“What time tomorrow morning?” I said as I undid my belt.
“I’ve made arrangements for a private plane—it’ll be more efficient than driving all that way—so about seven?”
“You’ll let Lugh know?”
“Indeed.”
“Thanks.” I climbed out, waited on the footpath while they left, then ran across the road and down the lane. After checking everything was okay with Ingrid, I ran upstairs, dumped my stuff, and went straight into the shower. The wind might have deflected most of the dust and debris, but I nevertheless felt caked in it. After redressing in sweats, I ordered a meal fromdownstairs, made myself a pot of tea, then threw more logs onto the fire. Once my steak, chips, and vegetables had arrived, I settled down on the sofa to eat, then slowly made my way through the other box of records.
I was only half done when the Bruadar came to life. Excitement pulsed through me, and my heart danced almost as fiercely as those stars. I took a deeper breath in a vague effort to calm down, then placed my tea mug on the coffee table and said, “Call accepted.”
For a second, nothing happened, then the stars flared even brighter, and the kaleidoscope once again swept me away. This time, when I arrived in that cool darkness, I was not alone. He was once again wearing jeans, but had added a black sweater that sadly hid his washboard abs while emphasizing the width of his shoulders and arms. His feet were bare, and his dark hair looked damp, suggesting he’d had a shower before calling me here.
His gaze met mine, and everything just seemed to stop. The twin beating of our hearts echoed and merged, and just for one precious second in time, we were one being rather than two.
Meant to be, instinct whispered.
Get a grip, the saner half replied.
He half reached out to me, a seemingly instinctive move that he stopped almost immediately. I hated that. Hated the distance, the reluctance, that hovered between us. Because of me. Because of what I’d said to him earlier. And while I’d never regret being honest about my feelings and fears, I nevertheless needed to fix the divide it had caused. If I really did only have nine months of life left, then I’d be damned if I was going to spend it resisting the insanely heated attraction that lay between us.
“Evening,” he said, his expression composed but his eyes anything but. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything vital.”
“Well, if you consider sipping a cup of tea while going through Mom’s old records vital, then yes, you did. I take it you have some news to share?”
He nodded. “Although in truth, it’s simply an excuse to see you. I do miss you, you know.”
“And I you.” I wanted to say so much more—wanted to do so much more—than simply stand here. And yet, despite the resolution I’d made only a few seconds ago, I resisted, torn between my desire for him and the lingering need not to get hurt. “Shall I start?”
“As I’ve said before, I do like a woman unafraid to take control.”
A smile teased my lips. “And used it in a completely different context.”
“Whether in the bedroom or in conversation matters not. Both are ultimately sexy.”
“There are many who would disagree with that.”
“There are many who are fools.”
My smile grew. “Says the man who always gets the girl, be she outspoken or not.”
“And yet, before me stands one who will not allow herself to be caught.”
“The problem is not catching her, Cynwrig, it’s the fact that your people won’t let you marry her without you stepping away from everything you hold dear.”
“And if there was a way around that problem?”
I ignored the leap of hope and raised my eyebrows. “Is there?”
“It’s a theoretical question.”
Of course it was, because there was no way around it. Still... “Then theoretically, yes, she would be willing to marry, even if she’s only known the man for a short period of time.”
As Darby had noted, some leaps of faith were worth it.
“That is good to know.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Even if, as far as she and you are concerned, it is never going to happen?”
