Catch and Release

by Laura Drewry

  “Jesus, woman,” he muttered, his mouth never leaving hers for a second. “That was…”

  “Hmm.” She ran her hands down his back, splayed her fingers out across his ass, and sighed. “Yes, it was.”

  “Hold on.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Hold on.”

  This time when he said it, he lifted her hands, one by one, pressed them against the back of his neck, then slid her leg out from behind him. When she started to protest, he just grinned and, with a quick roll, flipped them so she was sprawled on top of him.

  “Better?” he asked, laughing quietly as he brushed her hair off his face.

  Hope nodded against his chest. Every single thing was better now. Perfect, actually. His heartbeat thundered under her ear, his fingers stroked up her back with a tenderness that belied the strength in them, and he was still buried deep inside her.

  “Hey.” He crooked his finger under her chin, but when she lifted her face up to his, he looked away. She pushed up off his chest so she could see his whole face.

  “What is it?”

  Ronan exhaled slowly, then finally swung his gaze to her again, but instead of looking happy or completely satisfied like she did, he looked worried, uncomfortable.

  “I’m, uh…I mean, I think I’m…shit.”

  Hope laid her hands flat on his chest and rested her chin on top, waiting to see if he’d be able to say it. She wanted him to, of course, but it seemed to her that Ronan needed to say it more than she needed to hear it.

  “I told you I’m not good at this shit,” he said.

  “Can I tell you something?” She pressed a kiss against his jaw, then another against his Adam’s apple as his answer rumbled beneath her lips.

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “I’m a little bit in love with you.” She said it against his neck, which sort of didn’t count—something Ronan must have agreed with, because he lifted her chin up and stared back at her for a long couple of seconds.

  “Say it again,” he whispered.

  Hope, suddenly overcome by another shot of anxiety, tried to shrug away, but he wouldn’t let her.

  “Hope.”

  This time when she said it, she looked him in the eye and smiled, a little jittery but a smile nonetheless.

  “I said I’m a little bit in love with you.”

  Ronan released the breath he’d been holding and pressed a kiss against her forehead.

  “Do you have any kind of response to that?” she asked. “Anything at all?”

  “Hell yeah,” he said, sounding much more like the Ronan she knew even as his eyes softened to deep green pools. “Number one, that’s very good news.”

  “And number two?”

  “Number two.” He reached for the stack of condoms. “How many of these do you have?”

  “Seriously? Well, I’m pretty sure we’ll last the week, if that’s your concern.”

  “It was, yeah. Give me a second here.”

  Before she could agree or protest, he shuffled out from under her, disposed of the used condom, then crawled back into bed and trailed kisses up her body, leaving her breathless and clinging to him. She’d never thought she could go twice in such a short amount of time, but she was ready before his mouth found hers, before his fingers brushed over her breasts, and long before he’d ripped open the next package and rolled the condom on.

  He didn’t tease her this time, didn’t drive her mad or wait until she was practically begging; he simply hooked her leg up around his waist, breathed a hot kiss against her mouth, and took her in one long stroke.

  It was more than the feeling of him buried deep inside her, and it was more than knowing she was the one who made him smile like that when the world exploded around them. It was seeing everything she needed to see right there in those soft green eyes when he rolled on his back and kissed her so, so gently, so perfect.

  “And number three,” he whispered, breathing the words against her lips, “I’m a whole lot in love with you.”

  —

  Ronan woke up in the middle of the night with the same smile he’d fallen asleep with. In fact, he found himself waking up every day with that same smile. And better than that, so did Hope.

  It was no secret to the crew or to Ro’s family what was going on, but they all agreed it was probably best if the guests didn’t know just yet. Ditto for Luka. Once the show wrapped, they’d tell her, but for now it was better for Hope’s job if they kept it on the down low. And Hope insisted it would help keep the ratings up if the viewers believed one of those “hot O’Donnells” was still unattached.

  So week after week they did their best to keep things as quiet as possible and stay out of camera range.

