She snorted. “Oh, right. You don’t have it in Scotland, I suppose?”
“Not where I’m from, lass.”
“Fine. Whatever. Coffee it is then.”
She didn’t have the energy or inclination to argue. She would make him a coffee, let him dry off, and then send him on his way. She would have done her good deed for the day, and what happened to him after that was none of her concern.
He watched her as she worked. He was, she noticed, shockingly attractive with his sculpted features, wide blue eyes, and blond hair. She scowled. So what? In her experience good-looking men were not to be trusted, Alex being the perfect example of that.
She turned around and focused on the coffee while he started petting Bunny. The big dog seemed to have taken a liking to him and rolled onto her back for a belly rub.
“How did you end up in the lake?” she asked without turning around. “Were you kayaking? Fishing? If you’ve capsized your boat, there’s a guy who looks after the place who I can call to go salvage it for you.”
“Nay lass, I dinna have a boat.”
“Then, what? You were just out there swimming?”
She remembered the strange whirlpool she’d seen and then that huge spout of water. It had almost been as though… as though the water had coughed him out from somewhere.
“Something like that,” he muttered.
She finished making the drinks and pushed his mug across the table towards him. He took a sip, making a face that told her exactly what he thought of it. She didn’t sit but leaned against the kitchen counter, fingers curled around her own mug as she watched him rubbing Bunny’s belly. He was so big that he seemed to dwarf her tiny kitchen and despite herself, she couldn’t stop her eyes from tracking along the contours of his well-defined body, so obvious beneath the wet clothes clinging to his skin.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “But I don’t have a change of clothes to lend to you.” Aunt Rose had taken Alex’s clothes away and even if she hadn’t, there wouldn’t have been anything to fit this guy.
He waved her apology away. “Ye have already done more for me than I could have wished for. Ye have my gratitude, lass.”
His blue eyes met hers, and Jenna felt a faint flush creep up her cheeks. She took a sip of coffee to cover it. “It’s nothing. I wasn’t about to let you drown, was I?”
“Well, ye have my thanks all the same.” He cleared his throat. “And I, it seems, have forgotten my manners. I havenae even introduced myself.” He scraped back his chair and rose to his full impressive height before giving her a courtly bow that would have looked ridiculous on anyone else but for some reason seemed to suit him. “My name is Arran MacLeod, laird of the MacLeods of Skye. Pleased to make yer acquaintance.”
“Laird?” she asked. “What’s that? Some kind of lord?”
“Aye. I am chieftain of my clan.”
“Nice to meet you too, chieftain of your clan,” she said. “I’m Jenna. Now tell me, what was a Scottish laird doing in the lake outside my house?”
“I was sent here by the goddess Lir to seek aid for my people. I’m looking for a MacFinnan spellweaver.”
Jenna’s mug smashed as it hit the kitchen floor, splashing coffee all over her shoes.
“Damn it!” She crouched and began picking up the pieces of broken crockery, using the movement to cover her sudden shock.
A MacFinnan spellweaver? How did he know that term? Nobody was supposed to know about her and her aunts. The MacFinnans had been persecuted as witches in times past and as a result, they’d kept their powers carefully hidden. But now a man dressed like he belonged in some historical reenactment came looking for one? And what had he said? He’d been sent by a goddess?
“Here, let me help.” He took a step towards her but she flung up a hand to stop him.
“I can manage!”
She picked up the bits of broken crockery, slung them into the bin, and then stood with her hands resting on the countertop, back to Arran MacLeod, staring out of the window. Just when she thought her day couldn’t get any worse. What had she done that was so bad the universe had decided to crap on her like this?
“Lass?” he said from behind her. “Jenna? Are ye all right?”
His voice rumbled across her skin like a warm breeze, deep and soothing.
“Fine,” she lied. “I’m just fine. Now, if you’re dry and you’ve finished your coffee, you’d best be on your way. I have to get ready for work.” She suddenly wanted him gone, wanted him out of her house, out of her life. She didn’t need this complication.
She heard the soft tread of his boots as he came to stand behind her. “Have I offended ye, lass?”
