by Terry Spear
“Was anyone seriously injured by the men?” Enrick asked.
“No one’s reported any injuries. One of our men said one of the McKinleys was holding his temple, blood streaming through his fingers. Hopefully, they weren’t able to injure any of our men,” Grant said. “Serves them right if they were injured.”
“You were a welcome sight. I wanted to kill Robert for attacking Cearnach, but I couldn’t seem to get the upper hand to keep him from killing me when I took him on,” Enrick said. “Not in this mud, and not when I’d been fighting for hours and he appeared fresh.”
“You will have to thank Heather for sending us to your rescue.” Grant motioned to the hilltop where she was standing in the rain watching them.
Enrick was astounded and proud of Heather for most likely saving his and Cearnach’s lives and possibly those of several other men by warning Grant about the trouble they were having.
“I have a dinner date with Heather.” Forget about the meeting. She was a gem and Enrick wanted to do something special with her.
Grant nodded. “We’ll have the meeting after your date.”
Some of the men standing around them chuckled, listening in on the conversation.
Cearnach smiled. “She’s worth it.”
“Aye, I know.” Enrick saluted her with his sword.
From the top of the hill, she waved back. His worries about having more trouble on the battlefield in the coming days melted away, just a little. “Are you staying on the battlefield, Brother?” Enrick asked Grant.
“Aye. As long as the director doesn’t have any trouble with it.” Grant turned and they all saw Lachlan headed for them.
“I’ve sent the wolves out in search of the men to ensure there aren’t any more still on the battlefield,” Lachlan said. “The director said they’d done their part in the battle today.”
“Good, but I doubt the enemy’s clan members would linger here. Too many of our men would know them, now that word is spreading about them infiltrating our ranks. Did you talk to the director about it like I asked?” Grant asked.
“Aye, he said he would take a break until we made sure the interlopers were gone or arrested. He’s checking on his laptop to see how the scenes turned out,” Lachlan said.
“Okay, excellent.”
They were waiting, Cearnach asking Enrick where he was taking Heather to dinner, when the wolves began to return to Lachlan.
One of them woofed at Lachlan, telling him the McKinleys and Kilpatricks were gone. If the men hadn’t left, the wolves would have been barking, howling, and pursuing them.
Grant told the director they were good to go, and the director called out to begin the shoot again.
An hour and a half before the sun set, the director wrapped up shooting for the day and Enrick sprinted for the castle. Heather had left the hill later that afternoon, which was probably good because he kept glancing in her direction and nearly got cut when he didn’t parry quickly enough.
Now, he was in a rush to clean off his boots and then take a shower and meet up with her…where? He hadn’t planned that far ahead.
In his bedchamber, he dumped his clothes in a rubber basket he was using until the battle scenes were done, then grabbed a pair of fresh boxer briefs and hurried to take a shower. He didn’t want to miss seeing the sunset with Heather for anything.
Chapter 7
Heather was eager to see Enrick after the rest of the shoot and though she had already spoken to Colleen and Grant about what had happened, she wanted to hear Enrick’s version. She’d nearly had a stroke when she saw Robert strike Cearnach and her cousin fall.
But when he got up and Patrick struck him, she was ready to get her bow and arrows and shoot both the Kilpatrick brothers herself. She could just imagine the impression that would make on everyone. She assumed the Kilpatrick brothers hadn’t gone into the fight with just the thought of knocking Cearnach or Enrick out either. They wanted blood, enough of an injury to stop the film. Maybe even a death, if they could have gotten away with it and slipped out unnoticed.
She couldn’t believe the men would go to those lengths to exact revenge.
Her phone jingled, indicating she had a text, and she saw it was from Enrick. I’ll meet you at the front entrance.
I’m ready, she replied.
He was soon jogging down the stairs and taking great strides across the common area to reach her. He took her hand, like they were on a real date, and led her outside. Despite telling herself this was just a superficial date, she couldn’t help but love his warm, firm grasp on her hand, as if this truly meant more to him.
