Off the Hook (25 page)

The only difference between her and Paul Foster right then was that he liked to say his actions were all business, whereas Kate was quite willing to admit hers were personal. It was personal to her that he’d lulled her into believing she was an asset to the company; it was personal to her that he’d gone digging around in her private life and then used that against her.

And it was damn personal that he was going to try to yank the Buoys out from under the people she loved. Sure, there might be a few problems ahead, but those problems would be hers to deal with, because when she viewed it through clear eyes, instead of the Liam-covered lenses she’d been wearing, the main issue here was bigger than how much she loved him.

I love Liam.

Kate let the words rip their gash through her heart, because she didn’t have the strength just then to stop it. Strong Kate never would have left her heart open to that kind of pain; she would have stayed good and closed off, so it wouldn’t matter one iota that Liam was leaving and hadn’t bothered to tell her.

Strong Kate wouldn’t have cared less what he did or what Paul Foster was trying to do.

Too bad the real Kate cared so much.

Suck it up, Hadley; you need to focus. Look past him and see the big picture.

Right, okay, she could do that, couldn’t she? Ugh. No, she couldn’t, because Liam
was
the big picture. If she couldn’t look past him, maybe she could try to move him over to her peripheral vision. Yeah, that should work. Maybe.

As soon as the bank opened, she’d call Robyn and get things in motion, but before she did that, she needed to run the numbers herself, make sure she was covered either way. Sitting there on her narrow bed, with her now-cold hot-water bottle tossed to the side, she couldn’t imagine why her plan wouldn’t work—it was her money, after all, and she could do whatever she wanted with it, but still.

Mixing emotions with financial decisions was rarely a good idea. And that’s why she’d never be as successful as Paul Foster, because no matter how hard she tried to deny it, she wanted emotion to play a role in her decisions.

And that was why she didn’t stop Liam when he opened her door a couple of hours later.

“How’re you feeling?” he asked, whispering as he stood in the darkened bedroom doorway. “You okay?”

“It’s my period; it’s not terminal.”

She knew he’d smile even before she saw the white flash of his teeth.

“Does that mean I’m banned, or can I still—” He flicked his fingers toward the blankets and waited until she scooted over to make room.

With his clothes in a heap next to the door, he climbed in beside her, holding his arm up for her to curl under, just like on every other night, the only difference being that he was the only one naked this time.

“Finn talked to you about staying on?”

“Mm-hmm.”

A few long seconds went by before he nudged her gently. “And?”

“And I’m thinking about it.” She pressed her hand flat against his chest so she could feel his heartbeat. “You like having Ronan home, don’t you?”

“He’s a giant pain in the ass,” he said over a soft snort. “But yeah. It never feels quite right unless we’re all here.”

She let his words settle around her as his fingers moved in slow strokes up and down her arm.

“Liam?”

“Hmm?”

“You got an offer, didn’t you?” She knew it was stupid to whisper, but she couldn’t help it. If she asked quietly, maybe he’d answer quietly, and then it wouldn’t hurt so much.

His chest heaved beneath her cheek and it seemed to take him a really long time to answer.

“Yeah.”

One word, that’s all it was, and yet it changed everything.

Chapter 11

Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he’s losing; nobody wants you to quit when you’re ahead.

—Jackie Robinson

Liam woke up alone.

He could still feel her tucked up against him and he could still smell her sunshine scent on the sheets, but she was long gone. And that was twice in the last twenty-four hours she’d walked away from him without a kiss. That had to stop.

Tugging his clothes back on, he headed up to the lodge to shower and change before he went looking for her. She sure seemed happy about his offer last night, had hugged him tight and kept him up well into the night asking all sorts of questions, like if the A’s would let him keep his number 2 (yes) and if their medical staff was prepared to work with his rotator cuff (yes), because they hadn’t been around him, so he needed to make sure they were careful with him (he’d make sure) and that they didn’t make him overdo it (he wouldn’t).

She’d wanted to know if the O.co Coliseum was anything like Comerica Park, how often he’d get to pitch, and what would happen to his apartment in Detroit.

