So that was that. She’d kissed the great, big, gorgeous Scot. She’d had her fun. She’d played with fire. But now she felt burned. There was always a price to pay. And in this case, it was reality—Ross wiping her kiss away as if it was an unwanted drip of gravy. She couldn’t help but replay it over and over as she walked downstairs to dinner.
She hadn’t seen the future in his eyes. It was only a mirage. And she wasn’t some sex goddess tempting the beautiful Highlander. She was plain, old Sadie Middleton.
But plain, old Sadie Middleton had been kissed. Thoroughly. Completely. And was now changed because of it.
* * *
Ross stood alone in Sadie’s room and ran a hand through his hair. He needed a minute to calm down. The lass had taken him off guard, completely knocked him for a loop, and nearly brought him to his knees. Either he was one hell of a teacher or Sadie was a fast learner.
He smiled. Or she’d pulled one over on him.
“First Mate!” Dand shouted from the bottom of the steps. “Nan says, ‘Now!’”
Ross glanced about the empty room. Sadie’s brown dress lay crumpled on the bed. He picked it up. “I should make her put this flour sack back on before I take her out tonight.”
But they weren’t going on a date! He was finally free of being promised to Pippa. Attached to no one. This was his time to cast his line in new waters, enjoy his freedom. He wouldn’t do it forever, maybe for the next five or six years, and then he would settle down and have a family.
He exhaled. But Sadie’s kiss seemed to have peppered holes in his plan. He wanted to bring her back up here and kiss her again. To see if it had really been, well, all that.
Instead, he screwed his head on straight and trudged down the stairs to dinner. All through the meal, Sadie wouldn’t look in his direction. His mother, though, was doing enough looking for the both of them. She wouldn’t stop gazing from him to Sadie, then back to him again. For once, Ross was thrilled that Dand wouldn’t hush because he kept the conversation rolling.
As Dand and dinner wound down, Ross shifted toward his mother. “Is it my turn to do the dishes?”
Mum gave him a knowing smile. “Nay. Dand and I have the kitchen.”
“Aw, Nan,” Dand complained.
His mother ignored the kid. “Ye and Sadie better get along on yere date.”
The lass who had been quiet all through dinner came to life. “We’re not going on a date!” She looked scandalized.
What, wasn’t he good enough for her? But he came to his senses and backed her up. “Not a date, Mum. Sadie wants to do a little research.”
“Research? Really?” His mother wasn’t buying it.
“She’s wanting to experience the nightlife here in Scotland.”
Dand popped up and ran for the shelf where the board games were stashed. “Then ye can stay here with us, First Mate. Aunt Sadie can do her research all on her own.”
The boy had a lot to learn. “Sorry, Dand. A good Scottish man protects the womenfolk. You remember that.” He turned to his mother. “We’ll clear the dishes first. Come on, rat. Ye’ll help.”
Sadie picked up two serving dishes. His nephew grabbed several plates. The three of them went through to the kitchen. She put her things down and hurried back to the dining room, leaving the two of them alone.
Dand clanked his plates on the counter and turned to him. “Are ye sure ye don’t love Aunt Sadie?”
“What?” What had gotten into this kid? “Why would ye say that?”
Dand scratched his head like John did when he was pondering a tough puzzle. “Ye two are acting funny. Aunt Kit says that’s a sign that two people might be a good match.”
Gawd. Dand had become a strange sponge, soaking up all the wrong things. “Go get more dishes.” Ross would have to speak with both Maggie and Kit about what they said around the boy.
Ross remained in the kitchen and started the tap, soaking the dishes for his mother.
The wise thing to do this evening was to not go out with Sadie. But he quickly nixed the idea of staying in. The way his mother was looking at him, she’d have him and Sadie engaged before the kitchen was cleaned. Mum was completely off base. Glynnis and Dand, too.
Sadie returned with the last of the dishes.
“Are ye ready to get out of here?” he said.
She nodded.
