Love and Rumors: A Summer Sisters Beach Reads Contemporary Romance (The Summer Sisters Book 1) (12 page)

C
HAPTER
6

By the time Finn pulled Hailey out of the marsh he was ready to take her back to his cottage and run his hands over her body and through her hair—hair that was surprisingly soft and fine, causing all that fly-away business he so often saw. He wanted to finish exploring all that potential he’d felt under her dress last night at The Kee.

He was practically dragging her as she laughed, stumbling along as they hit the dock, his eyes on his small cottage still yards and yards away. She’d let him kiss her again, her mood turning, her playful side coming out like a ray of sunshine.

A car peeled up beside them as they cut across a small parking lot, and Finn tugged Hailey behind him, afraid the paparazzi would distract her and dampen the mood they were building. He hustled her along as a woman, half hanging out the silver minivan’s window, hollered, “Did you get it?”

“Get what?” he asked suspiciously, keeping Hailey hidden behind him.

Hailey shoved him aside, yanking her camera out of its bag. “Sure did.”

Seriously?
“Um, we have plans,” Finn said pointedly. Specifically, consenting adult plans, and this soccer mom with the hippie vibe was totally going to dampen the mood.

The woman, who had the same petite frame as Hailey but seemingly without the height, waved a hand burdened by massive rings. “Show me.”

Hailey moved to the van, holding out her camera’s LCD.

“How the hell do you know about the turtle already?” Finn demanded.

“Hailey texted me,” the woman stated.

“Oh, Finian, meet my youngest sister, Daphne,” Hailey said, without glancing his way.

She could barely give him the time of day because of that damned turtle. What had he been thinking taking her out there?

“Nice to meet you,” Daphne said, her eyes on the camera’s screen.

“Yeah, pleasure is all mine,” he muttered. Sulking, he took a few steps away to see if Hailey would notice. Nope. Not even a glimmer that he was missing.

He was definitely feeling like a means to an end right now. He turned to face the breeze coming off the lake, eyeing Daphne out of the corner of his eye. She was a modern-day hippie, wearing lots of beads and an embroidered smock. Add in the fact that her silver Dodge Caravan had a bright red flower painted on the hood and plastic flowers wrapped around the antenna, and it was pretty obvious she took nature as seriously as her big sister did—more so, seeing as Hailey was looking for turtles for her.

Derek would be laughing his ass off right now if he knew who Finn had chosen to be his paparazzo. Yet the way the two sisters appeared to be opposites gave Finn hope. Maybe Hailey would find him—an opposite—just as intriguing and worthy of helping as she did her sister. And if not, it wasn’t exactly horrible hanging out with her.

“You found this?” Daphne asked him, looking up at last.

“The turtle?” He ran a hand through his hair and tried to act casual. “Yeah. Why?”

The van door was flung open and he found himself being hugged by what resembled a python. Every time he tried to exhale Hailey’s sister squeezed tighter, until he couldn’t breathe at all. A smaller creature that he could only imagine was her offspring hugged his legs with all her might. Just when he thought he might actually pass out from a lack of oxygen, they released him, as if by unspoken agreement.

Finn inhaled and steadied himself. That mother-daughter team could take out unsuspecting spies with their killer grips.

The offspring began bouncing around on the asphalt, her fluffy party dress flouncing as she sang, “Mommy found the spotted turtle. Mommy’s going to save them.” She paused to give Hailey a hug for good measure, then climbed back into the van. Clicking the seat belt across herself, she announced, “All ready, Mom.”

Panic slipped under Finn’s skin as Hailey slid the little girl’s door shut and climbed into the passenger seat beside Daphne. She couldn’t just leave. They had unfinished business. They were about to go to his cottage and get it on. He was going to convince her to work with him.

But the women weren’t even talking, they were moving as though this was all part of some prearranged plan.

Hailey had found what she wanted and was ditching him. The idea left him with a surprisingly hollow feeling that echoed throughout his being.

“Well?” the hippie asked him.

He stood on the asphalt, feeling like a third wheel.

“Are you coming, or what?”

“Where?” He glanced at Hailey, and knew that it didn’t matter what the answer was, he was going where she did. He climbed in next to the child bouncing in her booster seat.

