I pressed on until I found the text Lazer had mentioned. There was just one from Austin. I read it with a lump in my throat.
Hey, Blair, this is Austin. Remember me? No, of course you don't. But I remember you, Southron. As soon as I get this project put to bed, you and I are going on a date. In England. In Scotland. On the damn moon if you want. I'm going to woo you all over again, because I know one thing to the core of my soul—I might be forgettable, but our love isn't.
What a fool I'd been. It didn't matter. I didn't care what kind of head injury I had. I didn't care that it was a miracle I hadn't been killed or permanently disabled. How could I have ever forgotten this man?
* * *
Austin
Jerry Wilkes called me into a meeting in a private conference room. "Our investigation has concluded. We're satisfied that someone has attempted to frame you."
Sudden, abrupt, and to the point. I hadn't even had time to get nervous.
I frowned, stunned, and unsure what, exactly, was going on. I didn't want to get my hopes up too soon. I was confident I was proving my loyalty and innocence. Even so, this was sudden.
I stared at him. "What does this mean? Am I free to go?"
"We're ready to process your exit," Jerry said. "The paperwork is ready. We'll need assurances of your continued cooperation should we need it."
I nodded. I'd do just about anything to get the hell out of here and get to the UK.
Jerry shook my hand. "Good job, MacDougall. If you ever decide you want to work for us, let me know. We'll gladly take you on. You have my number."
With that, he turned me over to a lawyer and an administrator to handle the paperwork. Less than an hour later, I was alone in the room, waiting for the ride they promised.
I stared out the window, eager and nervous as hell as I planned my reunion with Blair. The door opened. I looked up just as Lazer strolled in.
"Get your shit, buddy. Your girlfriend just replied to your text and saved your ass." He was grinning like a fool.
"What?" He had to be kidding. "Blair is responsible for my sudden release?"
"No shit. Blair. And me. What? You thought it was your brilliant code?" He laughed. "I'll give you all the details on the way—"
I couldn't hold down my smile. "The way to where?"
"The south coast of Cornwall, buddy." Lazer was enjoying this a little too much. "That douche Nigel has practically kidnapped your woman. The guys are already on their way to the airport. I've hired a private plane. We're mounting a rescue."
He slapped me on the back. "I told you waiting for her to respond was the right thing to do." Lazer nodded, agreeing with himself. "Never look desperate. Women like playing the game as much as we do. Scarcity drives demand. Attaining the nearly unattainable is all the sweeter." He winked. "Come on."
I was really a free man. I couldn't believe it. "I need my passport—"
Lazer pulled it from his pocket and waved it in front of me. "Let's get going before someone changes their mind. There's no time to waste."
"Where the hell is my new phone?" I said to him. "I want to see that beautiful text."
"Sorry, buddy. That phone is in the hands of the authorities. It has evidence they needed to clear you and, hopefully, nail Randy."
"What the hell? Are they going to confiscate all my phones?" I headed toward the door.
Lazer slapped me on the back. "Not to worry. I got you another new one. It's in the car."
"Are you at least going to tell me what the text said?"
He nodded. "On the way. But don't get your hopes up. There were no I-long-for-you-tragicallys or passionate I-love-yous."
"I suppose saving me is proof enough of her love." I was still stunned, but planning ahead. "I'm going to need my kilt."
"Historical or modern?" Lazer held the door open.
"Both," I said.
Lazer shrugged. "They returned your luggage to me. Your bags are in the car. If your kilts were in your suitcases, we're good to go."
"They were," I said with a grin. "What are we waiting for? Let's go rescue my Southron."
Chapter 13
Tuesday
Blair
As three a.m. approached, I listened for the sound of a car coming down the driving path. How was Lazer planning to get past the security gate? Ram it? Hack it? Scale it?
My pulse leaped. I jumped at everything. Imagined every possible thing that could go wrong. What if Nigel came home sooner than expected?
My bag sat by the door, packed and ready to go. My memories were still coming back rapid-fire. It was amazing how many of them you can store in six months. I still wasn't sure I was remembering everything. I was afraid I was forgetting something essential about Austin. About how much I loved him. About how he loved me.
