Lured In (16 page)

He tugged her hands down and planted a kiss against each palm, smiling as he watched her mouth open and shut as whatever else she was going to say vaporized on her tongue.

How the hell did this happen? He had Jess on his lap—out in the lake—and he was kissing her.
Jess
.

Alarm bells should be screaming inside his head, but they weren't because…because it was Jess.

“Wasn't weird.” He brushed his thumb along the line of her mouth before kissing her again. “Never had anyone say it before, is all.”

“Seriously?”

It'd be so much easier to kiss her if she'd stop pulling away from him, because now that he'd started kissing her, God almighty, he didn't want to stop.

“Yeah, Jess. Seriously.”

She blew out a stuttered, choking breath and laughed. “It's not like I've been living in a monastery or anything, but none of the guys I ever kissed made me feel like
that,
so…”

“Jess.” He didn't care how many guys she'd kissed or what those idiots did or didn't do; all he cared about was getting to kiss her again, and he couldn't do that if she kept talking.

When she finally stopped to take a breath, he caught her mouth under his and kissed her until she slumped toward him, whispering his name.

“Finn?”

“Hmm?” Even though he itched to pull her in tight, he left his arms looped around her loosely so she wouldn't feel confined.

“I can't believe we did this.”

“I can't believe we didn't do it sooner.”

Her fingers twisted around the fabric of his shirt, which had ballooned out in the water. “I mean, this is crazy.”

“Li'l bit maybe.” More than a little bit actually, but only because it felt so right, so freakin' perfect.

“So…” She seemed to be having a hell of time trying to make eye contact with him, and he hated that so much. “What are we going to do now?”

“I don't know about you,” he murmured. “But I was thinking I'd do this.”

Finn flicked his tongue gently below her ear, smiling when she tilted her head in invitation for him to do it again. Happy to oblige, he took his time, then sprinkled barely there kisses down the soft length of her neck. The tips of her fingers flitted across the side of his face as if she wasn't sure whether to touch him or not.

“But it's…
oh
…um…it's you, and you're…mmm…I'm not norm…normally like th-this.”

God, it felt good knowing it was him making her stammer so bad.

Finn caught her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged gently, just enough to get her to meet him halfway, then he raised his left brow in an unspoken challenge: She could keep talking or they could keep kissing, but she couldn't do both.

Hungry for another taste of her, he brushed his lips across hers, savoring the feel of her soft gasp when he slid his tongue along the ridge of her teeth. He pushed his fingers through her wet hair, holding her close so he could draw the kiss out, a little longer, a little slower.

When Finn finally eased away enough to catch his breath, Jess fisted her hands around his soaked T-shirt and dragged him back, her sweet mouth hungry, demanding more and then rewarding him with the most erotically innocent sounds he'd ever heard.

“Holy shit.” The curse slipped off his tongue in a slow hot breath, and in response, Jess laughed and kissed him again, until what few working brain cells he had left were nothing but mush.

“Just keepin' it reel.”

Given the fact she was pretty sure all her bones and muscles had liquefied, Jessie had no idea how she managed to walk all the way up to the lodge.

What the hell had she just done
? Kissing Finn was…wow. But what did it mean? And what the holy-oh-hell was she supposed to do now? She knew damn well what she
wanted
to do, but…Ugh!

Finn didn't do long-term relationships, Jessie knew that, and she wasn't naïve enough to think she'd be the exception to that rule. Just because he'd trusted her with what happened with his mother didn't change the way he lived his life.

So where did that leave them? They sure as hell couldn't return to the way things had always been, but how were they supposed to go forward?

Sure, everything might be great for a while, but eventually Finn would do what he always did. He'd bolt.

Better to be the bolter than the boltee.

And then she'd be screwed three ways from Sunday.

Finn must have been thinking along the same lines, because he hardly said a word the whole way back.

With everyone else gone, there was no need to sneak into the lodge, so instead of heading to her room to change, Jessie draped her towel around her neck and made a beeline for the bar, where she poured herself a good tall shot of tequila and threw it back.

“Well, shit,” Finn muttered, his voice making her jump.

“God almighty,” she choked. “I thought you'd gone downstairs.”

“I was headed there until I saw you hauling ass in here.” He tugged the bottle out of her hand, refilled her glass, then poured himself one. “It usually takes a girl at least a couple hours before she starts regretting being with me.”

“
What?
I don't regret anything.”
Not yet anyway.

He tapped his glass against hers, chugged it, then choked out a short laugh.

“So why'd you head straight in here for a shot of this gross shit—God, you didn't even bring out a lime or the salt.”

Jessie made her way around to the other side of the bar, so there was at least some sort of space between them, and then slumped against it, leaning over on her elbows.

“Truth?”