  Hope continued to fly back to the mainland every Thursday and then always returned on Saturday afternoon to show them the newest episode before it went to air that night. The show wasn’t number one in its time slot, but it had developed enough of a following that they’d already been offered a contract for two more seasons.

  “They wanted me to remind you the clock’s ticking,” Hope said. “So if you’re able to give me an indication of which way you’re leaning, that’d be great.”

  As they’d done every week since the first episode, they were all in the great room, pizza boxes and drinks covering the table while they watched the credits roll up the screen.

  “Well, I don’t speak for everyone,” Liam said, “but if you ask me, I think we should focus on finishing this season before we decide anything. We’ve got two more episodes to film and, so far as I know, Luka still doesn’t have any special guests lined up for those, does she?”

  “Not yet,” Hope said. “But we’ve got a lead on one for the finale. And as for the rush, well, you have to understand that if you guys don’t sign, the network needs to find something to fill the time slot. They’d rather not have to scramble to do that, so the sooner you can let us know, the better.”

  Ro, sitting sideways in the chair with his legs draped over the arm, didn’t say anything, just leaned back a little to see if he could gauge the rest of their expressions. As he did, he noticed Kate sliding her still-full Guinness into Liam’s hand, then taking his empty glass. There was something about it: It was too slow, almost secretive, too…wait a minute.

  When was the last time he saw Kate drink anything alcoholic? She never refused a drink when someone offered her one, but did she actually drink it? Hell if he knew. It wasn’t something he normally paid attention to, but the harder he tried to remember, the more he couldn’t.

  “No fuckin’ way!” He swung his legs around so fast that he had to grab the chair for balance when he shoved out of it. “Kate, are you—”

  He stopped as her expression froze. The only thing moving was her eyes, which widened as they darted between him and Liam.

  “Is she what?” Jessie asked, as she and Finn both turned to look at her, too.

  “Holy shit!” Ro croaked. “You are, aren’t you?”

  Kate didn’t even have to say anything; Liam’s big stupid grin had given it away already.

  “She’s wh—” Finn’s question died unasked because, by then, Kate was sporting a matching smile to Liam’s.

  Jessie leapt off Finn’s lap, pulled Kate to her feet, and pressed both hands against Kate’s belly. “You’re pregnant? Oh my God—why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Because.” She paused, reached for Liam’s hand, and squeezed it. “We’re only a couple months along, and we didn’t want to jinx anything.”

  “Well, holy shit, man.” Finn was on his feet, too, pulling Liam into a hug, and then they were all hugging and laughing. Everyone except Ro.

  He hadn’t moved from where he stood in front of his chair, because he was still trying to digest it. Kate was pregnant. Kate. Kate and Liam were going to have a baby.

  Ro was gonna be an uncle.

  He couldn’t believe it. There was going to be a baby at the Buoys. A little O’Donnell who, God willing, would look more lik
e Kate than Liam, and who’d be living proof that the O’Donnells could actually do something right. Something good.

  “Oh shit,” Finn groaned. “He’s gonna cry again.”

  It took Ro a second to realize that not only was Finn talking about him but that they were all staring at him. He cleared his throat hard and blinked harder, hoping it would stop the burning in the back of his eyes.

  “Fuck you.” With a grunt, he shoved Finn out of the way and wrapped Liam in a tight hug.

  “What do you mean ‘again’?” Hope asked, but Ro ignored the question.

  Hands fisted against his brother’s back, Ro nodded briefly and squeezed Liam tighter. There was too much going on inside his heart just then, and no way to find the words he wanted to say without turning into a blubbering idiot, so instead he wrapped his arm around Liam’s neck and kissed the side of his head.

  “Ro.” Barely more than a trembled whisper from Liam, it was too much, so Ro did the only thing he could to save his dignity: He shoved Liam out of the way, too, and hugged Kate—not as tight as he’d hugged Liam, because he didn’t want to hurt her.

  “Great news, Kate,” he whispered. “Really, really great.”