He dried his hands. “I’ll tell Mum and Aunt Glynnis that we’re going. Ye might want to run up and grab your new sweater.”
She nodded her head, still not making eye contact. Was this how the rest of his stay in Glasgow was going to be?
After only a mild interrogation from Glynnis and Mum, he met Sadie at the front door, and grabbed the extra key from the hook. He looked down at her shoes. “Are those comfortable?”
She stuck out one slender foot, accentuating the delicate line of her legs, and the flats she wore. “Will I be dancing?”
He was glad she was back to speaking to him. And for a brief second, he wondered what it would be like to hold her in his arms and move to the music. He started to answer, maybe, but decided better of it. “We’re walking to the pub.”
She nodded, glancing away, apparently back to the silent treatment.
He held the door open and pointed as she sailed through at a fast clip. “It’s this way.”
The evening was cooling off, kind of like how things had cooled between him and Sadie. They were going to have to clear the air. They couldn’t spend the whole evening not speaking to each other.
“Hold up.” He lengthened his stride to catch her. When he did, he gently pulled her to a stop.
She looked down at his hand and he dropped it.
“We need to talk about what happened in the bedroom.” But his words sounded too intimate. “Hell. That came out all wrong.”
The look she shot him made him even more uncomfortable. He was like a bug she’d pinned to a board. Her gaze was cutting. But the longer she looked at him, the more her indignation turned to hurt, the place between her eyebrows cinching together.
“You may want to talk about it, but I don’t.” She took off walking again.
Well, hell, that went smoothly. He watched as her hips swung side to side. What made him think he could improve upon her walk? And that shade of green in her dress brought out the color of her eyes. Though he couldn’t see her eyes because she was halfway down the street by now.
He hollered to her. “I was just going to say that there couldn’t be a repeat.”
She slowed for a second.
He half jogged to catch up to her. “I said, we can’t do that again. Did ye hear me?”
Sweet Sadie turned into the head stinger in a riled hornet’s nest. She was red in the face, her eyes glistening with anger, and if she’d been a man, he would’ve been preparing himself to block the punch that was getting ready to coldcock him.
“I heard you,” she ground out. “Can you stop talking so we can get to the pub and find you a woman?”
Her words, though not a fist, had the same effect as a punch to the face.
“Perfect.” He was feeling a little riled, too, and he wasn’t exactly sure why.
They finished the rest of the walk in heated silence. The pub was loud with voices and the one-man band who was playing his guitar and singing. Sadie seemed not to notice the musician or the crowd. She appeared to be on a mission, her eyes scanning the room the moment she stepped indoors.
She nodded in the direction of the bar where a tall strawberry blonde sat, nursing an ale among the noise. “What about that one?” she said in a raised voice.
He bent down to hear her, and rolled his eyes when he figured out what she’d said. “Can we at least get a drink before the hunt begins? I’m thirsty. What about you?”
But the lass was a little like Deydie; when she latched on to an idea, she wouldn�
��t give it up. “That one won’t be alone for long. You should grab the opportunity. Before someone else does.”
Ross gave the woman a second glance. She was very attractive, but he wasn’t interested. Not his type. “She reminds me too much of Pippa.”
Sadie gave an exaggerated sigh, tugged on his arm, and then went on tiptoe to speak in his ear. “Well, give me your list of requirements so I’ll know what to look for.”
But it wasn’t her words that made his brain pause. Was she blowing on his neck to drive him crazy? Nay. But to have her so close . . . He shook his head to brush off the sensation. He focused on answering her. “Requirements? It’s easy. You saw Pippa. I want the opposite of her.” And that disturbing thought hit him again. Sadie is the opposite of Pippa, every last inch of her.
“I’ll work on it. But you have to go over and practice on her, while I round up a few women.” She pushed him in that direction.
He wasn’t used to being pushed around, or told what to do. He didn’t budge.
She stuck out her hip, propping a hand there. “Why are you being so obstinate?”
