“Thanks for saving me.”
“You donae strike me as someone who needs saving, lass.”
Glancing over her shoulder to the sharp rocks below, she trembled in his hold. “I’m normally not. I think Scotland might be bad for my health.”
“Let’s get you back on stable ground and you can tell me what happened.” Collin lifted her light body at the waist and hoisted her toward the ledge. Placing his hands on her gorgeous jean-covered ass,he eased her over the ledge before hoisting himself back up.
Quinn was lying with her arms and legs spread wide on the grassy knoll. Her chest rose and fell as she stared up at the forming clouds above. “I thought I was a goner.”
Collin sat down next to her. “No’ on my watch. You want to tell me how you ended up down there?”
“I must have slipped,” Quinn said, worrying her lip between her teeth. He could tell she was holding something back. She rolled toward him. “When you came out, you dinnae see anyone around, did you?”
“Nay.”
“That’s what I thought,” she said, getting to her feet. She peered over the edge. “That brings all new meaning to the phrase dead phone.”
Collin got to his feet and glanced over the edge. Her phone lay in pieces on another rocky ledge about ten feet down. “You can use the phone in my office to make your calls.”
“Thanks.” She patted his chest. “I guess that makes us even on one account.”
“What’s that?”
“I saved your life from Margarete’s advances, and a possible loveless marriage to a woman who would never trulyappreciate you, and in return you saved mine.”
She gave a saucy wink and started back toward the castle. Was everything a joke to this woman? She’d almost died, and yet she was…optimistic. Most women would have been crying in his arms. Not Quinn, he was learning…Never Quinn.
Collin glanced back once more to the busted phone. If he hadn’t followed her, she’d potentially be dead on the rock. Maybe the curse had been wrong. He’d turned to leave when he saw something sparkling on the ground beneath the leaves. He squatted and moved the leaves and dirt away. A broach was poking out of the ground. Running the pad of his thumb over the stone revealed a ruby beneath the grime. He’d seen this piece before but couldn’t for the life of him remember where. How it had managed to be in that spot was yet another puzzle in a string of mysteries to solve.
Chapter Eight
Quinn was ledinto Collin’s office to make her calls. Leaning back against the wood doors, she rested her scraped hands against her knees, trying to slow her racing heart as blood pounded in her temples. Her annoyance spiraled when she noticed her hands and arms shaking. Her fall hadn’t been an accident like she’d let Collin believe. She hadn’t slipped or lost her balance. That had been a real hand pressed against her back, giving her a tiny shove in hopes of giving her an untimely demise. Someone with a heartbeat and body had tried to push her over the edge. Anger stirred in her belly with renewed fire. She clenched her jaw as her chest tightened. They didn’t know who they weredealing with, but with a little help, they’d soon find out.
She rounded the desk and sat in Collin’s worn leather chair. It was cool to the touch and smelled of mink oil and saddle soap, like the one in her father’s study. The furniture in Collin’s office matched the rest of the house, solid with class and a little hint of manly added to the mix. Quinn picked up the phone and dialed. Her sister, Cara, answered on the first ring.
“How’s Scotland?”
“It’s trying to kill me,” Quinn answered.
“The country?”
“Yeah, but never mind that. Johnny has the measles, so we’re stuck here for a while. Can you let everyone know that we’re going to be delayed?
“It’s the curse, isn’t it? Did you get rid of the emerald?”
“Within minutes of arriving, but apparently the Menzies commissioned a gypsy to paint some portraits about how the curse would play out, and you won’t believe it, but one of the portraits depict someone who looks like me. Now everyone is in an uproar.” Seeing the picture on the phone left Quinn bewildered, if not a bit intrigued, not that she’d tell her sister. Cara would personally fly over to dragQuinn back kicking and screaming to reality. Well, at least she’d try.
“I told you not to go. I warned you that thing is cursed. You need to come home.”
“Not yet.”
Cara let out a loud, long sigh. “So how is Scotland trying to kill you?”
“Oh, you know.” Quinn waved her hand as if Cara could see her and began tapping her foot. “The flowers are on steroids and are everywhere. There’s a pissed-off woman who thinks I’m out to steal her man. Oh, and there was an incident where someone tried to push me off a cliff.”
“What!” Cara’s squeal made Quinn’s momentarily deaf and caused her ears ring. “Get on the next plane and get out of there. Now,” Cara demanded as any good sister might. Quinn gave her props for trying, even if she’d ignore Cara’s demands. She couldn’t order Quinn around in person, so why did she think she’d accomplish it from another country?
“When have you ever known me to run from a fight?” Quinn’s nervously jumping leg stopped mid-bounce.