The rain had stopped, and she was grateful for that. She had stood out in it long enough today to be thankful it was done for tonight at least.
Enrick looked down at her, all smiles, and didn’t seem in the least bit angered over the incident on the battlefield. For which she was glad.
Then she saw Lachlan and her brothers following Enrick and her outside. She frowned at them.
“Bodyguard detail. Grant’s orders,” Enrick said. “It’s to keep you safe, so I’m all for it.”
She’d thought she and Enrick would have a nice dinner together alone, but she was glad for the protection, just in case, though she wished her brothers weren’t the ones coming with them. They wouldn’t just be looking out for trouble but cataloging everything that went on with her and Enrick.
Lachlan and her brothers were dressed in clean kilts, had swords swinging at their hips, and were carrying sgian dubhs in their boots, as if they were celebrating a special Scottish occasion, but this way their weapons wouldn’t look out of place in case they needed them.
“You look good all dressed up, though I still like you all grungy in your plaid,” Heather said to Enrick. “A rugged look of a time in the past.”
“But for a date?” he asked, opening the car door for her.
“This is really good. You smell nice too.”
He smiled at her and got into the driver’s seat. The other men were following behind in Lachlan’s car.
“This is a date of sorts and I probably shouldn’t bring it up, but are you okay? I mean, you don’t look like Robert injured you, but that had to have been such a shock to find him trying to fight Cearnach,” she said.
“It was. Robert wasn’t just trying to injure him either. He was trying to kill him. I’m sure he wanted to do the same with me and then get out of there without anyone being the wiser, with so much fighting going on. I suspect Patrick got sidetracked by other fighters thinking he was just one of the enemy, or Patrick and Robert would have pounced on Cearnach and me at the same time. They had to know one of them couldn’t have succeeded. Two of them would have to fight us, at the very least.”
“I’m sure that was so. Several minutes passed before Patrick showed up to fight Cearnach. I nearly died when I saw Cearnach fall. I worried he’d been fatally wounded.”
“Believe me, I was worried about the same thing, but Cearnach was immediately trying to get up out of the mud and he was able to fend off Patrick’s subsequent attack. I engaged Robert before he could attack Cearnach again.”
“I saw that. Thanks for saving my cousin. What are we going to do about it?” Heather knew they couldn’t just leave it. They had to make sure it wouldn’t happen again, and that meant Robert and his brother paying for it.
“Grant will tell Robert’s pack leader about the trouble we’re having with some of their people. Five McKinleys were identified fighting our men, and they weren’t holding back either. Our men have had good training and knew who they were, but like me, they couldn’t stop what they were doing and call Grant to have him send men to take care of it. Thanks for saving our arses.”
Heather smiled. “They’re worth saving.”
He gave her one of his wicked smiles that turned her insides to mush. “Hopefully, they won’t try it a
gain. Maybe their leader will tell them to cool it. At least we hope so.”
“I hadn’t wanted to bring it up on our first…um…date, but I haven’t been able to think of anything else.” Every time she said the date word, she felt like Enrick would correct her. They weren’t on a date, just a get-together or something.
Enrick let out his breath. “I agree. We’ll have a lovely evening, but it’s good to discuss issues that can affect us. That have affected us. I’m glad the McKinleys and Kilpatricks didn’t begin doing this from the first day of shooting the battle scenes. We’ll just have to remain vigilant. Everyone will be on the lookout for more trouble with them now.”
“Do you think they’ll cut some of the film when Grant took his men through the fighting men, looking for the McKinleys?”
Enrick chuckled. “It had to have looked like Grant was in charge. I’m sure we’ll be shooting some of it over, especially the scenes capturing a bird’s-eye view of the whole battlefield. We did some retakes this afternoon, so that might suffice.”
“Does that bother you?”
