“Is that how they typically operate?”
“They don’t ever stay here, but aye, they leave on a whim. We make plans, they don’t arrive, and I get a text a few days later that they’re in Ireland or Wales or down in Yorkshire.” I unlatch the barn gate and swing it open for Elephant and Piggie to walk inside. They go directly to their stalls as I flip the switch, an orange light glowing weakly overhead.
Callie follows us in and closes the horse’s stall doors. “That sounds incredibly unstable and erratic.”
I climb the ladder to the hayloft and start to pitch the hay into Elephant’s trough before moving on to Piggie’s. When I getback down to the ground level, I find Callie leaning on Piggie’s stall door, watching her eat.
She turns around and holds my eyes as I approach her. “You have a right to fight for yourself and set boundaries, remember?”
“Aye, Callie, I mind our conversation from yesterday.”
Her mouth quirks into a smile. “Did you feel any desire to talk to them about boundaries today?”
“It’s frightening. There’s a risk of putting my parents off me, and two days before Christmas…”
“It’s understandable to hesitate.” She shrugs. “You have to do the right thing for you.”
How easily Callie accepts my feelings and thoughts makes affection surge within me. “Right now, the only thing I want to do is stay here with you and not think about my parents anymore.”
Her brown eyes dart to mine. The mood shifts, as though the air itself now holds a static charge. She swallows, and when she speaks again, her voice is quiet. “If you want a distraction, you could always help me mark another thing from my bucket list.”
It takes all my self control not to pull her into my arms. “Anything, Callie.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
CALLIE
It’sa good thing I’m wearing rain boots from the mudroom, because I’m standing in front of Piggie’s stall and not paying attention to anything but the way Gavin is looking at me.
His brogue has grown thicker, and if I’m not mistaken, he’s leaning closer.
When he agreed to help knock something off my bucket list, he had to know I meant kissing me, right? It’s either that or help me pet a Highland cow, and he doesn’t have one of those here.
Gavin takes another step closer, knocking my thoughts askew. I can’t focus, and I’m fully aware of how heavily I’m breathing.
“What did you have in mind?” he asks.
Now that we’re here, I’m afraid of rejection. But he couldn’t possibly mean anything else by the way he’s looking at me, right? His eyes are zeroed in like lasers.
I lean back against the stall door. “I’m pretty sure I haven’t hidden my thoughts at all, Gavin.”
He boxes me in, leaning his hands on either side of my head, but he’s yet to touch me. Electricity crackles in the air betweenus, static and sparking. “If we cross this line, there’s no going back.”
“Are you sure we’ve built enough of an emotional connection?” I tease, thoughwhyI’m trying to push him away, I have no idea. No, that’s not true. I don’t want Gavin doing anything he might later view as a mistake.
He shakes his head so slightly I almost miss it. “What would I have done if you’d never come to Scotland?”
The question must be rhetorical, because he dips his head immediately and brushes his lips over mine. It’s the softest touch first. Velvet sliding over velvet. My hands find the wooden door I’m leaning against and my palms press flat against it. Gavin hovers at my lips, his eyes closed.
We’re suspended in time, set apart from the world. Is this why Scotland has a reputation for mythology and fairies? Because I think we’ve been transported to another place. I’m merely breathing Gavin’s air, and I’m drunk on it.
His lips find mine again, pressing longer. Then time speeds. My pulse thrums, heart slamming, blood rushing through my ears. He tilts his head and his hands caress my neck. His fingers are cold, but I don’t care.
Gavin kisses like he does everything else—intentionally, thoughtfully, thoroughly. His soap fills my senses while the taste of icing hits my lips. He’s sweet and passionate, cradling me gently while he pulls me closer with a need I don’t want to fight.
I dig my hands into his coat, losing myself in the moment—his lips over mine, his hands in my hair, his body pressed against me.
When he leans back, I immediately miss him.
