The captain blinked from behind the boat’s wheel.
Besties. One hundred per cent.
Shifting my heavy backpack more securely onto my shoulders and dragging my wheeled suitcase with one claw-hand, I followed my fellow passengers up the slipway towards a road that ran along the front of the cottages. The colours of the houses were more glorious up close. I hoped the lime-green one on the end of a row would magically turn out to be mine.
At the top of the slipway, I paused. Bonnie Armstrong was meant to meet me. She was the mayor and my contact on the island. I’d been emailing back and forth with her for months to arrange this trip. She’d told me to come any time approval was granted, and hadn’t seemed fazed when I’dcontacted her just over thirty-six hours ago with my arrival time.
A battered four-by-four idled a little way down the road. Since the other boat passengers had all scuttled off and Captain Errol was doing something complicated with a length of rope, I tugged my suitcase towards it. If it wasn’t Bonnie, most likely they’d know her. The person inside the car tapped at their phone, long curtains of shiny black hair hiding their face from view.
I knocked on the window. ‘Hi, I’m Aster. Are you Bonnie?’
Their head shot up as the window wound down. ‘Aren’t you from London? Don’t you know you’re never meant to volunteer your name when you’re waiting for a lift? What if I’m a murderer waiting for my next victim?’
I gaped at her, temporarily speechless.
My theory that a tiny Scottish island could statistically only contain one hottie had been proved categorically wrong.
The woman currently glaring at me, her breath misting in the frigid air, was the definition of scarily gorgeous. Clearly lean and muscular under the layers covering everything but her extremities, her high cheekbones and flawless skin were normally reserved for air-brushed make-up adverts.
She drummed on the steering wheel, drawing my attention to the platinum band around her ring finger.
Okay. So apparently a teeny island could have two hotties. Even if there were more, if they were all firmly attached then my mission could go ahead unimpeded. Something in my brain switched off once I knew a person was involved with someone else. That wasn’t the case for everyone—I’d learnt that in an immensely humiliating and unforgettable way—but right now it was helpful. I neededthis trip to cure me of my desperate need for romantic companionship. That couldn’t happen if I had anyone to lust over.
‘Are you a murderer waiting for their next victim?’ The temporary lock on my vocal cords burst open as this woman became firmly lodged in the future friend category.
She rolled her eyes so dramatically it looked vaguely painful. ‘Get in the car, Aster.’
I scrambled to obey, throwing my bags in the boot before hopping into the passenger seat. With the driver’s side window closed, the car became a warm haven from the wind that had increased with every centimetre north I’d travelled.
I groaned, then fumbled my seat belt into place as the driver/murderer/Bonnie thrust the four-by-four into gear and bombed along the thankfully deserted road.
‘Do you need a drink or anything before we head into the mountains?’
I snapped away from the multicoloured houses flashing past the window. ‘Into the mountains?’
The woman presumed to be Bonnie looked away from the road for far longer than necessary, impressing on me exactly how tedious she found every utterance out of my mouth. ‘Yes, Aster. Into the mountains.’
I dropped my face into my thawing hands and rubbed at the sore skin around my eyes. Making life-altering decisions followed by mad shopping sprees, tearful goodbyes with your loved ones, then hours on crammed public transport drained a person.
‘Can we start over?’ I asked as we passed the last of the cosy cottages. The road swung upwards, weaving between stunted trees and slabs of grey rock. ‘Hi. My name is Aster.’
Something that could have passed for a smile but had fartoo much in common with a smirk creased her flawless features. ‘Hello. My name is Bonnie, known murderer always waiting for her next victim.’
I grinned. ‘You’re funny. I love it. We’re going to have a great time living together.’
Bonnie smirk-smiled some more. ‘I’m sure we would, but you’re not going to be living with me.’
‘Oh.’ I deflated. I thought I’d be staying with the one person I had a pre-existing relationship with. ‘I’m not?’
‘Nope.’ She popped thepwith apparent relish. ‘You’re into undisturbed flowers, right?’
‘That’s an incredibly reductive way of describing my master’s thesis, but essentially yes.’
‘If you want undisturbed, even out here in the back end of literally nowhere, then you’re going to have to stay with Callum.’
‘I can’t live in one of the pretty cottages?’ I wasn’t above begging, not if it meant quality pics for the ’gram. ‘I’m honestly a great roommate. I’m clean, pretty tidy, will only watch porn when you’re out of the room.’
The expression on Bonnie’s face inched closer to a smile. ‘All exceptional roommate qualities, I agree, but staying with Callum is honestly the best bet for finding all the right flowers for your project.’
