On the Market (The Ballard Brothers of Darling Bay Book 1)

by Rachael Herron

  Of course, that meant Liam would go on a date with someone else. A different woman, looking at a different house.

  Gah. The way her stomach dropped at the thought made Felicia question what the hell she was doing. What she wanted.

  Her job. She wanted her great job. And the amazing house.

  Liam.

  No, no, no, not romance, not love. She’d always been fine without the real thing. She had the other real (fake) thing, right in front of her, all the time. And that had to be okay. Felicia was there first to do her job, and only second to buy a home she hadn’t known could be real.

  She was not there to fall in love with anything but her new house. Felicia wasn’t the mark. She was the producer, the one who made the plan, the one who called the shots.

  Natasha was still giving her instructions. “Don’t dress up too much, and don’t wear red, you’ll wash out on camera. But don’t underdress. Wait, just tell me what you’re wearing.”

  Natasha was the boss. Felicia did what she said. Those were the rules, that was how the game was played.

  Felicia looked down at the red dress she’d put on, at her red heels. She looked good in red, and at this very moment, she didn’t care what she she’d look like on camera.

  She cared how she looked in front of Liam. That was all. Screw the camera.

  “Felicia? Are you there?”

  “I can’t—you—what are you—so much static—call you back!” Felicia’s heart raced. Hanging up on Natasha could be a terminable offense.

  Felicia had never done a thing to threaten her dream job. She was a model employee, happily neglecting her real life for the sake of the network.

  What if what she wanted in her real life was changing?

  The thought made her chest feel icy inside.

  She switched her phone to silent, and then she went outside to stand in the afternoon sun. Liam would be there any minute.

  As she leaned against the red gate and tried to ignore that Pearl Hawthorne was peering out the breakfast room’s window at her, Felicia tried to sort out what she was feeling.

  She was so bad at it. Was nervousness a feeling? Or was that just something her body was doing? Should she feel dread? Was worry a feeling or a thing to do?

  The rusty old truck that she’d seen parked in front of Liam’s home-office turned the corner. It slowed in front of her, bumping its wheel on the curb. The passenger-side window cranked down. “Looking for a ride, little lady?” The grin that spread across Liam’s jaw was enormous, and it told her that he’d forgiven her for thinking (only for a second!) that he’d slept with her for a possible payout.

  She didn’t even care that there was a camera on the dashboard, and that Tony and Gene were trailing behind the truck in a rented Toyota hybrid.

  Suddenly, Felicia knew what she felt.

  She felt excited. And she felt happy.

  And she didn’t want to stop feeling either way.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Felicia looked surprised when he pulled up, and Liam didn’t blame her. This wasn’t his work car. There was no leather inside, and it smelled more like diesel fumes than air freshener. It was Bill’s old truck, the one the brothers shared between them. Sometimes it was Aidan’s work truck, and sometimes Jake used it for delivery if he pulled a lot of crab. Tonight, it was the date-mobile, and Liam was pretty sure it had never had a more important task.

  She also looked incredible. Hot red dress, high red fuck-me heels. Her lipstick matched, and he wanted to kiss it off as soon as was humanly possible.

  Instead, though, he just got out and opened the passenger door for her. Lord, he’d forgotten how much the metal screeched on this old rust bucket. The camera crew, because of course there was one, filmed him helping Felicia in. They were probably highly amused by the choice of transportation, but he didn’t care. This was the truck he loved, and he wanted to show Felicia the important things.

  Felicia settled herself in without complaint, her eyes bright.

  Liam felt more hope than should have been legal to possess. He felt high with it.

  He’d planned every minute of their afternoon and evening, and this date was going to be perfect.

  They went to the Golden Spike café first, for a quick quesadilla and one of Molly Darling’s famous chocolate malts. Molly and Nikki played off each other well in front of the cameras, exchanging lighthearted banter over the heads of the regulars and tourists alike. The sheriff, who happened to be Molly’s boyfriend, stopped by to say hi and raise hell with a group of skateboarders in front of the restaurant. There was shouting, and then the sheriff was on a skateboard, trying a trick, and it all smoothed out. The cook somehow managed to catch a pan of fish fritters on fire in the kitchen, and the arrival of the fire department just made everything more exciting.

  Their next stop was the beach. They walked to the end of the pier, and he showed her how to throw corn chips up into the air so that the seagulls caught them in their beaks while diving. The camera crew (which thankfully didn’t include Timbo, who was staying overnight on Jake’s boat) thought this was fun, and got into the action. Tony and Gene went through more than half of Liam’s bag of corn chips.

  This wasn’t so much as a date as it was a teambuilding exercise, apparently.

  “So, yeah. This is one of the things we do for fun around here.” Liam said it to the camera, but Felicia was the one who smiled at him.

  “I love it. Just a sec.” Felicia flagged down Anna, who had been making notes on a clipboard. “Hey, make sure you get some good shots of the surfers, okay?”

  Anna nodded, and the crew headed to mid-pier, where the view of the surfers playing dodge with the tar-stained pilings was best.

  For a moment, they were alone.

  In a move that surprised him, Felicia slid her hand into his. “I’m sorry this is such a freak show.”