  “Yeah,” she said, hiccuping over a small cry. “It really is.”

  “Hello?” Hope said. “Someone clue me in here. What did you mean when you said he was going to cry again?”

  Ro flashed Finn a warning look, but he knew if he didn’t tell Hope, Finn would.

  “The day Liam got drafted,” he said, shrugging as he twisted his mouth a little, “it’s possible I might have shed a tear or two.”

  “A tear or two?” Finn choked. “You wept like a little girl.”

  “Don’t—” Jessie’s warning was too late; Ro was already lunging for Finn, but the little shit was too fast.

  “You can’t be doing that when the baby comes,” Jessie said. “So just stop it now!”

  “But—” Ro faked another shot at Finn, then held up his hands in surrender when Jessie yelled again: “Ronan!”

  “Okay, okay,” he muttered, smirking over her head at Finn. “But we still have seven months, little brother.”

  Ro shuffled the leftover pizza into one box and headed toward the kitchen, but Jessie’s question to Hope stopped him before he got out of the great room.

  “What does this mean for us doing or not doing another season?” she asked. “What will the network say about a baby?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Hope said, laughing as she began gathering the empty plates. “They’ll say alle-freakin’-luia. A baby’ll add a whole new dynamic to the show, and if you don’t mind my saying, when you’ve got three good-looking guys oohing and aahing over a baby, it’s ratings gold—especially with our female viewers.”

  Ro started to object, but before he could get out the first sound, she held up her hand and shook her head.

  “We would never exploit the baby,” she said. “If you guys decide to sign on for more seasons, it will be entirely up to Kate and Liam how much time the child is or is not onscreen. But it’s definitely something you should start thinking about.”

  “Yeah.” Kate nodded slowly as she sank back onto the couch next to Liam. “We will.”

  Hope followed Ronan into the kitchen, set the plates down, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

  “So exciting for them,” she said. “For all of you.”

  “Yeah.” He breathed a kiss against her temple, silently giving thanks that she’d come into his life—not only on a personal level but because he didn’t know if they’d have done the show if it hadn’t been for Hope. Thank God they had, because now he could pay Liam back and maybe, if they got their shit together, they could get a house built before the baby came.

  God, could it actually be happening? After all the shit they’d been through and all the screwups they’d each caused, was it possible that things were turning around? That he and his brothers had finally moved past everything and were going to be able to let themselves be happy?

  He almost didn’t want to think about it in case he jinxed all of them, but how could he not? And with Hope standing there in his arms, smiling up at him like that…well, shit.

  It was more than enough to make him believe.

  Chapter 14

  “Your son got angry at you. Welcome to parenthood.”

  Mr. Ping, Kung Fu Panda 3

  Ro raised his mug in the air and grinned at Kate and Jessie, who were sitting at the kitchen table, finalizing boat schedules.

  “I admit it,” he said. “The show turned out a hell of a lot better than I thought it would, but I’m still happy this is the last week of filming.”

  “I’m with you on that,” Kate said, nodding. She’d been looking a little green around the gills lately, and today wasn’t any different.

  Jessie didn’t nod, though.

  “Peggy Flynn,” she murmured for what seemed like the hundredth time. “You guys are sure you’ve never heard of her?”

  “Doesn’t matter how many times you ask,” Ronan said. “The answer doesn’t change. I’ve never met a Peggy in my life, and none of those pictures of Peggy Flynns you found online look like anyone I know.”

  Kate agreed.

  “It’s just weird, don’t you think? All these weeks, we’ve had celebrities of some kind or another as special guests, except for last week, when we didn’t have anyone; and now, for the last episode, Luka suddenly springs an unknown on us.”

  “She’s not springing it,” Kate said. “Hope told us a couple weeks ago they had a lead on someone for the finale.”

  “Sure, but they didn’t even give us a name until Hope got here last night, and now, out of the blue, Luka’s personally accompanying this Peggy person up here? Luka’s never set foot on our dock before, so why now?”