He’d answered everything as best he could, right up until she’d sighed sleepily, pressed a soft kiss against his chest, then smiled.

“It’s going to be so great,” she’d murmured. “
You’re
going to be so great.”

It was as if a fist had wrapped itself around his heart and squeezed until Liam was sure the whole thing had been crushed. She’d sounded so sure, so happy, and the only thing he was sure of was that no amount of time on any pitcher’s mound had ever felt as great as it did to just lie there with her.

But lying there with her wasn’t going to pay the bills.

Everyone else was already in the kitchen when he finally got up to the lodge.

“There he is!” Jessie threw herself into his arms the second he came through the door. “Can’t go wrong with California, am I right?”

Liam gave her a token one-armed hug, then set her down and tipped his gaze at Kate, who was smiling brightly.

“Shit, bro.” Finn beamed. “I heard you yakking to your agent, but I didn’t know it was a done deal—that’s awesome.”

“It’s not a done deal yet,” Liam said, trying not to dampen the mood too much but knowing he had to be honest about it. “They made the offer, but I have to go down there and meet with them to work out the details.”

“What do you mean it’s not a done deal?” Jessie squawked. “I perked coffee for the occasion and everything!”

Even Ronan was smiling.

“Looks like you’re off the hook here,” he said, offering Liam his hand. “I know you put your career at risk coming up here to deal with this, and I know I was kind of a prick about the whole thing—”

“You were?” Liam deadpanned as Finn and Jessie snickered. “I didn’t notice.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Ro laughed, then offered an apologetic grin. “I’m happy for you, man. Really.”

“Thanks.” Liam tipped him a sideways glance, but Ro was already turning away. “Are you—”

“No!” Ronan barked, even as he swiped the back of his hand over his eyes.

It was too late, though, they’d all seen him, and in unison Finn and Jessie instantly channeled their best Tom Hanks.

“There’s no crying in baseball!”

And in typical Ro style, he managed to tell them all to fuck off even as he laughed and used the hem of his shirt to wipe his eyes.

Liam watched his brother for another few seconds before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Look, I appreciate all the hoopla, but it’s not as easy as you’re all making it out to be. We still have to make that tax—”

“Tax shmax,” Jessie scoffed. “This morning we celebrate—hell, I’ll even make bacon and eggs for the occasion! So go have a shower and for God’s sake brush your teeth; you smell like last night’s Guinness. Come back when you smell better and we’ll work out the rest.”

The four of them stood there grinning at him as he shuffled backward toward the door.

“Don’t let Finn drink all the coffee.”

“I won’t,” Jessie answered, but she had already dismissed him and was busy digging things out of the fridge.

Kate followed him out into the lobby, slid her hand into his, and tugged him out of sight of the kitchen.

“They’re so proud of you,” she whispered. “So am I.”

“Yeah?” He lifted her hand up to his mouth and pressed a soft kiss against her knuckles. “Then why’d I wake up alone this morning?”

“Sorry, I, uh, I ran out of Advil. Cramps, you know.”

Just the mention of the word made Liam cringe.

“Don’t be such a sissy.” Laughing, she wrapped her index finger over the neckline of his T-shirt and pulled him in for a long, slow kiss.

“But I stink,” he mumbled, as she ran her tongue along his bottom lip.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling against his mouth. “You really do.”

“You could come shower with me.”

“Sorry, Sporto, you’re on your own today.” Still smiling, she let her hand slip out of his and returned to the kitchen.

Groaning, Liam watched her go, then stumbled his way downstairs for a shower and an extra couple of minutes with his toothbrush. Bacon and coffee—nothing else in the world smelled that good. Except Kate, but that was different.

When Liam was halfway up the stairs, Ro’s voice trailed off. Liam hadn’t heard what he was saying, but the second he stepped back into the kitchen, Jessie thrust a plate full of bacon, eggs, and pancakes at him and pointed toward a steaming cup of coffee on the table, so nothing else mattered.

And for the next little while, nothing else did matter, because the five of them were all together, laughing and talking as though everything was right with their world. It wasn’t, and all too soon Liam reminded them of that.

