She grasps my hand, holding it to her cheek."I'm not sorry, Kirk.I'm with you in this, no matter what.You said it yourself---the Balfours stick together.Well, I'm sticking with you too."
Bod an Donais, I love this woman.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Gretchen
Why is Kirk staring at me like the proverbial deer in the headlights?I've never seen him behave this way, almost as if he's about throw up or maybe pass out from shock.He wasn't panicky when Dougal barged into the flat with his mafia-style minions and issued all sorts of nasty-sounding threats.But now, when absolutely nothing scary is going on, he freezes.
I grab his arm, turning toward him."Kirk, what's the matter?If you don't say three minutes, I'll call for an ambulance."
Why three minutes?No idea.The number popped into my head, that's all.
Kirk's lids flutter, and he squeezes them shut only to shake his head as if he's dazed.
"Okay, pal, that's it.I'm taking drastic action."I smack him across the face.No reaction.Then I move on to the next tactic---kicking him in the shin.Still nothing."Snap out of it, Kirk!I can't believe you're so terrified of Dougal MacWraith that you've lost the ability to speak.Seriously, Balfour, I'm about to get a stick and whack you with it."
I grasp his shoulders and shake him hard again."Kirk Balfour, if you don't tell me what's going on right now, I swear I'll---"
His eyes finally focus on me.And he whispers hoarsely, "I said it.Bod an Donais, I actually said it."
"Said what?"I demand, preparing to smack him again.
"In my head.That's when I spoke the words."He swallows hard, his Adam's apple bobbing."Gretchen, I love ye."
The world stops spinning for a moment.Did I hear him right?
"You...huh?"My voice comes out as a squeak.
Kirk's expression transforms from shock to outright joy."I love ye, Gretchen.That's what scared the shite out of me.It just hit me like a bloody freight train."
I open my mouth, but no words come out.My brain is short-circuiting.Kirk Balfour loves me?Kirk Balfour, the man who's been driving me crazy in every way possible since I first laid eyes on him, is in love with me?I can do nothing but gape at him.
"Say something, Gretchen," he pleads."Anything at all.Even if it's to tell me I'm abod ceann."
I desperately want to speak, but my brain won't let me.Kirk Balfour loves me."I, uh...don't know what to say.But, um, what is a 'bad key con'?"
"It'sbod ceann, lass."He kisses my hand."And it means 'dickhead.'That's what I am for not telling you sooner how I feel."
I gaze into his eyes, entranced by their stunning blue color, and try to process what's happening.This is unreal.Kirk Balfour---mountain of a man, stuntman extraordinaire, Scottish sex god---is standing here seeming absolutely terrified because he just admitted he loves me.And he's calling himself a dickhead in Scottish.
"You are not a dickhead, sweetie," I inform him."But you do have a habit of surprising me at the strangest moments."
"Aye, I'm surprising myself too."
This wasn't supposed to happen.We were supposed to have a fling---a hot, passionate, and temporary escape from our lives, a Scottish adventure I could look back on fondly while sitting at my desk back in Gatlinburg.Instead, I now must admit something that shocks even me.
"Kirk, I'm in love with you too."
"Ye are?"His brows crinkle in the sweetest way."Are ye sure about that?"
"Yes, I'm positive."I grasp his face and kiss him with an intensity that rocks me to my core.Kirk Balfour changed my life, so of course I tell him, "I love you too, you Scottish lunatic who jumps off jagged mountains and makes me feel like I could do anything too."
He nuzzles my cheek."Say it again,gràidh."
"I love you, Kirk, craziest bastard on Planet Earth."
He sweeps me up in his arms and spins us round and round while I giggle and he laughs.
