“Daddy!”
At Isla’s voice, I jerked upright, disorientated for a moment.
I was in Lochie’s bed, in his cottage.
Naked.
The door handle twisted, and I sucked in a breath then dove back down, whipping the covers over my head.
“Can I watch TV?” the little girl chirped.
“Aye. I’ll be out to make your breakfast,” Lochie replied in a low rumble.
After a beat, he pulled the blanket from my face. An amused smile curved his lips. “Morning.”
“Shite. I didn’t mean to sleep over.”
“It’s okay. She didnae notice.”
He ran his arm around me and hauled me onto his chest. Then kissed me firmly.
Dazed, I blinked at him. “Whoa. Good morning.”
Lochie’s smile spread, and I caught it, grinning back like a dope. After everything he’d said last night, I knew him so much better. And liked him all the more for it.
Bram Lochinvar MacNeill. Harbourer of a fugitive, and devoted father.
“You’re still talking to me after last night,” he said.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Lochie raised a shoulder, his confidence hanging on an edge.
“I do have a question,” I said.
“Shoot.”
“Why did ye agree to Liv’s request when she showed up? It was a lot to do for someone ye hadn’t seen in years.”
He sighed. “I know. It was. But I’d always felt such guilt over the way she’d left.”
“Was she your girlfriend?”
“No. She wanted me, and I was always leaving for the military, so I refused her.” Lochie threw back the sheets and slapped my backside. “Come on. We’ll have a job sneaking ye out, so why don’t ye stay for breakfast?”
I nodded slowly. Lochie’s bedroom didn’t have a door to the outside like mine did. Theirs was in the kitchen and presumably locked. We climbed from the bed and collected our clothes, dressing while shooting glances at each other. Once ready, Lochie opened the door then peered out. He waved me to follow, and we walked the short hall.
In the living room, Isla perched on the couch, her back to us.
Her da silently walked past, and I tiptoed until closer to the door.
“Isla, Cait’s joining us for breakfast,” he suddenly announced.
The little girl’s head swivelled. I froze on the spot.
“Hi, Cait. Can you braid my hair before school? Da isn’t very good at it.” She held her gaze on me, ignoring the cartoon playing in the background.
“I’d love to,” I replied.
Lochie subtly reached for my hand and pressed my fingers. “Are ye cold? Grab my hoodie from the chair. I’ll make coffee.”
He disappeared into the kitchen, and I released a breath. My thin t-shirt wasn’t warm enough for the chilly morning, so I grabbed the hoodie then took a minute in the bathroom before joining Isla.
With a happy smile, she offered up a brush and a handful of twisted hair bands. I grinned and sectioned out her thick, golden hair, arranging it into three for braiding.
“Ye know, brushing your curls out will just make it frizzy. My cousin Viola has curly hair, and I learned that from her.”
“Did ye do each other’s hair?”
“Sometimes, but Scarlet, my mother, used to do mine for me every morning,” I said softly. “I went through a stage of wanting fancy hairstyles. I made Viola compete with me over who had the most complicated style.”
“What sort of thing did you have?”
“French plaits. Smooth buns with tiny plaits teased in. For about six months, we tried everything. Viola is more of a tomboy but ultra-competitive, too.”
“You can do that for me,” Isla decided. “Come to breakfast every day.”
I sucked in a breath but focused on the task in hand.
This was…weird. But also lovely.
When I glanced up, Lochie rested a shoulder against the kitchen entrance, watching us.
I gazed right back.
“Da, can you make me toast? I can’t move while Cait’s doing my hair,” Isla interrupted.
“I will. Caitriona?”
“Toast sounds good.”
He set about it then we ate together at their small dining table, Isla crowing over a friend she’d made at school who always had pretty hair.
Too soon, breakfast was over, and I returned to my cottage to start my own day. I showered and dressed for work, sitting down to my laptop in time to see Lochie and Isla leave for school. I waved, and they waved back, Lochie linking his gaze to mine, loaded with meaning.
A strange feeling, present since I woke, buzzed in my chest.
Maybe it was an intense kind of sympathy for the little family. I wanted to help Lochie with his problem of telling Isla her background.
