He just shrugged and followed Holly inside.
Men could be so stubborn. She sincerely hoped he wasn’t hurt by watching. Knowing he’d lost the woman he loved gave her so much sympathy for him that she was now worried. It was much easier thinking he’d never settled on one woman.
She finally followed, floating into the church, not unaware of the irony that she’d never foundthe oneherself…though she’d thought she did.
Malcolm made sure Holly stayed where she couldn’t see herself. If she did, it could jeopardize everything.
Joy’s attitude was already causing him serious irritation. Now that she knew about Blair, she kept looking at him like he might break. He needed tofind out what was beneath her caring exterior.
His brogue had definitely affected her, but in a completely different way. Still, he’d seen a crack in her composure similar to her anger at her home. He hadn’t used his brogue or had sex since he’d transitioned to the afterlife, but if it helped him figure her out then it might be worth the risk.
The rules were different now. He didn’t have toworry about someone killing the woman he loved, but this assignment could very well be a set-up.
Just like Coira—his wife.
He rarely thought about the woman he’d married years after Blair’s death. He’d done it out of pity, saving someone from the hellish underground, who thanked him by betraying him to a crime chief. Coira wasn’t worth his time. She only served to remind him how stupid he’dbeen.
No, having sex with Joy wasn’t a good idea. He needed to get inside her head another way. Not just because he wanted her to come out of this assignment with a new appreciation for the future, but because he needed to know how much he could rely on her…if at all.
He sensed her presence even before her minty scent filled his nostrils. The bride was about to start up the aisle, the musicannouncing her as everyone stood.
Holly floated higher.
He grabbed her hand, forcing her down. “You can watch from here only.”
She rolled her eyes at him, but remained where he put her.
Floating back to where Joy hovered, he clasped her hand. At her startled expression, he pulled her out of the church and through the ether.
“Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer since the ether parted,and she could see the green mountains of northern Argyll. Flying them down between two one-thousand-footers, he pulled her through the roof of his cottage. Once inside, he let her go and solidified.
She solidified as well and viewed his living area.
He made himself comfortable in his Barra Chair, the seat and back conforming to his body as he settled in.
Joy didn’t say a word. She wanderedaround the room, studying everything, the blank white-washed walls, the log beams holding the thatched roof, even the plain brown couch. She paused next to an antique side table beneath a shuttered window. If she expected to see pictures of Blair or Coira, she’d be disappointed. They belonged to his former life and had no bearing on this one.Sure, they didn’t.
She finally faced him. “Is thisa replica of where you lived in Scotland?”
“Aye. The last place I lived. I moved here from Glasgow.”
“It doesn’t look very futuristic. In fact, it seems like something from the past.”
He understood her confusion since the futuristic pieces, at least to her time frame, were not obvious. “I’m not a century ahead of you. Probably about fifty years or so, but I bought this as a holiday home whenI wanted a break from the city. I moved into it permanently in the end.”
She meandered to the only other chair in the room and perched on the edge of it. When she suddenly stood and looked back at it, he couldn’t contain his laughter.
“The Barra Chair is from my time period. It will adjust to your shape.” He held his hand out. “Go ahead.”
Joy glanced down at the chair before carefully sittingin it. “Wow, I can see how this would be of great help to people with back pain.”
He clamped his jaw tight to keep from responding with a sarcastic comment about her no longer being a nurse. That wouldn’t help him figure her out.
“Your place is rather…sparse.”
He crossed his legs at the ankle, his chair shifting with him. “I like it that way. My life became too complicated in Glasgow. I likethe simplicity of this area, the standing stones, and the scenery. Open the shutters.”