  “I’m not sure if I would call it that, but it’s definitely not the…”

  Felicia looked up at him, her eyes soft. “Go on.”

  “It’s not the date I would take you on, if I had a choice.”

  “But—”

  “I mean, it’s the date I planned. If it was just me and you, I’d be better at talking.”

  “You’re doing just fine.”

  “As soon as those cameras are focused on me, I forget every smart thing I was planning to say. And the fact that you look incredible isn’t helping me any.” Liam didn’t even mean it as a compliment. It was just a statement of fact. The red dress had a low cut vee and tank top straps. It nipped in at her waist, then it flared out until it ended right at the top of her calves. Behind that particular calf was a soft velvety place his lips had enjoyed tracing just two nights before. Felicia’s long hair was softly waved and hung loose around her face. The ocean breeze played with the strands the way he wanted to. Her lips were dark red and glossed, as if she’d just licked them, another thing he wanted to do again.

  He could wrap his arm around her—he could kiss her right here—

  And then Anna and her crew were back. The boom mic dangled over their heads like an ominous black seagull. Whenever Felicia and Liam spoke to each other, the crew kept their eyes averted, as if doing so would make them feel more at ease, to give them more privacy.

  But it wasn’t working.

  “I’m sorry. This isn’t ideal.” Felicia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “But it’s you. And me. And I’m glad of that.”

  He leaned over the railing. “You know what else we do in this town for fun?” He directed the sentence directly at Felicia, determined to ignore the fact that not just six pairs of eyes were trained on him, but that millions eventually would be.

  Felicia’s hand was still in his, small and warm. “What?”

  “We jump.”

  “Seriously?” Felicia leaned over the railing, too. “But we’re so high up, and what about the pilings?”

  “We’re not that high, and you just have to make sure you jump outward.”


  “Has anyone ever died doing it?”

  “There are a couple of legends that say a kid did once, but nobody knows if that’s true or not.”

  Felicia looked thrilled. “Have you done it?”

  Liam tried to sound casual. “Of course.”

  “How many times?”

  “Okay. I only did it once on grad night. I was drunk, and stupid, and I was just lucky I swam in the right direction.”

  She squeezed his hand. “I can just see you. Young and stupid.”

  “The only thing different is that I’m not that young anymore.” He turned so that he was facing Felicia.

  Felicia watched him carefully, steadily, as if the commotion of the crew around her didn’t bother her. “It’s beautiful here.”

  “It looks even better from the water. Want to jump?”

  “What?”

  “Right now.” Liam could actually hear the camera’s lens zooming in.

  She looked down at her clothes. “This is a brand-new dress. Dry-clean only, I think.”

  “What is it that you like about reality TV?”

  Felicia met his gaze, and she appeared to take the question seriously. “I like the reality part. The fact that usually it’s about a fantasy life that comes true, in part. Maybe it doesn’t come together in the way that the participant hopes for, but it’s actually their real lives on camera.”

  “So it’s not real but it’s real. Okay. And what qualities does a good reality TV star have?”

  Felicia touched the place at her neck where her key usually hung. “Hope. They always have a lot of hope, even if they don’t know they do. They’re bold. They’re brave. Even when they’re acting a certain way because they’re scared, the fact that they’re on screen means that they’re brave, deep down inside, no matter what anyone says about them.”

  “So you’re brave. You’re bold.”

  “You’re trying to trick me into jumping into the ocean.”

  “No tricks up these sleeves. Of course,” he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. “I’ll have to take off my shirt to prove that to you.”

  “Naked jumping?”

  She shook her head, but there was a light behind her eyes.

  Liam undid the next button. “I’m getting naked because I intend to continue this date, and I want to do it in dry clothes.” They’d blur out the naughty bits, and if America noticed that he was carrying fifteen more pounds than he had in college, he didn’t give a good rat’s ass.

  “Liam—”

  “Guess where the cameras won’t be able to follow us?” Liam shot what he hoped was a cheeky wink at the camera closest to him.

  “Good point.” Felicia closed her eyes, as if doing the math in her head that would allow to her to move. “Good point,” she repeated, seemingly more to herself than him.

  She was fast—faster than he was. One quick zip and she was standing on the pier in her bra, panties and heels. Liam struggled with the last button, and then Felicia stepped close enough to him to help him with his belt.

  Just like she had on the sofa in the treehouse. Luckily, the thought of being seen by millions of people prevented him from popping wood, but just barely. He got out of his shoes and his pants, and then shucked off his shorts.

  She was naked then, her clothes in a small pile. Her nipples were bright pink and tightly budded, and her long legs just accentuated the gorgeous swell of her hips. She turned to face Gene and Tony and said, “You laugh at me and you’re fired.”

  Their cameras kept filming, but the men stared at the ground, their faces red. Anna just looked shocked.

  Felicia was glorious. She was a Venus, and Liam should be finding her a scallop shell to step out of—she was that radiant.

  He could look at her all day.

  “All right, you.” Felicia stepped up the first rung of the railing. “Coming with me? Hey, Anna, get Production to have our clothes and two towels each waiting for us on the shore.”