  “Who cares?” Ro asked. “All we need to do is get through three days with whoever this Peggy person is and we’ll be done. We can take down all the cameras and get back to normal.”

  “Normal?” Kate snorted. “The only ‘normal’ around here is the setting on the dryer, Ronan.”

  “But Hope must know something,” Jessie said. “It’s her show—how can she not know who’s going to be on it?”

  Ro shrugged. “I know as much as you do. Hope said Luka was supposed to email her all the info last night, but whether she has or not, I don’t know.”

  He’d been a little too busy doing other things with Hope last night to bother asking, and, as usual, her Sunday morning was taken up with getting reading for and filming incoming guests.

  Liam and Finn were in the great room, going over maps with some of the guests, so when the whirring of an incoming Helijet sounded outside, Jessie tipped her head toward the door and nudged Kate.

  “Come on,” she said. “Time to go welcome Unknown Peggy.”

  Kate took a step, stopped, then slapped her hand over her mouth.

  “Oh…I think I’m gonna—” Her cheeks bulged, her eyes widened, and a second later she bolted for the stairs.

  “Oooh,” Jessie laughed. “Poor girl. Looks like it’s just you and me, then, Ro.”

  Before they headed out the door, Jessie poked her head into the great room for a second.

  “Uh, Liam—I think Kate could use your help downstairs.”

  The second he heard Kate’s name, Liam was on the move, leaving Finn on his own with the guests.

  Ronan held the door for Jessie, then stepped out behind her and smiled. He couldn’t help it. Sure, there was a storm coming in, but what did he care? Luka and the final guest of the season had climbed out of the Helijet, guests were smiling as they wandered around the grounds, and down at the dock was the reason he woke up so happy this morning.

  Hope had changed him, taught him to trust again, and for some reason he couldn’t understand, she didn’t care that he wasn’t good at the flowery shit. And the crazy thing was, just knowing that made him want to figure out how to be more flowery for her, to be able to find words that describ
ed how he felt about her, no matter how stupid he sounded saying them.

  Like how she was the sunshine in his world and everything he did revolved around making her happy. Yeah, stupid things like that, and a whole lot more that came flooding into his brain when she turned and smiled at him.

  God, she was beautiful, especially when the Helijet lifted off again and the blasts from its rotors sent her hair billowing out around her—kind of the way it looked last night, splayed across the pillows.

  “Oh, stop it,” Jessie laughed. “The whole world doesn’t need to know what you two were doing last night.”

  Ro choked on his next breath, but when he opened his mouth to protest, nothing would come out, and he ended up surrendering to a big stupid smile.

  “Exactly.” Jessie wrapped her hand around his arm and squeezed as they stepped up on to the dock. “It looks good on you.”

  “What does?”

  Jessie glanced down at her feet, then turned her smile up to him. “Being in love. She’s the—”

  Ronan didn’t hear another word, because in that moment everything around him faded to black except for the person standing next to Luka on the dock. Her hair was more gray than red now, and she seemed shorter than what Ro remembered, but it was her.

  “What the fuck?”

  Jessie had already turned, following his line of sight, and gasped sharply. “Oh my God.”

  They both stood frozen in place, Jessie with her hand over her mouth and Ro scrambling to control the chaos blasting through his brain. The first thing he latched on to was his brother. Shit.

  “Finn.” As calmly as possible, he put his hands on Jessie’s shoulders and shook her, just hard enough to get her to look at him. “Go find Finn and do not let him down here, Jessie, do you hear me?”

  She didn’t answer, just kept nodding, so fast, so shaky, then turned and sprinted toward the lodge.

  Ronan inhaled a deep breath, fighting with everything he had to keep his cool in front of the guests, but it wasn’t going to last; he knew that already. Hope stood halfway between him and his destination, watching Jessie race away. She turned her confused gaze to Ronan, then to the woman standing next to Luka, and as Ro took his first step, he could see the panic spread across Hope’s face.