That was it. A simple need to fix a problem.
I rested my chin on my hands, my gaze distancing as I recalled Lochie’s story. The danger his friend was in had clearly driven him to extreme action, but then again, that was his personality type. And his background with his mother fleeing his da. He’d made no reference to regretting it, and he adored his daughter beyond anyone or anything. His protective instinct drove him. It was there in every act, not just in his job.
Lochie was the perfect father for that child. His ex-wife had chosen well.
About half an hour into my working day, my phone buzzed with a text in Lochie’s name. I’d changed it from Lochinvar Ross to Lochie, and the appearance brought a smile to my face.
Lochie: Thank ye for last night. I don’t think I said.
Caitriona: I should be thanking you.
Lochie: How do I insert an eyeroll? Ye know what I mean.
I grinned wider.
Another message arrived.
Lochie: Will ye tell me more about your problems at work?
Caitriona: If you like. It’s strange. My coat was stolen, and my lunch eaten. I’d dismissed it as an accident, but they put the lunchbox back in the fridge including the empty packets.
Lochie: Anything else?
Caitriona: My emails were hacked. I think. There were several opened that I hadn’t read. Tech Support told me to change my password, but it happened again.
Lochie: Anything personal in those emails?
Caitriona: My contact with the fertility clinic I’m going to use.
I typed, deleted, then retyped the last text. There was no reason to feel strange about telling Lochie my plans. He already knew, and it was relevant to his question.
His response took a while to come in.
Lochie: Ye suspect your boss, aye? What did he do? Be explicit.
Caitriona: Overly friendly at first, then there was this weird meeting where he started talking about how well-made his kids were, and how I shouldn’t leap to fertility treatment.
Putting it like that, Rupert couldn’t be more of a prime suspect.
Lochie: How did he act after seeing me in your home?
Caitriona: He sent his PA to tell me I needed to work in the office more.
Another message landed, but from a social media site. I opened it.
Cait, it’s Jude. I forgot to get your number, but Chelle and I are excited about dinner. See you tonight!
Ah God, I’d forgotten all about that. I readied to send a cancellation. Then again…
Jude was Rupert’s nephew. I could pump him for information. I replied with my address.
Then I tapped out another message to Lochie.
Caitriona: I’m having dinner with his nephew tonight so I’ll try to find out more then.
No reply came, and I lost myself in emails for a while.
By lunchtime, Lochie hadn’t written back. I frowned at my phone then read over our conversation. I’d expected some words of wisdom from the man for whom protecting people was his be all and end all.
I paused on the last message. Was it the dinner with another man?
Amusement came on the back of my surprise. I’d never had a relationship before, and this short-term one presumably didn’t have the same rules, but I was almost certain the huge mountain man Lochie was sulking.
Grinning, I added another message.
Caitriona: …and his fiancée.
Lochie’s almost instant response cracked me up.
Lochie: Good to know. I’ll see ye after they’ve gone.
Aknock rattled my door at seven thirty on the dot. I scurried to answer it, wiping my hands.
Jude waited the other side. Alone.
He greeted with a quick kiss to the cheek.
“Hey. Ye found me easily enough. Where’s Chelle?” I ushered him in, peering at his car.
“Um, slightly awkward, but we argued about coming here, and she’s at home. I didn’t want to let you down so I came alone. Is this a bad idea? I can go.” He pointed at the door, his nose wrinkled and his lips twisted.
With his floppy blond hair and sweet face, I used to think him kind of cute, but that ship had long sailed.
“No, no. It’s fine. I’m sorry ye argued.” I gestured at the table.
Jude sat, his gaze flitting over my home. “It’s weird when you travel a lot. I think you forget social boundaries. I assumed Chelle would be fine but I was wrong. My bad.”
“Didn’t she want to come out?” I poured a glass of water from the chilled bottle I’d already brought out.
Now there was only two of us, grabbing a bottle of wine felt inappropriate.
“This is where it gets even more awkward. I made an epic mistake and told her that you and I had slept together. Eh. I always want to be honest with her, but in that, I think I should’ve exercised discretion.”