He bobbed his head in a short nod, but he couldn't hide the apprehension in his eyes.

“Because I've got about ten thousand things bouncing around inside my head and freaking me out right now.”

Finn's laugh, the low, throaty one he used when he was about to say something self-deprecating, didn't make her smile the way it usually did.

“And I'm pretty sure I know what nine thousand of those things are, but don't you worry, Jess. Ro and Liam are gonna kill me long before I have time to screw this up.”

“They're going to kill
us,
” she corrected. “I'm the one who started it.”

“Well, that's true.” This time his laugh teased one out of her, too. “I was standing there minding my own business before you accosted me.”

“My apologies, then, for stealing your innocence.” She smirked. “I don't know what I was thinking.”

“I know
exactly
what you were thinking.” He tossed back a second shot, then tipped her a poor excuse of a warning look as she sipped hers slowly. “But just so we're clear here, Jess, you're not getting me into bed with you tonight, so forget it.”

The sip of tequila she'd started to swallow spewed straight out her mouth, all over the bar in front of her.

“What!”

“Beg all you like—I encourage that, actually—but it won't help.” His eyes teased her mercilessly, yet somehow he never cracked a smile. “Sure, my balls are gonna be about fifty shades of blue all night, but just because you can knock me to my ass with a kiss or two doesn't mean you're gonna get lucky tonight. I don't put out that easily.”

“You don't—” Still gaping, Jessie gave up trying to form words and laughed as she wiped up the bar.

“I know it'll be hard for you,” he went on, not even trying to hide his grin anymore, “since we're all alone here tonight, and I mean…you obviously want me—”

“I—”

“—but you're going to have to respect my wishes on this.”

“Trust me,” she snorted. “I think your virtue will be plenty safe tonight.”

“Is that right?” He was around the bar in a flash, trapping her between two stools. “You sure about that?”

“Positive,” she lied.

Oh God, he was looking at her like…like it was the first time he'd ever seen her or…Jessie swallowed hard and licked her lips…or like he was going to do that thing where he traced the edge of her mouth with his tongue.

Yes, that. Please do that again.

Without her shot glass to hold on to, Jessie's hands felt useless, restless, but the only thing she could reach without contorting herself was Finn's chest, and that was such a perfectly bad idea on so many levels.

She pressed her palms flat against her stomach, one on top of the other, and when that didn't help, crossed her arms over her chest, and then finally wrapped them around the ends of her towel, which dangled around her neck. Finn inched closer, his mouth curled up into a slow, taunting smile, and wrapped his hands around the edge of the bar, one on either side of her.

Her fingers tingled, itching to wrap around his arms for support, but she didn't do it. Not when he brushed his nose, feather-light, against hers, not when the feel of his breath against her earlobe made her tip her head a little in the hopes he'd kiss her there. And not even when he nudged her knees apart (
oh boy!
), wedged his thigh between hers (
mercy!
), and pressed his still wet, hard body against hers, on the ruse that he needed to reach around her to snag his glass again.

What the hell was happening? Was she really standing here like this
with
Finn
?

After taking a couple of steps back, he held his glass up and waited for her fill it again. He downed his shot, banged the glass down on the bar next to her half-full one, then wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

“I think we better put that shit away before…”

“Before what?” Twisting sideways, Jessie set the bottle next to the glasses. “Before we do something else stupid?”

“No,” he said. “I was going to say we should put it away before we drink it all and have none left for the rest of the week.”

“Oh.” Cringing, she turned back and lifted her face to his. “Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like…”

She tried to smile her way out of it, but Finn wasn't biting.

“Like what?” he asked, faking a hurt tone. “Like you don't want to kiss me again?”

“No, no,” she said. “That's not what I meant at all.”

“No?”

“Mm-mm.”

“So you're saying you
do
want to kiss me again.” He inched a little closer and took the rolled ends of her towel in his hands.

“Well…it probably wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.” Jessie couldn't believe these things were coming out of her mouth, the mouth that could barely form sentences around other guys, especially when they tried to kiss her. “If you think we have to, I mean.”

“I think we have to.” He wrapped his left arm around her lower back, pulled her up against him, and kissed her like…
ho-lee shit
…not like the first few times at all.

Those had been slow, warm kisses that made her feel like everything inside was melting in the most delicious way, but this kiss, strong, hot, and hungry, sent heat pooling in places she'd almost forgotten about.

His big, callused hand wound through her hair and held her, so sure, so steady; at the same time, every muscle in his chest and arms vibrated when she danced her tongue along the edge of his.

He moved his left hand lower, splayed his fingers over her butt, and pressed her tight against him, hard, then let out a low guttural curse when she dug her fingers into his waist, dropped her forehead to his chest, and grunted a harsh, tortured laugh.

