“You sound like a cross between the Highway Code and a rather florid fortune teller called Magic Molly.”
“Best not to talk too much about molly, babe.”
I laugh and Reuben shifts beside me. I steadfastly ignore his gaze but can feel it on my face like a heat-seeking missile. “What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“Pip.”
“I’m not supposed to tell you.”
“Well, that’s Reuben’s opinion, and as he doesn’t own me, feel free to ignore him.”
“Ouch,” Reuben says mildly. I ignore him.
“Robbie’s threatening to sue Reuben,” Pip says in a rush.
I stay very still for a second. I think I can actually feel the steam coming out of my ears. “He’s doingwhat?” I say in a deadly voice.
“I can take that now,” Reuben says quickly, reaching for his phone. I slap his hand away.
Pip groans. “I know. He’ssucha little cunt.”
“Well, you can tell that fucking shitweasel that if he eventhinksof calling a lawyer, I will ring the police and file a report. If he so much as touches his fucking phone, I will come down on him like a bag of bricks. Then I’ll contact my own lawyer, and I’m going to sue him so far into the ground he’ll be meeting koalas on the other side.” Reuben signals something, and I frown. “Make sure you tell him that. He won’t have a pot to piss in when I’ve finished with him.”
“I’m writing it down as you speak.”
“Thank you.” I hand the phone back to Reuben, anger making my belly curl over itself. “You’re mine to torment,” I inform him. “Not Robbie’s.”
His eyes are very bright in his craggy face, but I don’t have time to appreciate it because I’m too busy jumping up and vomiting over the side of the boat.
It seems like hours until the ferry docks at Fishnish, and I breathe a sigh of relief when we drive off it.
“You okay?” Reuben asks. He’d been quiet for the rest of the journey apart from handing me some ginger biscuits and telling me to eat them. They must have done the trick because my stomach is easier now, although my head is making up for it. It’s pounding like a drum, and I feel tired down to my bones.
“I’m fine,” I snap, and I know he doesn’t believe me, but this is all his fault, so he can take the flak.
We drive for a few minutes in silence, and then Reuben stirs. “It’s thirty minutes to Tobermory. Are you going to be okay?”
I nod impatiently. He doesn’t say anything, and I sigh. “I don’t feel great,” I admit quietly. “I just need to sleep.”
“We’ll be there soon.”
We’re driving along a narrow road running by the water with steep hills all around us. I look around curiously, trying to take my mind off how shitty I feel. I’ve never been to Scotland before this visit. We pass farms with horses and cows grazing in the shadow of mountains, and then we’re passing a forest of pines that cast dark shadows against the golden light of evening. At points the road is so narrow that Reuben has to pull into passing places to let other cars come through. He handles it all with that air of capability that’s always impressed me, being so far from my own chaotic organisation.
Movement catches my eye, and I see a ferry chugging along on the Sound. It’s like we’re chasing it as we come in and out of tree cover.
“Where’s that going?” I ask idly.
He jerks out of whatever thoughts were occupying him. “Oh, Tobermory.”
“Why didn’t we dock there then, you dick?”
“We were nearer the Lochalinecrossing.” Silence falls again, and then he stirs. “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”
He rubs his hand along his forearm, pushing his jumper back. His forearms are so attractive—always tanned andmuscled. My gaze strays to his hands. Pip was right. They are fucking sexy. I shift position and clear my throat. “Do what?”
“You threatened Robbie, but the truth is that heshouldhave been reported to the police for what he did. You gave up that opportunity to protect me.”
