When Darius finally broke the kiss, his chest was heaving as heavily as hers. He gave Eve one more quick kiss and asked a little shakily, “So you like it?”
Duh. Then she realized he wasn’t talking about the kiss. She stepped back, holding his hand, and looked him up and down.
“Yes, I definitely like it. You know what the difference is between a kilt and a dress, don’t you?”
“Um . . .”
“If you wear anything underneath, it’s not a kilt.” Eve winked.
Darius’s face flushed, and she burst out laughing.
9
Darius was relieved at how well Eve had received his gift of dressing like a Scot. When they’d been walking back from the tour, he’d been desperate to understand what he’d done wrong. He’d lain awake for hours the night before, thinking about her. He’d thought things had gone well at dinner and even that morning at the pool and breakfast. Something had gone wrong once they’d left the hotel. Since they were on the job again, he’d assumed her aloofness had been from that. As the day had worn on, though, she’d seemed to pull away from him, turning almost cold.
Since he hadn’t known how he’d messed up, he hadn’t had the nerve to ask her. What if he made it worse? The tightness of her shoulders when he’d invited her to dinner had made up his mind. It didn’t make any difference what he’d done wrong; he had to fix it. A couple of quick calls to the front desk had helped him order what he needed, and his instincts had been right. Once they were talking again, he was sure she’d explain. In many ways, she was still the girl he’d loved in high school, but life had hurt her. Eve was wary now, reserved. She didn’t show her true self as easily.
“So what did you order for dinner?” Eve asked, lacing their fingers and pulling him toward the dining room.
“I ordered a sampler of all their Scottish dishes, so it might be kind of a hodgepodge.”
They’d reached the dining room where he had the food on the table. He started pointing out each of the individual items.
“These are sausage rolls, here’s cream griddle scones, shortbread, a trifle-like dessert they said was Cranachan, a soup called Cullen Skink—”
“Cullen Skink?” Eve’s squeal could have rivaled Sophia’s. “It’s one of my very favorite dishes ever. It’s smoked haddock chowder.”
“I’m excited to try it then. There’s also Scottish Stovies, if I remember the name correctly. Looks like a meat and potato stew.”
“Pretty much. Stovie means ‘bits from the stove,’ so it’s usually made with leftover Sunday roast, but it can be made with tinned beef or sausage too.” Eve pointed to another dish. “Bangers and Mash. Brilliant.” She then threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again.
Darius pulled her close, feeling her, tasting her. Eve fit him so well. She seemed to get the humor of situations at the same time he did. Their conversation was never dull, and their silences were comfortable. Usually. At the back of his mind was the thought that if he hadn’t run scared when they’d first kissed, they could have been together for the last twelve years.
“All right,” she said breathlessly. “We need to eat this great food before it gets cold.”
“If we have to.” He started to kiss her again, but she pulled away.
“Not too fast,” Eve said, drawing him to one of the chairs. “We need to take our time on this.”
“All right.” Darius didn’t want to take his time, but if she needed it, she’d get it.
They spent the next hour talking and sampling the different dishes.
“Ugh.” Eve put her hands to her stomach. “I can’t eat another bite.”
“Me either,” Darius said. “I’ll clean this up—”
“We can clean it up together.” Eve started loading dishes onto the cart.
It didn’t take long before they had the dining room in order and pushed the tray out into the hallway.
“Thank you for dinner. It was wonderful.”
“You’re not leaving yet, are you?” Darius laced their fingers.
“We’re still finding our way again, and I don’t want the physical attraction to mask what’s going on here.” Eve pointed from her heart to his. “I’ve known people who were so caught up in the physical that they didn’t realize they had absolutely nothing else in common. Those relationships didn’t last.”
Darius’s heart gave a leap, and he wanted to crow. She was talking about them continuing on. He tamped down his excitement.