“I can scout out my own birds. And while I do, ye go practice yere dating skills with those blokes over there.” Ross scrutinized them. They looked out of their element, perhaps American themselves, the three of them. Maybe on holiday from university. No harm in her speaking with them. “Give me a little space to work my magic,” he said, trying to lighten the tone between them. He and Sadie were friends, and he needed to start acting like it.
She looked at the men skeptically, probably taking their measure like he had. She gave a little shrug. “We’ll meet back up in thirty minutes.”
“An hour.” He needed a break from her. Perhaps a cold shower and a double whisky, too. He had to eradicate the memory of Sadie kissing him so he could get on to cavorting.
Sadie turned and walked away. And just like that . . . he felt a twinge of loneliness in the crowded pub.
Gawd!
He walked to the bar and ordered that whisky. With drink in hand, he noticed a group of women standing by the bandstand. They weren’t watching the musicians, but skimming the room, on the lookout for someone to catch. He’d help them out. He sauntered over, ready to work that magic he’d been bragging about.
But before he said hello, he glanced around to see how Sadie was making out with the Americans. Only she wasn’t with them. Ross quickly scanned the room. She was with two large, redheaded twins—Scots, by their kilts. One of them left her for a moment, went to the bar, and brought her back a drink. Ross hoped she hadn’t opted for alcohol, for her kidneys’ sake.
She took a sip. And as if she knew she was being stared at, she shifted her eyes until they fell on his. Like she was fine and dandy, she lifted her glass to him and raised her eyebrows in some cocky salute.
Ross was cemented to the spot. He heard the women behind him, being loud and obnoxious. Sadie wasn’t loud and obnoxious. But she was occupied. Determined, he turned back to the group of women.
He found out they were up from London, city lasses, having a holiday in the wilds of Scotland. To him, Glasgow was about as rowdy as Mum’s tame house cat. The women wasted no time, pulling him onto the dance floor. Ross took the opportunity to move about so he could catch glimpses of Sadie. She seemed to be holding her own with the two Scots. The women around him were unabashedly vying for his attention, shaking their assets at him like racing flags. But their attempts affected him as much as one of the elderly quilting ladies shaking a hanky in his face. He was bored shitless.
The song changed and the alpha of the females wiggled into his arms for a slow dance. The way she clung to him, he had no choice but to accept her invitation. He was miserable. He looked around for Sadie once more.
This time, though, things were different. He could no longer see her face, her suitors’ bodies partially blocking his view. But he could tell that they’d backed her into a corner. And he could see one of the bastards running his hand up and down her arm. Ross came to a complete stop on the dance floor. The redheaded Scots were laughing it up. At the end of the joke, the other one wrapped his tree-stump arm around Sadie and pulled her into his side. Ross caught a glimpse of her face. And he saw red. She was biting her lip, clearly uncomfortable.
“Oy.” The bossy woman swatted at Ross’s chest. “Why’d you stop dancing?”
He grabbed her arms and set her away from him. “Sorry, lass.” He nodded in the direction of Sadie. “Looks like my cousin’s in a bit of trouble.”
He didn’t wait to hear her response, but marched over to fix whatever mess his cousin had gotten herself into.
But by the time he crossed the floor, Sadie had wiggled out of Beefy’s grasp and seemed to be lecturing them. She wore a stern librarian’s frown, as if they’d spoken too loud in her book sanctuary. But those two weren’t deterred.
“Come on, hen,” Beefy cooed, trying to get her back in the corner. “Ellar was only joking aboot ye putting yere hands on our dangling bits.”
Ross had heard enough. He grabbed Beefy by the arm, spun him around, and punched him in the nose. Da always said go for the nose if ye’re serious about taking a man down. It worked. But Ellar retaliated with a left hook to Ross’s eye. And then a punch to the gut. Apparently, the twins had more relatives in attendance, because a group of men put down their drinks and rushed toward him.