“Well, some, only because of the Kilpatricks and McKinleys’ sinister actions. But we might have thought the scene was going well before that and the director had a different idea, so we never know why he decides to reshoot something.”
She was glad Enrick didn’t seem to hold grudges.
Then Enrick parked at the inn and she felt elated and special as he escorted her inside to get a table. She couldn’t believe he’d actually made reservations. This was wonderful, and she was excited to just enjoy the meal and put Robert and Patrick and the rest of their kin out of her thoughts.
She hadn’t thought Enrick could have had time to make a reservation, what with not knowing when the director would call a wrap, but this made it even more special to her.
The woman smiled broadly as she hurried to seat them at one of the best seaside-view tables, and Heather suddenly had the impression the waitress thought Enrick was Guy McNab.
One of Heather’s brothers stayed out with the cars while Lachlan, Callum, and Oran came inside to take a seat near them. Oran winked at her.
She really didn’t want him watching her on her first real outing with Enrick.
When the waitress came over so sweet and smiley, Heather wanted to tell her Enrick was not the famous actor, but oh so much hotter. And real.
* * *
“So they’re filming the movie at Farraige Castle, aren’t they?” the waitress asked, looking for confirmation as she offered them menus and glasses of water. She was asking Enrick as if Heather wasn’t even there.
Enrick suspected the waitress would shove a pad of paper into his hands for an autograph. “They are, lass.”
“Enrick fought bravely all day in the field.” Heather smiled brightly, then started looking at her menu.
Enrick smiled at Heather. He still couldn’t believe how her diligence, or interest in him, had saved his and Cearnach’s arses.
“Oh my, that must have been a lot of grueling work,” the waitress said, her gaze fixed on Enrick as if she was truly in love.
Reading her menu, Heather was smiling, amused, which amused Enrick.
“And they battled it out all the while in the rain and mud too.” Heather closed her menu. “I’ll have the king scallops in garlic butter with crispy bacon on a bed of rice and a salad. And for dessert, I want the homemade sticky toffee pudding with ice cream.” She smiled at Enrick when he must have looked a little surprised she was so hungry. “Watching you get that workout with such a big sword gave me a real appetite.”
Smiling, Enrick shook his head. Heather was a real treasure. “I’ll have the sirloin steak served with onion rings, mushrooms, salad, and chips with pepper sauce. I guess if we’re having dessert afterward, I’ll have the Scottish raspberry cranachan on a meringue topped with homemade almond praline.”
“Sounds good, Mister…” Apparently the waitress wasn’t convinced Enrick wasn’t Guy McNab.
“Enrick MacQuarrie, brother to Lord Grant MacQuarrie of Farraige Castle.”
The woman’s face brightened. “Oh, aye, Mr. MacQuarrie. Your meals will be right out.” Looking a lot flustered, she hurried off to place their orders.
“Okay, so she still thought you were Guy McNab.” Heather sipped from her water.
“Until I mentioned who I was in relation to Grant. No one would lie about being his brother.”
Heather laughed.
“Thanks for trying to help. I think.”
Heather smiled. “I called you Enrick.”
“Aye, but the mention of me battling in the mud made her think I was still Guy.” Enrick let out his breath. “I hadn’t really planned to go anywhere special while he was still here. I imagine I’ll get all kinds of fan interest wherever I go.”
“Because you don’t get out to the businesses in the area much and people don’t know you that well.”
“To an extent, they know me, but with Guy’s presence here, they want to believe it’s him. Though I rarely eat here. When I went to Edinburgh after Guy made it big, all kinds of people wanted autographs and were taking pictures of me.”
Smiling, Heather cleared her throat. “Did you give them your autograph?”
“A couple.”
“Nay. You couldn’t have.” She smiled again.
Enrick loved how she seemed to be enjoying their easy conversation and chuckled. “Aye, I did. Not as Guy McNab though. I think I confused the women when they saw my name wasn’t the same as his. One said to her friend, ‘He goes by an alias. I told you he would, or he would get mobbed everywhere he goes.’”
