Fyfe searched my face for a second, then nodded. “Aye. See you tomorrow.”
Thirteen
FYFE
The combined noise of the fiddle, accordion, guitar, bodhran drum, and flute filled the village hall as Lewis’s family, friends, and neighbors danced with abandon. My best friend’s face was lit with laughter and happiness as he spun his bride out and pulled her back against his body. Callie’s head tipped back, her laughter ringing out above the music. She was beautiful in her wedding dress and all eyes were on the blissed-out couple.
Well, not all eyes.
Mine kept pulling toward the maid of honor.
I sipped at my whisky, watching as Eilidh showed Morwenna the steps to the ceilidh music. Not everyone was proper ceilidh dancing (including the bride and groom), but some were. Eilidh looked beautiful and relaxed, and Mor lit up under her big sister’s attention. I’d noted a marked difference in their relationship, how close they seemed now, and I was glad for Eils.
What I wasn’t glad for was this continued distance between us.
So much distance, even though she assured me we were fine after our kiss. That moment between us seemed like a fuzzy dream and not reality.
Because I’d never get to touch her like that again.
And apparently, I was never getting her back the way I had her.
That now-familiar burn scored across my chest.
I wanted to leave.
As much as I was over the moon for Lewis and had stood proudly at his side as he and Callie got married across the street in Ardnoch Church earlier today, I wanted to get away from thisthingthat was slowly turning into agony.
Everyone’s eyes had been on Callie as she’d walked down the aisle toward Lewis. I’d had to force my gaze to her because Eilidh had walked down the aisle before her in her maid of honor gown, and I could barely hear anything over the sudden rush of blood in my ears.
She’d worn a pale green silk dress with thin straps, and the top part of it seemed almost corseted, pushing her breasts up. It skimmed her figure, tight at the waist and hips but then flowing loosely around her ankles. I thought bridesmaids weren’t supposed to be sexy so they didn’t pull attention from the bride. But that color against Eilidh’s dark hair and olive skin was striking.
It was like seeing one of her red-carpet moments in real life. Untouchable Eilidh Adair suddenly at my fingertips.
I watched now as she hopped easily on her high heels, her arm around Mor’s shoulders. Mor giggled as she attempted to copy her big sister. Eilidh seemed the happiest I’d seen her in a long time, and the immensity of my relief was a balm to my agitation. Smiling over my glass of whisky, I noted the tendrils of dark curls falling loose from Eilidh’s updo.
I imagined all that hair spilled across my pillow, her lying breathless on her back beneath me, her dress bunched up to the waist, and her breasts shaking with the fierceness of my thrusts into her.
Fuck.
I should leave. Go to my American. She knew the score. What we were. And what we were was extremely far from complicated. Which was what I needed.
It was getting too hot in this fucking kilt anyway. I wore the Sutherland tartan, which was what the Adair family wore. A dark green with red, black, and white accents. All the Adair men wore a black evening kilt jacket with regulation doublet and vest. White shirt beneath. Black bow tie. Sporran. Socks. Dress shoes. The whole works. Lewis stood out in his biker boots instead.
A kilt was hot, though. Time to divest of the jacket at least.
“You, Fyfe Moray, should be dancing.” Lewis’s mum appeared at my side. She took the glass out of my hand, rested it on a nearby table, and then tugged me out onto the dance floor. We ended up next to Eilidh and Mor, and my heart lurched when Eilidh beamed up at me. Now Regan was attempting to show me the ceilidh moves, but I didn’t care because Eilidh joined in, her hands touching me, her perfume filling my senses as her laughter filled that empty place inside me.
Not long later,so aware of her every move, I saw Eilidh duck out of the village hall by herself. Unable to resist, I followed her. The chilly October air pierced through my shirt and I welcomed it. Though I’d shrugged off the kilt jacket a while ago, I was still fucking roasting in this getup. The cool air blowing up my bare legs was welcome too. After a few seconds of searching, I foundEilidh down the narrow lane between the hall and the building next door. Barely a shaft of moonlight lit her as she braced against the side of the village hall, her chin tilted as if she was looking at the slice of sky she could see above her.
“Hey.”
She jerked, pushing off the wall at my approach. “What are you doing here?”
“Just checking in with you.” I stopped, searching her expression, blurred by the darkness though it was.
“I’m fine. Just hot.” She chuckled, and a strand of hair that had fallen loose cascaded over her shoulder.
Instinctually, I reached out to tuck it behind her ear, and Eilidh sucked in a breath.