“We need to be smart about this,” he said, realizing too late he’d said the exact same thing two months earlier but for different reasons. “It sounds great that Oakland’s made an offer, but even if I sign tomorrow, I don’t know when the first payment’ll show up, so…”

“Doesn’t matter.” Ronan’s gaze flicked over to Kate for a second before he blinked at Liam and said, “I didn’t want to say anything before, in case it went shits up, but Mandy and I sold the house.”

“You what?” Liam croaked. “When?
How?
I thought she was dead set on keeping it.”

“Yeah, well, she changed her mind. The realtor emailed this morning to say it had all gone through and the buyers are keen to get an early closing date, so as soon as I get back on Monday, I’ll sign my part of the paperwork and then it’s just a matter of time before we’re back in the black.”

“No way.” Liam slumped in his chair, completely dumbfounded. For years Mandy had been resisting selling that damn house, and now, right when they needed the money most, she finally gave in. It almost made him regret every time he’d called her a bitch.

Almost.

“We’ve been sitting here for almost an hour,” he said. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“ ’Cause. I didn’t want to take away from your news.”

“Screw that,” Liam snorted. “This is the news we’ve been waiting for. D’you think it’ll all go through before July?”

Ro nodded behind his mug. “They, uh, they want to take possession by the last weekend in June, so yeah.”

This must have been what Ronan was saying when Liam came up the stairs, because no one else at the table seemed nearly as surprised as Liam.

“Holy shit, that’s—” He couldn’t even finish; all he could do was press his hands over his face and exhale long and loud. “Get me the phone. I want to thank her.”

“No!” Ro choked. “I said she agreed to it; I never said she was happy about it. Just let that sleeping dog lie for now, okay?”

Finn leaned his elbows on the table and nodded slowly. “What we need to be thinking about now is who’s going to run
BoB
while hotshot here’s working on his suntan. We need both boats in the water.”

“I will.” Ronan set his mug down and rubbed his thumb along the edge. “I’ve got five weeks’ worth of overtime banked, plus my usual three weeks’ holiday time. I’ll take it all at once.”

“Oh no,” Liam said. “If you take the overtime as time off instead of wages, you won’t have anything to pay Mandy’s tuition come September.”

“I can do whatever the hell I want. And if this place goes for shit and I don’t make that money back before September, well…that’s what credit cards are for, isn’t it?”

Liam couldn’t believe the rest of them just laughed and nodded.

“No way, Ro. That’s stupid. We’re not going to leave you on the hook to pay that kind of interest for this. We’ll figure something else out, and if it means I stay, then I stay.”

“Fuck that. You’re going if I have to strap your ass into the Helijet myself.” Ro pushed his mug into the center of the table and smirked. “Besides, I already told payroll, so you’re stuck with me now until the end of July.”

“What?” Jessie cried. “You’re staying? For real?”

“For real.”

Liam couldn’t help grinning, especially when Finn snorted.

“Figures. We do all the work and then he swoops in and plays the superhero.”

Ro leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “Well, you know how it is—if the cape fits…”

And just like that, everything they’d been working for, everything they’d been stressing over, was taken care of. With a week and a half to go until their first guests arrived, they could finally relax a little.

The rest of them could anyway. Liam, on the other hand…Well, he laughed and put on a hell of a show, but everything inside him was one giant knot. What if he got to Oakland and they changed their minds? What if his arm couldn’t hold out?

If those were the only things knotting him up, he’d be doing okay, but they weren’t. Hell, neither one of those things even made the top loop of the first knot. What twisted him up the most had nothing to do with baseball and everything to do with Kate.

He didn’t doubt for a single second that she was genuinely happy for him. Nor did he doubt she was genuinely happy that the Buoys was going to stay with his family. But what happened now?

Foster wasn’t going to let her stay here if he wasn’t going to get the Buoys, and with Ronan staying on for the next couple of months, there was nothing stopping Liam from going to Oakland, so where did that leave them?

He didn’t have a chance to ask her, because Jessie was suddenly insisting that Liam, Finn, and Ro go out fishing together.