Heather laughed.
“You’re not bothered everyone thinks you’re with a celebrity, are you?”
“Are you kidding? I saw a celebrity fighting today in perfect form. A real celebrity. Not the made-up kind.” Then she glanced out the window as a new arrival caught her eye.
Enrick glanced that way to see who it was. “Ah hell, speak of the devil.” Why did Guy have to come here of all nights?
“You’ve got to admit, you are the spitting image of him.”
“He is the spitting image of me.”
“That’s true too.”
They watched Guy enter the restaurant with Missy, the leading lady, and seven other people who had come with him. Enrick was glad he didn’t have to have a bunch of people tag along with him wherever he went. Then he remembered his brother and Heather’s were with them as their guard detail.
Lachlan grinned at him from the other table as he, Callum, and Oran ordered their meals.
Guy was about to be seated when he saw Enrick and did a double take. Enrick inclined his head slightly in greeting. Guy had been too busy doing his own scenes or visiting with some of the cast in the film and hadn’t seemed to have taken notice of Enrick much lately.
When the waitress asked if Guy wanted to be seated at a table near Enrick, he shook his head and pointed to another table that didn’t have half as nice a view of the water. Enrick wasn’t sure what the star’s problem was. Was Guy worried people would mistake Enrick for him and Enrick would get all the attention? Enrick suspected now that Missy was with Guy, everyone would get it right.
“The sun is setting. Isn’t it beautiful?” Heather asked, getting Enrick’s mind back to where it needed to be.
“Aye, that it is, lass.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and watched the sun setting, the pinks and oranges coloring the water in a symphony of colors. It was the perfect spot for a date.
Then the waitress started to serve their orders, and when she saw the real Guy McNab, she nearly dropped Enrick’s plate. He quickly secured it from her and set it on the table.
“Was he battling with you today?” the waitress asked, breathless, as she continued to keep an eye on Guy.
“Aye, but not real close by.” W
hich was a good thing, considering the trouble they’d had with the enemy clan. If Guy had been near Enrick, they might have caught close-ups on film of what had been going on with the Kilpatrick brothers.
“You’ve met him then, aye?” the waitress asked, sounding hopeful, as if he would give her an introduction or something.
“He’s the star. I’m an extra, so we’re not on a first-name basis,” Enrick said, trying not to sound annoyed. If the waitress wanted to speak to the actor, she should go do it. He wanted to enjoy his dinner with Heather in private.
“I’ve met him,” Heather said.
Enrick frowned at her.
“He’s nice. If you want to get an autograph, I’m sure he would be happy to give you one.” Heather smiled at the waitress.
The waitress served Heather’s scallop dinner. “Thanks. Is there anything else you need?”
“No. I’m good, thanks.”
“I’m fine,” Enrick said.
“Okay, good.” Then the waitress hurried off to take the real Guy McNab’s order.
Heather chuckled. “Well, I know you aren’t happy to see him show up here, but at least now all the women can hit on the right guy. Well, for them. He’s not the right guy for me.”
“So you talked to him?” Enrick didn’t know why that bothered him, but it did.
“Sure. I asked what he thought of the surroundings. I asked if he had ever been here before.”
“What did he say?” Enrick cut into his steak.
Heather forked up one of her scallops. “He loved the area, but no, he’d never been here before. But he seemed…well, anxious around me.”
Enrick frowned again. “Why? Maybe he was afraid your brothers or I would have words with him.”
She laughed. “No. I doubt it. Probably something was bothering him, and it had nothing to do with me. He did ask who you were.”
“His clone?”
She smiled. “He’s your clone. You’re the authentic deal. He also noticed Grant and Lachlan, since the three of you look so similar, and wondered who they were. Learning who the three of you were seemed to make him even more uneasy.”