But that text. The sense of humor. I smiled every time I thought about it. I was excited, and nervous, about seeing him.
I remembered the scene at the airport. Austin urging me to go on and catch the flight. He'd catch up later. He'd promised. You had to love a man who kept his promises.
The phone rang. I jumped so hard I nearly hit the roof. I was shaking as I answered, hoping it wasn't Nigel again. He'd called earlier. I'd let it ring and go to the answering machine. Even now, I couldn't stand to hear his voice. I hadn't replayed the message.
I grabbed the phone on the fourth ring.
"Blair?" It was Lazer again.
"Where's Austin?" I literally bit my nails. Why wasn't he calling? Hadn't they gotten him out? Had they failed?
"He's here. With us. Preparing to lead the charge and rescue you. Cam, Dylan, and Jeremy are here, too." Lazer's voice was filled with excitement, as if this was a grand adventure. Something right out of one of his video games. "Look. There's no time. Grab your bags and meet us on the beach. We're coming in. We'll be there in minutes."
The night was clear. The moon wasn't full, but there was enough of it to light the peaks of the pulsing waves.
"On the beach?" I looked out the window toward the silvery water. "Where are you?"
"The mouth of the cove," he said. "Hurry. We don't want to linger. We don't want your captor's security catching up to us."
"Captor is maybe a little harsh," I said.
"Don't spoil our fun." He laughed and said something to someone else in a muffled voice. It sounded like, "I'll stop telling people to hurry when they actually start hurrying."
"What?" I said.
"Look for a rigid inflatable boat. Don't say a thing to anyone."
"Ummm…there's no one else here." I shook my head. "You know that, right?"
"Good. Fewer chances for complications," Lazer said. "We're sneaking in, stealthily. With our electric motor, no one will hear us. You'll have to watch for us."
"All right. I'm coming." In my excitement, I slammed the phone down a little too enthusiastically. I grimaced, hoping I hadn't broken his eardrum.
I grabbed my bag and hauled it to the sandy beach of the cove. I was still wearing sandals and my sundress, with my luckenbooth brooch pinned to the dress. And hoping that Austin would appreciate them more than Nigel had. I had a memory of shopping with Beth and picking the dress out. I hoped I was right.
As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I scanned the waters for the boat. The inflatable boat came into view, a silent shadow with a man at the helm and two others in the back. I grinned. My pulse raced.
I waved with my phone on flashlight over my head, signaling them as if I was a fan at a rock concert. I realized I might be giving us away, and ruining the fun, and shut the flashlight off. I watched, nervously bouncing as the boat approached the shore.
The boat came in as far in as it could go without bottoming out, no more than ten feet offshore, and hovered. A powerfully built man in a black T-shirt and kilt sprang over the side, one hand on the side and over in a single bound, and splashed into the water on his feet. His movements were graceful and athletic. Mesmerizing.
My heart stopped. And then pounded back into
action as it recognized and reacted to him.
Then he was running toward me, water splashing, arms pumping. Silhouetted in the moonlight, he was beautiful and well built. Strong.
Without consciously thinking, I was suddenly running toward him as if my body, heart, and soul had a mind of their own, sand flying, arms outstretched toward him, dress fluttering around my knees.
We met on the edge of the water.
I threw myself in his arms. "Austin!" I buried my head in his neck, wetting it with my tears of joy and relief. How could I have forgotten him? Had I really forgotten him? Or would my heart have recognized him even if my mind couldn't? Would it always know him?
He kissed my hair. "Blair." His voice broke.
It was so damned good to hear my name on his lips. To feel his body next to mine, strong and confident and warm. To feel his pulse leap with mine.
I tipped my face up and stared into his eyes. With the moon behind him, he seemed almost otherworldly, like a Celtic god come to save me. He looked as stunned and happy as I was. I closed my eyes and tilted my head. His lips came down on mine like they belonged there. Like we'd never been apart. Hard and possessive. Hungry.