Ross didn’t wait to see if they wanted to discuss the weather. He grabbed Sadie’s hand and ran. Outside, he yanked the rubbish bin in front of the door and turned into the alleyway. Five seconds later, the bin crashed and he knew they were coming. He pushed Sadie into one of the many doorways and crushed himself up against her, keeping them both out of sight.
He looked down at her. Her eyes were big, staring back at him. But then she changed, her shock fast turning into indignation. When her mouth opened with the lecture that was sure to come, he didn’t hesitate but captured her tongue-lashing with his lips. He kissed her into silence.
It worked. He could tell she was stunned once again. He heard voices in the road outside, but their efforts seemed fruitless. They couldn’t see them in their cubbyhole unless they knew where to look, and the bums must’ve been too lazy, or inebriated, to come into the alleyway and search. The voices began to fade.
Ross kept kissing Sadie, even when he knew the men had given up the hunt. This was much more fun than the pub anyway. When he realized he was growing hard, and pushing into Sadie more for desire’s sake than for keeping them hidden, he pulled away. “Sorry. I had no choice.”
“I know.” She was breathing hard, but frowning. “There can’t be a repeat. Or so you said.” She ducked under his arm, freeing herself. “Does this alleyway lead out? Or do you have a clue?”
The passage curved and he was certain they’d find an outlet at the end. “Aye, it leads out.”
She took off, putting space between them, acting as if she knew exactly where she was going. The lass had a habit of running away. And she was intent on getting away from him, which made him even more resolute in pursuing her.
Hmm. Maybe he’d been wrong about what Sadie did or didn’t know about men. He ran a hand through his hair. He’d wasted his time trying to teach her how to land a bloke. She seemed to know instinctually all on her own. At least where it pertained to him.
Ross chased after her, determined not to put up with the silent treatment again. When he caught up, he pulled her to a stop. “What were you thinking?”
She stared at him with feigned innocence.
“Don’t pretend ye don’t know what I’m speaking about. Those two back there.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I was practicing, as you suggested. You should’ve stayed in Taylor Swift’s arms on your side of the pub. I was handling things just fine my own.”
“Aye. Fine. Ye were almost forced into handling Ellar’s dangling bits.” He shivered.
/> “Quit exaggerating. Didn’t you notice that I had worked my way out of it until you turned all Incredible Hulk on me? I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“As I told Dand, it’s a man’s job to take care of his woman.” Ross paused. “I meant to say, to take care of a woman.” His words had bent on him and jabbed him in the gut, a little higher than where Ellar had punched him. “It’s what we do. I do.” He felt agonized. “We’re friends, Sadie.” He was almost pleading, and he didn’t know for what.
Her frustration boiled over and she gave him an impatient eye roll. She shook her head as she looked him up and down, as if she didn’t like what she saw. “Unbelievable.”
“Let’s get you home.”
Unfortunately, it was relatively early. Late enough that Dand would be in bed, but not his mother. Ross was thirty years old, but it made no difference to his mum. She would scold him for fighting, and odds were, her tirade would escalate, because he’d been fighting in a public place, ta boot. He may be a grown man, but the closer he got to Aunt Glynnis’s house, the more his feet dragged.
At the door, he pulled Sadie to a stop. “I’m sorry.”
She got a satisfied smile on her face, accepting victory.
“Not for protecting you,” he clarified. “But for manhandling ye the way I did.”
She looked at him vacantly.
“In the alley.”
“Oh.” She touched a finger to her lips.
For a second, he relived what they’d done in the alleyway while he had her pinned to the door. But he needed to be absolutely clear. He wasn’t sorry about the kiss. Not in the least. It had been the best part of the evening, rivaling the satisfaction of smashing in Beefy’s nose. “No. I’m sorry for crushing ye in the doorway. I shouldn’t have been so rough.” He never wanted to be rough with her. She might be feisty, but he knew she was breakable. “Are we okay then? Ye’re done being angry with me?”
Lightning flashed. Then thunder rumbled.
She gave him her Sadie smile—genuine, full of sunshine.
The Trouble with Scotland Page 13