“You’ll see.” Daphne pulled out of the parking lot in a move that would make most soccer dads hard with desire, and had Finn falling out of his seat.

“You might want to buckle up, mister,” the young girl said. “Mom’s like a race car driver. And they wear helmets.”

* * *

Standing in the public parking lot near Bala Falls, Hailey nervously ran her hands through her hair, accepting an elastic from her sister. Thank goodness Daphne and Tigger had come along. Hailey had become so swept up in Finian’s kisses in the marsh that she’d forgotten herself. And that would have been a complete failure seeing as she wasn’t supposed to be exposing him to the tabloids in a kiss-and-tell sort of way.

She wrestled her hair into a ponytail, the humidity of the warm day making it go nuts. The only thing worse was January and February, when she wanted to shave her head rather than deal with the static electricity that made her hair stick to her face.

“Don’t break it!” Daphne squealed, just before the taut elastic snapped in Hailey’s grip. “Why do you always pull it so tight? That was my last one.”

“Sorry.” Hailey grabbed a silk scarf from the front seat of the van and tied it like a headband to keep her hair at bay. Why hadn’t she used product like she had for her date at The Kee? Oh, right, because she didn’t want to be noticed by Finian. That had worked well.

Out on the rocks he’d cupped the back of her neck while kissing her, his hands delving into her hair in a move that had made her fall against him, eager for the contact.

Some self-restraint she had.

She snorted, and turned to find Finian standing in the parking lot, listening to Tigger with rapt attention. Her niece took advantage of his focus, talking faster and faster, as though she expected him to suddenly look at his watch and declare that she’d used up her allotted talking time for the next two days.

Instead, he let the girl take his hand and lead him into the throng of Daphne’s people who were enjoying a picnic before they launched their protest.

“They keep saying a parking lot isn’t a heritage site,” someone said as Hailey passed them.

“Those rocks…” added another.

“What are we doing here?” Finian asked through closed lips as she drew nearer.

“This? This is the picnic and protest I was trying to duck out of.” She checked her watch. She had a little more than two hours until she had to meet up with the Walker family at the marina. It was going to be tight. “I’m supposed to take photos for Daphne, but I have to be somewhere soon. Help me out and tell me if you see something that would look good in a pamphlet.”

“Like that human pyramid?” he asked, pointing to five protesters who were wobbling and laughing as they tried to stack themselves into a vertical triangle.

“Sure.” Hailey swung her camera up and took a few shots. “What else, wingman?”

He pointed to the protest signs leaning against a picnic table. He picked a wild daisy from the tall grass near the edge of the park and laid it across the top of the table.

“Nice eye,” she said. This was going to be easier than she thought. With Finian’s help she might make her appointment with the Walker family with time to spare.

“Oh, my God, you guys!” Daphne squealed to a nearby group, and Hailey moved closer, raising her camera to capture the excitement in her sister’s dancing eyes. Daphne paused, holding everyone’s attention as she hauled Hailey and Finian over. “You’ll never guess!”

The group pushed forward, eager to hear her news, whispering to each other.

“Is Finian Alexander our new spokesperson?” one woman squealed.

Finian flashed Hailey a panicked look.

“No, Liberty, he’s not. But this man…” Daphne pulled Finian as close as possible. “Found…” She let the anticipation build. “…the
spotted turtle
!”

The crowd gasped, their round eyes focusing on Finian.

“Here! In Muskoka!”

People squeezed in on him, a thousand questions flowing in rapid-fire succession.

“And Hailey got photos of it!” Daphne called above the noise.

The crowd surged toward Hailey, who held her camera bag against herself for protection, looking for a way to escape.

“The spotted turtle lives in Muskoka!”

The group began moving toward the parked cars, excitedly making plans. Hailey exhaled in relief. There was nothing like being squished in a mob to make a woman feel claustrophobic.

“Wait!” They all stopped moving and fell silent as Daphne held up her hands. “We can worry about that tomorrow. Today we have this.” She flung a hand with flourish to the
Stop the Hydro Electricity Plant!
sign hanging above the protest picnic. “Tomorrow the turtle.”

The protesters refocused, heading back to the tables.

