An engine purred outside my door and, half naked, I strode out of my kitchen, Isla’s wee dog dancing at my feet. There was no chance that was Lochie returning yet.
Cait was still in labour.
I was about to be an uncle again.
None of their birthing plans had come off. For one, their bairn was coming early. They’d been in Inverness with Isla when Cait went into labour. She’d been in a lot of pain. Lochie drove her straight to the hospital, bumping into me in the process.
I’d taken Isla and waited around in case they were sent home. The hours had ticked by until finally, Cait was admitted. Their bairn was definitely on his or her way.
I’d so badly wanted to return to Rory but frightened Isla had needed me. I’d driven her to my parents’ and been ready to return to the hospital when the lass had remembered their pet needed feeding.
So now, I was back at my cottage with the wee pup, trying to work out where I could leave him as Ma wouldn’t have him at theirs. To top it all, he’d puked on me—again—and I’d just finished clean-up duty.
Desperation hit me in waves. I so badly needed to be at Rory’s side. For days, I’d been unable to rest because of this woman. Months, maybe. After everything that had happened, I was barely functioning for wanting her.
For needing her to be okay.
For fucking panicking over thoughts of an uncertain future.
Jasper barked, and I moved to the window.
“Hush, it willnae be your family yet.”
Except, as I pulled back the curtain, Rory stood on the path outside.
I could do nothing but stare.
Rory’s gaze found mine through the glass. With her coat open around her cast, she shivered.
I snapped out of my trance and leapt to open the door. “What are ye doing here? Why are ye out of hospital?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe just chasing down the guy I said I love you to who then ran away.”
My heart squeezed, but I gestured for her to come into the warmth of my home. As I went to close the door, a horn blast brought my attention to my cousin’s car, idling outside. Cameron and Elise peered at me, their expressions of concern identical.
I waved them away, and my cousin drove off.
Shutting us inside the cottage, I turned around.
Rory stood in the centre of my room, staring back at me.
This time, I grabbed a fresh shirt from the back of my chair and pulled it on.
“Is that a new tattoo?” she asked.
I pressed my fingers to the spot over my heart, the ink now established under my skin. Kind of like the owner of the brand I’d stamped on myself.
Maybe better to share that later. I switched subjects. “I can’t believe you’re up and walking. How are ye feeling?”
“Nope. We’re not starting there.” She planted the fist of her uninjured arm on her hip.
My aching heart warmed. Nothing beat seeing Rory upright and with her fire reinstated.
“Where do ye want to start then?” I asked.
“Maybe with where you’ve been. I told you I loved you and you fled. I mean, it’s fine if you don’t love me back, but to just leave?”
“I didn’t leave ye.”
Her cheeks flushed red. “You did! You walked out and went home—”
“Hush, brèagha. I was looking after Isla. Cait’s in hospital.”
She shifted her position. “What’s wrong with Cait?”
“In labour. After I left your room, which was only to fetch Elise as she’d been so scared for ye, I met Cait and her family charging through the hallways. Their bairn was coming, so Isla needed to be brought home, but we had to wait around for hours until we were sure. Then I just had to work out what to do with the pup and I would’ve been back at your bedside.”
Isla’s dog sat squarely at Rory’s feet. She peeked down, then moved to sit on my sofa, reaching out to ruffle the puppy’s fur.
Rory brought her gaze back to me, but confusion haunted her looks. “All I knew was the lack of you. Why did you run? I mean, I probably deserved that. God knows I’ve been the worst at working out this thing between us.”
Tension strung me up tight. “Then we are something. Ye weren’t just saying those words out of gratitude?”
Emotion rippled over her features. “No! I mean… Shit. Why is this so hard?”
The dog yapped and danced around in a circle.
All I needed right now was to hear Rory’s thoughts. I’d ached to know that her words were true. Desperation had fought with my panic for her wellbeing, my dreams haunted with memories of her accident and worries over her recovery. I was all in with her, no matter how she felt about me.
I advanced a step, ready to finalise this once and for all.
The dog barked louder.
A knock came at the door.
For fuck’s sake.
I spun around to answer it. “I’ll get rid of them, whoever it is.”
My brother stood on the other side. Instantly, his gaze sprang from me to Rory. His grin spread.
“She’s alive! Have I heard some stories about ye.” He pushed past me. “Want to trade drama? Ye can hear all about my fun with the police.”
“No,” Rory and I said in unison.