“Ho…boy,” she muttered. “Your virtue is going to be in serious trouble here pretty quick.”

She'd only meant to stop kissing him for a second, just long enough to shut down the voice in her head, the one warning her that this was going way too far way too fast, but Finn was already pulling away from her.

He staggered back a few steps, interlocked his fingers behind his head, and blew out a harsh breath.

“Shit,”
he groaned, his eyes wide. “That was…
shit
…I shouldn't have done that, Jess. I'm…sorry.”

“What are you—” Jessie took a step toward him, then stopped when he flinched. “Oh my God, Finn, do you think that freaked me out?”

A wobbly little squeak vibrated out of his throat.

“Trust me,” she said. “If you'd done anything that bothered me even slightly, I'd have kneed you so hard you'd be seeing stars from now until the second coming.”

She was serious, but for some reason that made Finn smile, which, again, made her smile.

“Yeah, you would, too, wouldn't you?” he said.

“Damn right.”

And then, because she needed a moment to actually get her own raging hormones under control again, she downed the rest of her shot and nodded.

“Okay,” she said. “Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to go have a shower and try to wrap my head around this bizarro world we're suddenly in, and you—”

Finn's eyebrows shot up so fast she thought they might fly right off his forehead.

“—are going to stay up here and find us something for supper.”

His shoulders slumped but he was still smiling, so that was a good sign.

Forcing strength into her muscles, she started for the door, calling back over her shoulder as she walked.

“And ramen noodles don't count as supper.”

“But—”

“Nope. I want to see at least one vegetable and some protein on my plate. Got it?”

He needed to shower and change, too, but if there was one thing Jessie was sure neither one of them could handle right then, it was both of them being downstairs at the same time, both in the shower, both naked, both…

“Oh for God's sake,” she muttered. “You're a grown woman; get a grip.”

She tried, she really did. But even after she got out of the near-frigid shower, her lips still tingled and her body still ached to know what it would feel like to be pressed up against him without layers of clothes between them.

Finn set their plates down just as Jess came through the kitchen door, her long, still-damp hair hanging in soft waves over her shoulders and her shorts and T-shirt swapped out for her flannel
One Fish Two Fish
pajama set.

They had to be the oldest and ugliest things she owned; faded yellow bottoms and a red top with all those weird Dr. Seuss fish on them, so why the hell did she look so good?

“Why does it smell like—” Jess stopped just inside the room, pursed her lips, then laughed. “Seriously?”

“Hey,” he said. “Have I or have I not given you everything you wanted?”

Jess blinked up at him, shaking her head the whole time.

“You cut up hot dogs into Kraft Dinner—that doesn't even count as a meal, never mind the fact hot dogs don't count as protein.”

“What if they're all-beef hot dogs?”

“And where's the vegetables?”

Finn pulled the bottle of ketchup out of the fridge and squirted a big pile on her plate.

“Tomatoes.”

He loved it when she looked at him like that, her eyes soft and crinkled around the edges, like she didn't want to think he was funny but couldn't help it.

“I'm pretty sure Health Canada might take issue with that,” she said.

Finn would've been the first one to sing Olivia's praises, because that woman worked absolute miracles in their small kitchen. But no matter how much he loved everything she put out, every once in a while a guy just needed a big bowl of macaroni and cheese, and going by the way Jess was wolfing hers down, too, she must've agreed.

“I'll wash up,” she said when they'd finished. “If you want to go change.”

“That'd be nice,” he laughed. “It's not that I mind walking in cold wet clothes, but…”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” This time her smile was a little sheepish. “Just go.”

“There better be lots of hot water left.”

“Trust me,” she muttered. “There's plenty.”

And there still was when Finn was done.

Since he didn't actually own pajamas, he tugged on a pair of jeans and an old cotton button-down before heading back upstairs. Jess had cleaned up, made tea, and was already curled up in her chair in the great room with a book, a couple of cushions, and an old blue crocheted blanket.

Somewhere in Finn's room or on his boat were copies of Capote's
In Cold Blood
and an older Baldacci, both of which he'd already started reading, but he couldn't be bothered to go find either of them, so he grabbed one of the Robert Jordans off the shelf and flopped down on the couch.

He'd read a couple of the other books in the series and really liked them, but for the life of him, he couldn't get past the first page of this one. And, nope, it had nothing to do with the writing and everything to do with the fact that he couldn't stop watching Jess over the top of his book.

The longer he watched her, the more he grinned, because she hadn't turned a page, either.

“Finn?”

“Hmm?” Clearing his throat, he turned his attention to the open book in front of him, even turned the page to make it look good.

“I'm sorry I said I hated you.”

“I'm sorry you said it, too.”

“I didn't mean it.”

“Yeah,” he snorted. “I kinda gathered that.”