Discomfort tightened my tummy, and I wrapped my arms around myself. “It wasn’t like we dated or anything. Maybe you should’ve told her that there wasn’t anything there?”
Jude continued his examination of my home before settling his gaze back on me. “I did. Must’ve done it wrong.”
He probably shouldn’t have come here at all, sticking with his fiancée, but it would be rude for me to say.
“We can still have a catch up,” I said briskly. “I’ll serve up dinner and ye can tell me about your travels.”
Jude had always been good company and an excellent storyteller. I plated up dinner—spinach and ricotta cannelloni with a crisp salad—and listened while he picked through the best of his holiday stories.
By the time we were onto dessert, I’d relaxed some.
“How are you enjoying working at the university?” Jude asked.
This was my opportunity. “The work is fine, but I’m not sure I’d say I was entirely happy.”
“Is my uncle giving you a hard time? I’ve spent a couple of evenings with him, and he spilled a pretty big piece of news of yours. I’m sorry to tell you.”
I widened my eyes. “He did? That’s…”
“Vastly inappropriate and unprofessional? Yeah, it was. He’s acting kind of strange about it.”
“What did he say?”
Jude scrubbed over his hair, messing it. He peeked from under the strands. “Um, this is delicate. First, I should tell you that my mum won’t see him anymore. He’s my dad’s brother, but even after Dad died, Rupert used to still get invited to family dinners. But Mum stopped and she wouldn’t say why, other than he’d gone weird.”
“What did he say about me?”
“That you were going to have a baby without a husband. He doesn’t think it’s right.”
My blood boiled. “The nerve.”
“I know. That’s part of why I came here. I thought you needed to know and I didn’t know how to broach it. We haven’t seen each other in a while, but we were always good friends.”
Despite my upset at his uncle, warmth filtered through from my friend’s care. “I really appreciate that. You’re right, ye were one of my closest friends at university.”
“Right? I’ve thought about you from time to time and hoped you were doing okay. If you need to talk about any of this stuff, I’m still here for you.”
Decency shone from him. He waited on my word.
My phone buzzed on the counter. I reached for it and stared at the screen.
“Shite.”
“What is it?” Jude peered over.
I tapped out a reply.
“I’m so sorry. I’m going to have to cut our dinner short.”
“Oh, sad face! But it’s fine, I was about to go anyway. What’s happened?”
A knock came at the door, and I leapt to open it. Lochie waited the other side, already in his jumpsuit and with the air of urgency surrounding him.
“Sorry to interrupt. I could take her to the hangar, but she’s already in bed and asleep.”
I squeezed his arm. Late night call-outs happened, and I was more than willing to look after Isla.
“Go. It’s fine.” Then I mouthed where Jude couldn’t see. “I’ll wait up for ye.”
Lochie’s gaze darkened, then he glanced over my shoulder to my guest. Whatever he saw shrank the attentive look in his eyes. “Do ye want me to wait until you’ve locked up?”
“No, no. I’ll be fine.”
He left, and I remained at the door then turned to Jude.
My friend’s shocked gaze stuck on Lochie’s retreating car. “Oh my God. Who was that?”
I couldn’t help my chuckle. “Lochie. He’s the head of the mountain rescue. I sometimes look after his daughter when he’s on missions.”
Jude fanned his face. “Give me a knife and fork. I want to eat up that chemistry for supper.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, there might be some of that.” I’d never before been able to talk like this, but it was freeing. “He and I… Let’s just say we’re close.”
“But I thought you— Never mind. Minding my own business.” Jude grabbed his jacket and mock wiped his brow. “Never thought I’d see the day when you fell for a man. Right, I have to run. Next time my place?”
“Do you think Chelle will be okay with that?”
He blinked at me, already halfway out the door. “Uh, sure. I’ll talk to her. Until the next time.”
In a hurry, Jude was gone.
I grabbed my things, locked up, then went into Lochie’s cottage. I had decisions to make on work, as Rupert’s behaviour had gone from odd to unacceptable, but there was more to consider. Too much. My head practically ached with it all. I curled up on the couch and closed my eyes, letting my brain focus on one core thing. Lochie would come home and take me to his bed.
I wanted nothing more than that.