I opened my mouth to him and my soul. This was the man I belonged with, now and forever. Any doubt I might have had was swept away as he pressed me to him. My body reacted to him. Bruised and healing, tender and delicate from losing the beginning of life it had carried, it wanted him. I wanted him. I would have had him at the edge of the beach, if we'd been alone. In the cold, gently lapping water with sand everywhere.
When we finally broke the kiss, neither of us could stop smiling.
"Southron, you're a heap of trouble sometimes, lass," he said, quoting a line from Jamie.
"Am I now?" I was almost breathless with happiness.
"So you remember me?" He was suddenly tentative. After the passion of that kiss, it took me by surprise and was sweet and endearing. "Or are you faking it?"
"How could I ever fake it with you?" I took his face in my hands, still hardly able to believe he was real.
"Good to know." He glanced down at his kilt. "Because I sure as hell can't fake it with you. You're a kilt lifter, Southron, if I ever saw one."
I laughed. "We'll have to do something about that later."
"I'll have to do something about it before I get back to the boat. If the guys see it…" He made a face. "I didn't think this kilt thing through thoroughly enough. I should have factored in the long absence."
I laughed. "And here I thought you were better at math than that."
It was so good to be back with him. I pushed my fears about telling him about the miscarriage aside. The flow had almost completely stopped now. I would have to tell him eventually. Or did he know? Had he known about the pregnancy? It still puzzled me. The pregnancy was the one thing I couldn't remember. Maybe Beth was right. Maybe I hadn't known about it. Maybe it had been too soon to tell. Maybe he didn't have to know. Maybe I could dance around it.
"Would you two lovebirds cut it out and get on the damn boat before someone spots us?" the pilot called from driver's seat of the boat.
"Cam!" I waved to him, joyfully recognizing his voice.
"Don't forget me!" Jeremy waved.
I waved back. "Where's Dylan?" It wasn't a party without Dylan.
"He was too much weight for the boat. He's waiting with Lazer on the yacht." Austin reluctantly released me as Jeremy splashed to the shore. He grabbed my hand as if he couldn't bear to completely lose touch.
"Bags?" Jeremy asked.
I pointed him to them. "Yacht. You guys have a yacht?"
Austin nodded. "Of course we do. We're rich men of leisure now. And besides, Lazer rented it."
"Still sticking Lazer with the bill? He's going to start expecting all of you to pay your way now." I looked out into the cove. "Where is it?"
"Out in the channel," Austin said, very casual about it.
"You guys came here through the English Channel?" I shook my head. "Don't tell me you came from France?"
He laughed, hugging me as if I might disappear. "Not quite."
Jeremy came up to us with my bags in his hands. "This it?"
I nodded and bent to take my sandals off, ready to wade to the boat.
"You'll get wet." Austin scooped me into his arms.
Who was I to argue?
The three of us splashed to the boat, Jeremy with my bags, and me in Austin's strong, steady arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck. I was in exactly the place I dreamed of being.
As Jeremy loaded my bag and Austin helped me into the boat, a pair of lights appeared on the road from the estate toward the shore.
"Headlights!" Jeremy pointed. "Let's get the fuck out of here."
Cam pulled me in. Austin jumped in after me. Jeremy scrambled over the edge.
"Hit it!" Austin said when most of our limbs were in.
Cam put the boat in gear. We jolted out into the cove. If we'd had a gasoline motor, we would have roared away. As it was, we made a wake and moved away quickly, but soundlessly, the wind whipping our hair.
The car pulled up at the end of the parking area. Nigel's car. I recognized its silhouette.
"What's he doing back so soon?" I shivered and turned to Austin. "He's not supposed to be back until tomorrow."
"Depending on your definition, it is tomorrow," Austin said.
Nigel jumped out, spotted us, and screamed at us to stop as he ran for the beach.
Sound carries particularly well over the water at night. Especially if there's no engine roar to mute it. Nigel screamed obscenities at us and gave us the finger.
