Bea had almost certainly underplayed her cooking skills and served up mouthwatering course after course as they chatted, drank and laughed around the dining table.
‘So, how are you enjoying living in Scotland,’ Carli asked her.
‘Well, I have to say I love it, don’t I?’ Bea winked.
‘You don’t have to,’ Cal pointed out. ‘You can be honest. We’re all family here.’
Niall snuck a glance at Carli, hoping she was okay with this observation. He would love for her to be a member of his family. It had always seemed like she was, and he guessed that was how Cal saw it. She sent a warm smile his way, making his insides flip.
‘That’s true and that’s why I do love it,’ Bea sipped her wine. ‘Because I’ve always been completely at home here. My dad was Scottish.’
‘Oh, my mum was Scottish,’ Carli added. ‘So you’re half Scottish too, then?’
‘Yes, I guess I am. Honestly, I feel more than half Scottish now. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always be American, but this place is woven into me. I mean, look at that view.’ She gestured out the window where visibility was dimming, but then ran her hand right back to Cal. ‘And this face.’ Bea tilted her head and smiled at her fiancé. ‘How could you not fall in love with Scotland?’
‘Aw, you guys are beautiful.’ Carli raised her glass. ‘I’d like to toast to you both. To Cal and Bea. To an exceptional meal and first-class hospitality.’
‘Aw, thanks, Carli.’ Cal raised his wine glass. ‘You’ll be pleased to learn that the hospitality doesn’t end here. We’ve a wee bit of fun lined up tomorrow if you guys are up for it.’
Niall was curious. His brother’s idea of fun could sometimes be more like hard work.Oh, I’ve lined up for you to do a shift in my bar; it’ll be so much fun. Oh, we’re picking up litter for charity, you’ll have a blast. I’ve arranged to help Old Mrs Macduff who lives next door move ten wardrobes out of her house. There’s nothing like it on a Saturday morning.Niall smiled at some of these memories, all of which had, more or less, happened at one point or another. Cal was so like their father it was hilarious.
‘It’s an escape room,’ Cal declared, and Niall nearly burst out laughing in surprise at Cal’s idea being proper fun. ‘There’s this new one in town and it’s based on a whisky distillery, so I figured we have to give it a shot. Me and Niall against Carli and Bea.’
‘Sounds awesome!’ Niall and Carli both agreed.
‘Brilliant.’ Cal swiped his palms across one another. ‘I’ve booked us in for the 8.00 a.m. slot.’
‘You what?’ Niall gaped at his brother. He was used to early rises but this was meant to be a holiday, plus he was still jet-lagged, and also planned to be up until the wee hours doing things with Carli that he’d need to recover from.
‘Kidding.’ Cal laughed. ‘It’s an eleven o’clock booking, so you’ve got an extra couple of hours there. But ’cause I said eight before, you’ll feel like you’re getting a lie-in.’
‘Very cunning,’ said Niall. ‘You have to get up early to get one over on you.’
‘Aye, well we’ll be up at seven for a surf, so if you do happen to be awake then come join us. There are spare boards and wetsuits about the place.’
‘Sounds good.’ Niall squeezed Carli’s knee under the table and hoped she was as much at home with his family ashe was. It was almost like the blood was coming back into his body after being missing for so long.
The early rise wasn’t as painful as Niall had anticipated. It turned out that a night between the sheets with Carli – some spent actively, and around six hours sleeping more soundly than he had in years – was the perfect rejuvenation package, and he practically jumped out of bed and ran to the shower, ready to start the day.
After Carli had showered and wrapped herself in a towel, he went to her, streaking a finger across her breastbone, gleaming with some kind of body oil.
‘Mmm, you look well oiled.’
‘Ha. I am well oiled after last night.’
Niall dipped his head into her neck and inhaled. ‘How do you always smell like violets?’
‘You like?’
‘I do. I love.’ There it was again, the temptation to say those three words. But it was too soon. Sure, everything had come back in torrents, like a river bursting its banks, as soon as he was in Carli’s company again. It was simply how things had been between them since day one: an immediate connection, an instant spark, a tidal wave of chemistry. But he couldn’t go wading in. He had to make sure the time was right. He decorated her neck, shoulders and décolletage with kisses before reaching for the knot on her towel.
The towel fell to the floor.
‘Oops!’ he said, admiring what he’d revealed.
‘You’re so clumsy.’ She grinned. ‘You’d better bend down there and pick it up.’
‘I think you should bend down and pick it up.’ Nialldrifted up from her breasts to her twinkling eyes. ‘I don’t trust you not to violate me while I’m down there.’