“Really bad timing,” I told my brother. “Epic-level bad. Here.” I grabbed the dog’s lead and handed it over. “Take over doggy daycare for the night.”
“The fuck am I going to do with a dog on a motorbike?”
“Work it out. I’ll call ye later when I’m not on the brink of a nervous breakdown.”
Max’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth but thought better of it and clicked his tongue for the dog.
The puppy ran to him, and he lifted the animal, tucking him inside his leather jacket. As soon as both were clear of the door, I kicked it closed.
This time, when I returned to Rory, I sank to the floor in front of her. My pulse sped. With care, I touched my fingertips to her pink cheek.
“Before something else interrupts us, let me say this. I’m in love with ye. I knew it when I visited your home, and it’s only gotten stronger since. Aye, this is huge, and life-changing. Saying this to ye now is like ripping my heart from my chest and handing it to ye while it still beats. Take it and throw it away if ye want, but it no longer belongs to me so I willnae accept it back. My heart, brèagha, belongs to ye.”
Rory’s eyes sparkled, and her hand landed on top of mine, fingers interlacing. “I’ve fallen in love with you, too.”
I held my breath waiting for the but. It didn’t come.
We both waited on each other.
“How do we do this?” I asked.
“I have no idea.”
“The distance, our families, our jobs.”
Rory shrugged, then winced at the action. “I know. All of that. But there’s worse for you as well.” At my gentle enquiry, she continued. “I don’t think I can love in a healthy way. I’m like my mom. Totally obsessed. Look at this for an example. The moment I was able, I hunted you down.”
A short laugh fell from my lips. “Is that what you’re worried about? I’m fully obsessed with ye. I flew thousands of miles just to hold ye. I chased down your kidnapper, and it took everything in me not to rip his head off, all because of my strength of feeling for ye. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. Pretty certain this is just how it goes when you find your one.”
Need eclipsed the doubt in her gaze.
“I’m so scared,” she confessed.
I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to hers, warmth, surety, and utter devotion settling. “I am, too. Ye have nothing to fear from me. I’ll do everything to make your life better. All the big conversations can happen when we’re ready. Right now, I just need to kiss ye.”
Rory’s lips met mine. The kiss I longed for for weeks was finally delivered. This time, with new meaning attached. Never before had I been in love, and I knew without a shadow of doubt, I never would again.
I let Rory lead so I didn’t hurt her, and she moved closer, bringing her fingers to the hair at the back of my neck.
“I’m in love with the colour of your hair, too. I spent hours mixing a custom shade in oil paint, just so it would be perfect on my picture.”
“Ye mean my picture.”
“Yes. Yours. I finished it the day before I left home. The whole time we were apart, it was like you were still with me, as I kept painting you.”
“Because you’re in love with me.”
“One hundred percent.”
“Can’t wait to see it.”
I kissed her again, and Rory moaned, opening her lips. Her tongue touched mine, and electricity traced along my veins.
I pulled back, breathing hard. “We can’t. I don’t want to hurt ye.”
“I get to decide what hurts me and what completes me. Take that shirt off again.”
“No deal.” I stood and retreated. “You’re in recovery, and ye need looking after. Let me prove something to ye.”
“What?”
“That we can be together without needing to fill every moment with sex. That taking what we need is not just one narrow slice of our lives, but everything. Neither of us have answers on how we can work out, so right now, we just need to be. Stay here with me. I want ye in my bed. I want to care for ye. Let me.”
At this, a greater hint of her exhaustion showed. Rory was barely holding it together.
A tiny nod gave me permission, and I ran my arms under her legs and around her back, carefully lifting her to cradle her. Then I stood and carried her to my bedroom. On my sheets, she gazed up at me.
“Sleep with me.”
“Always.”
As I twisted to close the curtains, Rory slipped off her boots and socks. She wriggled out of her leggings, her jacket already left on the couch. I took a second to take in the perfect sight then grabbed my phone, dashing off a message.
“I’m asking Cameron and Elise to bring your stuff over, including painkillers and whatever else ye have to take.”
“You really want me to stay here the whole of my visit?”
I didn’t want her to leave. Ever. But instead of saying that, I stripped my joggers and climbed onto the bed with her, pulling the blanket over us both. Then I curled around her and eased her to rest on my chest.
In a minute, her breathing regulated, and Rory slept.
While I ran over everything I’d need to do to follow her when she returned to the States.
Now she was mine, I’d do whatever it took to keep her.