"And that's the man you almost threw me over for?" Austin said with an amused, almost comical expression.
"He should learn to swear better," Cam said.
"Amateur," Jeremy agreed.
I laughed and cuddled into Austin. "In my defense, I had a head injury."
"You're saying you were literally soft in the head?" Austin said, pulling me against him.
"There are more technical terms, but yeah. I guess a bruised brain counts as soft."
"You're shivering." Dressed in his modern kilt, he didn't have any plaid to pull over me. He wrapped me in his arms and a blanket they'd brought along.
I rested against him.
Onshore, Nigel was furious, stomping and screaming at us. Shaking his fist.
"Too bad there's no cell coverage at the cottage," I said. "He can't text us his displeasure."
"Expect a phone full of it tomorrow," Austin said as we slid farther out of the cove toward the English Channel.
"So, after the yacht, where are we going?" I leaned my head on Austin's shoulder.
"Camelot," Austin said. "I'm taking my woman to romantic Camelot."
"You mean Tintagel?" I was pleasantly, and happily, surprised. "I've always wanted to go there."
"I know, Southron," he said. "You said a time or two. It was on our itinerary."
I lifted my head and looked up into his eyes. "Was it?" I tried to remember. "How could I have forgotten?"
He looked a little sheepish. "It was on my secret itinerary. I was planning to surprise you with a quick trip there after we filmed our promos."
I laughed. He was so incredibly sweet. "You didn't have to confess. I'd never have known. It sounds wonderfully romantic. Do I get to be Guinevere?"
He sighed dramatically. "Guinevere is a woman who can't make up her mind, isn't she? Arthur or Lancelot?"
"You don't have to worry about me," I said, with the full power of my emotions in my voice. "I know my mind, completely."
He held my gaze and smiled softly. "That's good to hear, Blair. For a while there—" He cleared his throat as if he was having trouble keeping his emotions in check. "It doesn't matter now. Let's just say it didn't look good for me, and Jamie." He gave me the Connor Reid look. "From Camelot, we'll travel to Scotland by sea. I hear you can't fly yet. Trains are mundane. Have you ever cruised the coast of England to Scotland bef
ore, Southron?"
"No, not that I remember," I said, with as much of a straight face as I could manage.
"At least it will seem like the first time," Austin said.
I laughed.
"Fortunately, we have a medicine chest full of Dramamine for that one," Jeremy said, nodding to Austin. "Seasickness. He's the worst. Every time we try to take him salmon fishing in Westport, he chums the poor fish."
Austin cleared his throat again and gave Jeremy the signal to shut the hell up. I could pretty well imagine what he was talking about. A good many people lost their lunch going over the bar at Westport and on those charter fishing tours.
Jeremy rolled his eyes and looked at me. "Well?" He opened his arms for a hug. "Is Austin going to hog you all to himself all night? Or can you squeeze in a hug for a friend and baggage handler?"
I was enough happy to oblige, but reluctant to leave Austin and his warmth. I stood and hugged Jeremy enthusiastically.
"We can sail all the way to Glasgow," Jeremy said. "But we'll have to go to Edinburgh and Inverness by land from there."
"I'm sure there will be plenty of distilleries along the way to ease the pain of land travel," Cam said.
I walked to the front of the boat and hugged him from behind as he drove. I couldn't leave Cam out of the action. "Thank you," I whispered in his ear.
I returned to Austin's side—and lap. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see all of you. To remember you!"
The guys seemed almost embarrassed by my outburst.
I wrapped my arms around Austin's neck again. "And I'm really happy to remember you."
"Not half as happy as I am." He fingered the brooch I'd pinned to my dress. "You're wearing my love token."
"Aye, lad, I am." I stroked his chin. "Even when I couldn't really remember, I knew there were good feelings associated with this." I paused. "Remember that Avebury tea leaf reader?"
His brow furrowed. "Ah. The one who predicted you'd meet me at Comicon?"
"The very one." I kissed him lightly. "I met with her again. She told me what the brooch means."
Simply Blair: A Jet City Novel Page 15