Graham stepped down from the landing, lifting his hands as he turned. “I’ve no idea why the woman selected black but this is what yer grandmother stowed in me pack. Will it do for the day’s errands?”
“Uhm . . . ” Lilia rubbed her thumbs across her fingertips, her hands itching to trace and explore.
“Lass?” Graham moved closer, his heavy, black biker boots thumping with each step. “Does this suit ye?”
“If it doesn’t, she’s a feckin’ daftie.”
Lilia turned away from Vivienne, hid her fist against the small of her back and saluted Vivienne with her middle finger. She inhaled a deep breath and weakly waved at Graham’s attire. “You look . . . fine.”
Graham smiled a seductive, knowing smile, one that glinted pure mischief clear to his eyes and promised so much more. “’Tis well and good then. Shall we be on about our day?”
On about their day.He really did mean to accompany her everywhere she went. A wicked idea sprouted. “Do you want me to put the oil of peppermint in my purse or are you going to keep it in your pocket?” She lifted her keys off the hook beside the door as she tucked her purse into the crook of her elbow.
The phases of realization, abhorrence, and downright fear flashing across Graham’s features gave her a victorious rush. Ha! She had one.Unable to resist the temptation, she rattled the keys again and smiled. She was okay with his tagging along to the stables, the center, or the paintball field but her visits with Eliza were private. A glance at the time backlit on her phone told her she was already late. She should’ve been to the hospital and had their morning visit a long time ago. She nodded at the garage door. “Well?”
Graham’s Adam’s apple skittered up and down his throat as he swallowed hard, his unblinking stare locked on the keys. “Could we not walk?”
Lilia shook her head. “No. The hospital is too far. Especially with some of the streets blocked off because of Fringe. I’ll have to take a longer route.” A belated pang of sympathy softened her resolve—a little. Poor guy. He was already getting a little green around the gills and they hadn’t even gotten out of the kitchen. She’d be generous and give him an easy out. No sense in beingoverlycruel. “The center and the stables are only a few blocks away. If you and Angus want to walk over there and wait for me, I’m sure Vivienne wouldn’t mind escorting the two of you.”
Vivienne looped her arm through Angus’s then beamed her best smile at Graham. “Absolutely. There’s no finer way to walk through the streets of Edinburgh than with a handsome man on each arm.”
Graham’s scowl deepened, his mustache twitching as he appeared to be gnawing on the corner of his lip. His gaze slid from Lilia to Vivienne then back to Lilia again. He sucked in a deep breath than noisily blew it out. “Nay. I canna go with Mistress Vivienne and wait. ’Twould not be honorable. I must pay my respects to Mistress Eliza.”
A sense of protectiveness for her ailing guardian flared. Lilia lifted her chin and shook her head. “That is really not necessary.” She fisted the ring of keys so hard, the bits of metal chewed into her palm. “She might not even know you’re there. Her sleep is . . . uhm . . . deeper . . . these days.” More like drug-induced to give her a brief reprieve from the pain, but some things were just better left unsaid.
Shuttering away that thought, Lilia spun around and headed to the door leading to the garage. She locked her focus on the worn brass doorknob, squeezing it hard as she struggled to get a grip on the new wave of despair threatening to overtake her. Her hand shook until the metal latch softly rattled. Tensing against losing control, she forced her hand to still. Graham needed to back off. “I’ll meet up with everyone at the field in a few hours,” she said without looking up.
Before she could pull open the door, Graham’s calloused hand covered hers and held her fingers firmly in place. His warm breath tickled across her nape as he leaned in closer. “I said I’ll be a going with ye, lass. Ye’ll find I always keep to my word.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and barely nuzzled the tickling softness of his short beard across the back of her neck. “Yer Mistress Eliza will ken I am there. I feel certain of it,” he whispered.
She closed her eyes, concentrating on slowing her breathing and praying Graham couldn’t hear her pounding heart.
“Let me in, lass,” he coaxed in an even lower whisper. The raw huskiness of his voice stroked her, imploring her to give him a chance. “I’m here for ye. I swear it. All ye need do is give me a chance. Ye have nothing to fear, ye ken?”
Staring down at their clasped hands around the doorknob, Lilia gave in to the slightest glimmer of hope as Graham’s emotions washed across her like a warm gentle caress. The tensed knots in her shoulders lessened the barest bit. Maybe she should let Graham visit Eliza. Maybe, even in her current state, Eliza might rouse enough to know he was there and find some small comfort in knowing Lilia wasn’t alone anymore—even though she had just met the man and he’d probably be hopping back to the past again very soon.
Lilia nodded. “I can give youfor now,” she forced out in a strained whisper.“That’s it.”
Graham pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. “I’ll takefor nowand make itforever.Ye’ll see.”
“For now,” Lilia repeated a bit louder, reinforcing the phrase more for her own peace of mind than for his. “Now let’s go.”
CHAPTER9
“You okay?” Lilia wafted the oil of peppermint under Graham’s nose as he butted himself back against the side of the car, bent forward, and sucked in a series of deep shuddering gulps of air. “I was hoping this ride would be a little better for you but evidently I was wrong.”
Holy crap, she had never seen anyone so prone to motion sickness. Her sister Kenna had always been queasy when they had jumped across the centuries but she’d never been this bad with cars. Poor Graham had turned a sickly shade of green as soon as she started the engine and gotten worse at every turn. Thank heavens they’d only driven across town. The poor man would’ve heaved himself to death if he’d had to ride any farther.
He scrubbed his hand across the sheen of sweat covering his brow, grabbed the vial of scented oil, and fisted it under his nose. Snorting in a deep inhale, he closed his eyes and held it. His greenish pallor morphed into a vein-popping red, much like a time-lapsed video of a ripening tomato. He blew his breath out hard. “I will be—” He shuddered, swallowed hard, and inhaled another deep whiff of the peppermint. “Fine.”
She leaned against the car beside him, wishing there was some way she could make him feel better. Poor guy. The perfect specimen of a hot hunky Highlander taken down by technology.“You wait here and keep deep-breathing that peppermint oil, I’ll be right back.”
Graham didn’t open his eyes, just kept sucking in wheezing gasps over the glass vial as he waved her away.
Snagging her purse out of the car, she hurried out of the parking garage, jogged across the street, and tested the door of the local pharmacy. No luck. It was nearly lunchtime and the drugstore always closed for an hour at noon. So much for the idea of getting Graham some motion sickness pills. The way the poor man reacted to riding in a car, he needed something a hell of a lot stronger than oil of peppermint.
She glanced up and down the street, hoping to spot a store that might carry the medicine—maybe a place of business she had somehow overlooked during her daily visits to the hospital. Still no luck. None of the stores lining the busy avenue would carry what Graham needed.
Maybe the tiny shop in the lobby of the hospital? She’d only been in there once to buy Eliza a small vase of her beloved roses, but if she remembered correctly, there had been one wall dedicated to daily necessities. Back across the street she jogged. She didn’t bother stopping to check on Graham. She could hear his retching groan echoing through the concrete tomb of the parking garage.
