one she wore now was an Oakland home jersey, white with the green “Athletics” written across her chest and…

…she turned slowly and there it was: “O’Donnell—2.”

Liam was off his stool and around the bar before his name even finished registering in his brain.

“Hey!” Finn cried, laughing along with Ro and Jessie. “Where you going? I want to hear more about California!”

Liam didn’t even acknowledge that the idiot had spoken. He tripped through the mudroom after Kate, but as they hustled outside, she tipped her beautiful teasing smile up at him.

“You sure you’re up for this, Sporto? You probably shouldn’t be overexerting yourself too much, what with the bad arm and everything.”

“What? You mean this?” Trying not to wince too much, Liam jerked the sling off and tossed it over his shoulder as her smile faded to worry. “I could use a little overexertion.”

“You sure?”

“Damn right.” Liam yanked open her cabin door and waved her inside. “So long as the exertion is all on my left arm, we’ll be good.”

“Don’t you worry,” she said, as the smile inched its way back. “I’ll do all the heavy lifting tonight.”

Smitten. There really was no other word for it.

For so many reasons, this one’s for Soo.

Acknowledgments

So much gratitude goes out to my editor, Junessa Viloria, and our whole team at Loveswept, including Gina, Erika, Ashleigh, Matt, Lynn, Evan, and everyone who works with them. It’s an amazing thing to have you all in the dugout with me.

Thank you also to my agent, Holly Root, for making it all work so easily (or at least making it look easy).

Thank you to Ann Christopher, Kristi Cook, Lori Devoti, Caroline Linden, Sally MacKenzie, and Eve Silver for always being there when I need you, and to Maggie McGinnis and Sidney Halston for always making me laugh.

A huge thank you to Elaine Burke, Brian Drewry, Della Halvorson, Shani Rittel, and Dane Sweeney for sharing your knowledge with me on various topics. Not all the information made it into the final book, and what I did use may have been tweaked for the purpose of the story, so any mistakes or errors contained within these pages are mine alone.

To my readers—thank you so very much for not only reading the books, but for connecting with me in all the ways you do. I love hearing from you and hope you never hesitate to drop me a line.

Thanks go to everyone who sent in ideas on what we should name the boats at the Buoys. We received so many awesome suggestions and we appreciate every one. Special thanks to Marcy Maddox and Captain Ron, whose suggestions were the ones we used in the book.

And finally, thank you to Captain Ron and our “three buoys,” Thomas, Michael, and John, who keep me sane. Well…let’s not go crazy. They keep me sane-ish.

B
Y
L
AURA
D
REWRY

Plain Jayne

Prima Donna

Accidentally in Love

How Forever Feels

Off the Hook

L
AURA
D
REWRY
had been scribbling things for years before she decided to seriously sit down and write. After spending eight years in the Canadian north, Laura now lives back home in southwestern British Columbia with her husband, three sons, a turtle named Sheldon, and two extremely energetic dogs. She loves old tattered books, good movies, country music, and the New York Yankees.

lauradrewry.com

Facebook.com/LauraDrewryAuthor

@lauradrewry

The Editor’s Corner

April is a promise of spring, and Loveswept romance is here to warm things up.

L. P. Dover continues her edgy, emotionally gripping Second Chances series with the story of a beautiful widow who can’t resist a chiseled NFL player in
Catching Summer.
The Society of Gentlemen series from K. J. Charles continues with the sizzling
A Gentleman’s Position
. For a new series, ladies, meet Micah, a man who takes what he wants—until he meets the one woman he needs, in Stacey Kennedy’s
Bound Beneath His Pain.
An epic love affair steals the show in Stina Lindenblatt’s
This One Moment
. Annie Rains continues her small-town Hero’s Welcome series with a cowboy turned marine in
Welcome Home, Cowboy
. Gillian Archer is hot on the trend of MC romance, introducing her True Brothers series with
Ruthless
. And MC Sons of Odin returns with Violetta Rand’s irresistible novel about a sexy-as-sin biker who tempts a good girl to go bad,
Possession
.

Off the Hook,
from
USA Today
bestselling author Laura Drewry, is the first in her Fishing for Trouble series, featuring three unforgettable brothers—each of whom is a great catch. Then the swoon-worthy McKinney Brothers series from
New York Times
bestselling author Claudia Connor continues with J.T. in
Worth It All
.
USA Today
bestselling author Alexis Morgan kicks off her new Sergeant Joe’s Boys series with
Always for You: Jack,
where a foster son learns about love and life in record time. And the new Fireside series tells a story of an old love reunited in
His to Love,
from new Loveswept author Stacey Lynn.
USA Today
bestselling writing duo M. J. Fields and Chelsea Camaron are back with the Caldwell brothers in
Jagger,
which is not only full of swagger and sensuality but also packs an emotional punch, as the last bachelor standing fights for a woman who’s worth every ounce of trouble. And yet another Aces Hockey romance from Kelly Jamieson releases this month, featuring pro hockey hunk Duncan in
Icing.
There’s also something naughty for you from
New York Times
bestselling author Jen McLaughlin in
Lust Is the Thorn,
where a soon-to-be ordained priest has to decide who he loves more. Then prepare yourself for razor-sharp suspense from
New York Times
bestselling author Patricia Rosemoor with
His Deception.
Two words for you: secret bodyguard. And for fans of the hit TV show
Empire,
Lisa Marie Perry’s
Sin for Me
kicks off the sizzling Devil’s Music series.

Friend Loveswept and let the romance begin!

Until next month—Happy Romance!

Gina Wachtel

Associate Publisher

Read on for a sneak peek of the next book in Laura Drewry’s new Fishing for Trouble series

Lured In

Available from Loveswept

Chapter 1

“I got him!”

Jessie Todd looked up from her computer monitor and tried to blink Kate’s grinning face into focus, but after two hours of nothing but spreadsheets and formulas, Jessie was lucky she could even blink at all.

“Sorry?” Pressing her shoulders against the back of her chair, she wrapped her right hand around her left wrist and stretched up as high as she could, cursing herself for sitting still for so long. “You got who for what?”

“Sam Ross!” With the phone clenched tight in her fist, Kate practically vibrated with excitement. “You know, from
Hooked
. I got him!”