“I’m not going to say it again. While I’m here, you can cook, but I clean. Deal?”
Either lack of sleep or insanity, I have no idea which gave me the balls to challenge him. Maybe I was still annoyed at him for scowling at the thought of living here with me.
I pointed a spatula at him mockingly. “Or what?”
He smiled darkly and snatched the spatula. “Or I’ll bend you over my knee. Now scram.”
“If that’s true, I’m going to need that Amazon package a lot sooner.”
The words were out before I could stop myself. After realizing what I’d just said, my eyes widened, and I could feel my cheeks warm.
William looked at me in surprise and cracked a grin. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and watched me silently for a moment.
Instinctively, I glanced down at his package andnoticed how well his sweatpants displayed God’s gift to women everywhere.
Out of sheer embarrassment, I turned on my heel and sputtered, “I’m going to get ready for bed now.”
William chuckled with his deep voice, “Mm-hm.”
What the hell was that? I never had a retort readily available, let alone sexual innuendos. Staring at his dick was also probably not the smoothest move. Must have been the wine. In any case, a long cold shower should take care of the warm, tingly sensations that hadn’t left my body since he walked back into my life.
Chapter 4
William
It’d been a rough couple of days getting everything in order before my trip to America. Running the inn with Mum for the past four years hadn’t given me a minute to breathe, let alone take a prolonged trip, but I had to attend Lindsey’s funeral and help Elspeth with the pub. Lindsey was always so supportive and generous.
Angus and I were only able to afford our summer trips to America because Lindsey paid for our tickets. It was during those summers when I’d have some maternal attention. I love my mum, but she wasn’t the type to make me a cup of tea if I was ever feeling low. She was also so busy working that by the time she was home, she had nothing left to give.
It broke my heart when Lindsey told me about her diagnosis years ago. Even though I stopped visiting after I got into the service, Lindsey and I would talk over the phone from time to time just to catch up. But I was so busy getting the inn off the ground that those promises for visiting fell to the wayside. The least I could do was help Elspeth keep her mother’s pub afloat. I’d learned a lot since running my own business and hoped it would be enough to teach her a thing or two before I went back home.
After getting Nairie’s voicemail, I’d gone over the logistics of the daily operations with Mum and a few ofmy cousins to help them run things while I was away. I was also going to try to work with them over the phone whenever I had time.
Despite all the scheduling and planning, I found myself replaying Nairie’s voicemail repeatedly. Something about her voice was different. Obviously, it was deeper since she had only been sixteen when I last saw her, but I hadn’t realized how much it soothed me. It was low and melodic, almost seductive like a siren, but I quickly dashed the thought. I always remembered Nairie with a certain fondness throughout the years, but she was five years younger than me, and I’d never considered her in a sexual manner before. I took to protecting her naturally like I did with Elspeth, and I always admired her unrelenting kindness. She also had a tenacity only a few people were privy to seeing.
So when I stood at the doorway to Elspeth’s home, I had no idea who was staring back up at me. I seriously thought I had the wrong house for a minute and then realized those big almond-shaped brown eyes belonged to Nairie, the once-awkward kid who always hung around.
Except now, she wasn’t a kid. She was indeed a full-grown woman with shiny, long dark hair, lush lips, and curves I wanted to get my hands on. Her thick eyelashes fluttered in surprise, and her full eyebrows raised to her hairline. The strangest feeling took over me, and fuck all if it didn’t help that I heard her talking about vibrators. The idea of her using one made my brain fuzzy and my dick hard.
At dinner, I’d watched her hips sway as she filled my plate at the stove. I tried to keep my eyes on Elspeth and not her best friend’s heart-shaped ass. She looked soft and delectable, and I had a good feeling her ample bosomwould be the perfect weight in my big hands.
I haven’t been celibate since breaking up with Shannon years ago, but I also hadn’t felt this horny since I was a teenager. It took a lot of willpower not to stare at Nairie at the dinner table and watch her every move. I noticed everything about her—the way her tongue flicked over the corner of her mouth while she ate and how soft her hair looked. What would it feel like wrapped around my wrist?
But most of all, it was the light she held in her eyes whenever she’d look at me, however brief and fleeting her glances were. I couldn’t remember the last time a woman looked at me like that, and it made my heart ache. I never thought of her as anything more than Elspeth’s friend. She’d always been thoughtful and kind, fierce when she wanted to be.
I remembered the second year Angus and I were visiting. He was being particularly aggressive on his way out the front door by shoving me into a wall. It wasn’t anything I wasn’t used to by then. Angus used me as a punching bag most days. But Nairie saw it happen when she was only eight. Her tiny hands turned into fists, and she yelled after him that pushing wasn’t nice and he was being a bad brother. Angus just laughed and kept walking. I was proud of her, and it warmed my heart that somebody was willing to stand up for me, even if it was just a little kid.
In my surly teenage years, when I was busy sulking from whatever argument Shannon and I just had, Nairie would bring me a copy of one of Lindsey’s mystery novels likeMurder on the Orient ExpressorThe Big Sleep. She knew my favorite authors by heart.
When she learned to bake, a fresh batch ofshortbread cookies was waiting every time I visited because she overheard me talking about my mum’s recipe once. She called it “homesick medicine.” Little did she know I was rarely homesick. Coming to America was the only time I could breathe without the shit storm back home looming over my head.
After a rocky adolescence, a choice that changed the trajectory of my life, and seven years in the special forces, I’d forgotten what it was like to have her around. She was always honest and good—a bright spot in my muddled memories of things I’d rather forget.
Nairie was the complete opposite of my ex, who was often selfish and cruel.
But tonight, I learned something darker might be inside Nairie. I didn’t know what came over me, insinuating a spanking, but I found a thrill in making her blush and watching her eyes light aflame when she looked at my dick. Seeing her so bold was a pleasant shock.
I wanted to keep our flirtatious banter going but knew I shouldn’t. I’d be leaving for Scotland in god knows how long, and I didn’t want to lead the poor girl on. Operative word being “girl.” She was twenty-three and may have looked like a woman, but I could still see the sweet sixteen-year-old that used to follow me around like a lost puppy. It also seemed like she was still acquiescing to her parents’ wishes based on the fact she was living with them part-time. She always seemed to do whatever everyone else wanted, and I hated seeing it.