  Anna barked an order one direction, and then another one at Tony. “Get under the pier. Hurry. At least get footage of the swim in!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  What was she doing? Felicia was butt-ass naked on national television, and even worse than that, she was naked in front of her staff, in front of the crew she’d hired.

  The water below seemed a long way down. It couldn’t have been more than twenty feet, but that was eighteen feet too many. “I don’t…”

  Liam joined her on the railing. “What’s that, sugar?”

  He looked hot as hell. Not many people could carry this off. She’d worked with some contestants that they might have paid just to keep their clothes on. Not this guy. Liam was long and rangy, with that subtle six-pack at his abs and that softness in those eyes that were as light blue as the cloudless sky behind him. He could stand up here with her all day long. She wouldn’t mind the fact that she was naked as long as she could keep looking at him. “I was just going to say that…I’m scared.” Jesus, it was another feeling. What was Liam doing to her?

  “Then take my hand.”

  She could still back out. She could step off the railing and slink back into her clothes.

  But then she’d have to come up with a reason why she didn’t jump, a reason that was better than simple fear.

  And wasn’t this kind of bravery exactly why she liked to watch reality TV from the safety of her own couch, popcorn bowl in her lap? Low stakes, maybe, but still, this would require a chutzpah she’d never had.

  Felicia was boring. She worked hard, and she played things safe.

  She was scared.

  How often was she scared and didn’t even notice?

  She didn’t want to be the same Felicia she’d always been. At least not with Liam. She wanted to be more than that, even for just a fraction of a moment. She took a breath and held it. Then she said, “Okay.”

  They both turned to face the water. Liam took her hand.

  “Don’t let go.” She squeezed his hand as hard as she could.

  “Okay.”

  Felicia felt the eyes of her crew on her ass. Suddenly not giving one good goddamn what anyone thought of her at all, she shook her bottom. She heard Anna give a muffled laugh. “When do we jump?” The fear was in her again, climbing.

  Liam dropped his mouth to hers in a quick kiss.

  That was for the cameras, she could feel it. It was a polite kiss. His lips stayed closed. Then against her mouth, he said, “Now.”

  The word, his word, gave her the bravery to go. Together, they jumped.

  The fall took forever—it took an eternity to hit the surface and her stomach did somersaults the whole way down—but Liam held her hand tightly the whole time, not breaking contact until they were under the cold water, swimming their way up to the light. They came up gasping, laughing. She felt frozen—stiff and oxygen-less—and so alive at the same time.

  “Cold! So cold!” Felicia sputtered and spit out of a mouthful of salt water. “Jesus jumping Christ, is this water made from icebergs?”

  They bobbed below the pier.

  Liam tossed his head back the way she’d seen the surfers do, flinging the water out of his hair. “It’s just right.”

  Felicia had done it.

  She’d fallen.

  She glanced upward. Anna was holding a camera over the edge of the rail.

  Liam pointed under the pier. “Come on. Private spot.”

  He swam with strong strokes, and she dog-paddled behind him. At the third piling, he grabbed a metal bar. “Boat tie-up.”

  Instinctively, Felicia wrapped her arms around his neck. She was going for warmth at first, although his teeth were already chattering, too. She put her legs around him, too, and pulled him against her. “You have the funniest expression on your face.”

  Liam put his hands firmly at the small of her back. “I’d like to take this moment to remind you that shrinkage is a very real phenomenon. And I’m torn between wanting to swim straight to shore to warm up and kissing
the hell out of you.”

  “Let’s try that last one first.” Felicia pressed her lips to his.

  His lips were salty and ice-cold, the match to her own. His mouth, though, was a perfect heat, and she wanted to climb inside his skin. He clutched her hips and drew himself against her, and she could feel that shrinkage wasn’t a very big issue. That, or her body heat was helping a little.

  There was no way they could have sex in this ocean. They would die of hypothermia first.

  But what a way to go.

  Liam’s mouth was as hard as the waves that were pushing them beachward, and his arms seemed as strong as the pier itself. Time stopped, just the way it had on the fall down to the water, but this time it wasn’t because she was scared. She tightened her legs around his and felt as if she could hold on through anything that might come their way. “I’m a limpet.” She laughed. “That didn’t come out as sexy as I wanted it to.”

  He laughed and then shivered, a huge quake that she felt roll through her. The next wave pushed her sideways, breaking her clasp on him, and the piling scraped her shoulder. “Ooof.”

  “You’re bleeding.”

  “I am? It doesn’t hurt, though.”

  “That’s pretty badass.”

  Pride filled her lungs. “It is.”

  “You’re too numb to feel it yet. Let’s head in before the sharks get the scent.”

  Every drop of blood in her body that had still had any lingering warmth went glacial. “Are you serious?”

  “Eh, not really. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen any in these waters, and even longer since we’ve had a bite. They don’t normally come in this close.”

  There was only one thing to say to that. “Race you back.”

  She left both him and her dog-paddle behind, drawing on the faster high school crawl she hadn’t used in years.

  And in her head, where normally she’d feel some kind of panic, she felt only excitement. She was on a date with a man who made her brave enough to leap from a pier without asking about sharks first.