“Wow. If I ever need crowd control, I’m calling your sister,” Finian whispered in Hailey’s ear. She smiled and nodded. Her sister was definitely using her powers for good.

Her smile faded. Oh, damn. She’d just hauled Finian to a rally. She was supposed to be introducing him to drug dealers and tempting him with street racing, not
this
. She was also supposed to be stalking him from afar.

She sucked at being a paparazzo.

Daphne gave Finian a tight squeeze that made his cheeks flush. “Thank you, Finian Alexander. Now, let’s set you up with a veggie dog. You must be hungry.”

“Veggie dog?”
he mouthed over Daphne’s head, making Hailey laugh.

Her smile froze when she spotted Austin at the sidelines, carefully lining up a shot that had Finian in front of the protest signs.

She quickly tugged Finian in the opposite direction and pressed her body against his, distracting him so he wouldn’t turn around, giving Austin the shot.

Being a good paparazzo was much harder than she’d realized.

* * *

Okay, this was getting ridiculous. Everyone was all over Finian, and Austin was everywhere. He was going to scoop her, leaving her with nothing. Hailey didn’t think Finian had seen Austin yet, as he was still smiling as if he was king of the world. Although who could blame him? He was a friggin’ hero for finding the turtle. Plus, he was sexy and irresistible, and definitely worthy of being the center of everyone’s attention. But what was she, the one with the photographic evidence they needed to stop the development—chopped liver?

She inhaled, trying to settle her frustration.

Okay, all right…it was jealousy ripping at her, pure and primal.

And it wasn’t because Finian was the only one getting the credit. It was about all the women fawning over him. Which was a silly waste of energy. There was no reason for Hailey to feel jealous or possessive. He was a sexy movie star, so of course women fawned over him. She was just some girl with a camera.

She held her heavy camera against her shoulder and looked around it at the way Finian was grinning that big perfect smile, as if he and the fawners were the only ones at the picnic. She inhaled a shaky breath, watching how he gave each woman a light touch as he turned to chat with her. Nothing too intimate or encouraging, but enough to show that he wasn’t passing her off. That he was listening. Caring.

Hailey ducked behind her camera again and fired off a few shots, struggling to keep her cool. It should be
her
receiving his smiles and touches.
Her
. Not random women who were supposed to be marching around shouting “Heck no, we won’t go.”

She swung her lens a few feet to the right, to zoom in on Austin who was looking frustrated as some large hydro power trucks lumbered between his hiding spot and Finian. She smiled and turned her attention back to Finian who was now giving out cheek kisses to the group. Why wasn’t he kissing her? He wasn’t even looking her way.

With deliberate moves, Hailey set up her tripod, barely refraining from breaking its legs. What was her problem? It was as though she liked him or something. She glanced up at Finian again. Oh, hell. He was looking her way. She gave him a weak smile, grabbed an organic drink from the picnic feast to her right and jammed the straw down inside the juice box. He started to come over and she fumbled with her setup, aiming her camera in random directions, snapping shots that would likely be out of focus, as she tried to act natural.

Her heart tore into action, pumping harder the closer Finian came.

Be cool. It’s okay. He came here with you. Of course he’s going to stop by and say hi. He doesn’t want to be abandoned here without a ride back, that’s all.

“Hi,” she said, as he grabbed her around the waist, his gaze focused determinedly in the distance. He pivoted her and pulled her along with him and she barely managed to snag her camera, still attached to its tripod, as he hurried them to the edge of the group. He didn’t stop moving until they were hidden under the branches of a weeping willow. Then he released her, ran a hand through his disheveled hair and let out a “whew.” There were bags under his eyes she hadn’t noticed earlier. For all the fun he’d seemed to be having, being mobbed, it appeared, had drained him instead of filling him with energy like playing at The Kee had.

Last night he’d been jazzed, with waves of alpha excitement and energy coming off him, and Hailey had been a sliver too close to taking him to bed because of it. The only thing that had stopped her were thoughts of her sister Daphne, and more specifically, Tigger. Of how her little niece had come to be during a one-night stand with a summer boy after a Kim Mitchell concert at The Kee.

Add in the fact that Hailey had had her heart broken by a summer boy—a man she’d thought was different from the rest—and she was a little too sensitive about summer romances and the way Finian kept drawing her into his sights.