Page 6

With a smug smile on his lips, Lewis leans closer to me. “Beautiful, eh? Am I picking up on a bit of sexual tension?”

“Fuck off.” I give him a shove.

He grins. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”

“Pfft. Anyway, imagine going away for a month. A whole month away from work! I can’t remember the last time I had a single day off. I’m here seven days a week.”

“Aw, poor Ally.” Lewis gets out an imaginary violin and plays it. This earns him a second shove, but his grin only widens.

“All right, back to our new guest.” He sits beside me at the desk. “What do you think her deal is?”

“How do you mean?”

“Come on, she’s here for a month. That’s not normal. What happened to make her think, You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to travel up to the Highlands and spend a month in the middle of nowhere.”

“This isn’t the middle of nowhere.”

He gives me a long look. “To a Londoner, it most definitely is. Anyway, she’s got some secret, I reckon. But . . . going back to that sexual tension, do you think you’ll be making a move during her stay?”

I go for a third shove, but he dodges this time.

“I am not going to harass one of our guests. People come here for peace and quiet, not to be hit on. Besides”—I think of her sea-blue eyes, her icy stare—“she took an instant disliking to me.”

“Aw, that’s a shame.” Lewis pats my shoulder. “In that case, maybe I’ll make a move.”

I let out a bark of a laugh. “Ha! I’d like to see that. It’s about time you stopped being hung up on Iona.”

“Friends! Iona and I were only ever friends. Why can’t anyone in this town get their head around that?”

“Right, all those hours the two of you spent together in your teens, you were just being . . . friends.”

It’s Lewis’s turn to shove me, but I grab a hold of his arm, and we end up grappling—a brotherly habit we’re yet to grow out of. Things escalate, as they often do, and before long, we’re in the middle of an impromptu wrestling contest. I’ve just got Lewis into a headlock when someone tuts.

I release him and spin around.

It’s the woman from London. Again, I’m struck by her attractiveness. I underplayed it to Lewis: she’s fucking gorgeous. Only . . . her arms are folded, and her gaze is thunderous.

“What professional behaviour.” Her voice drips with sarcasm.

Lewis takes a step away from me, dusts himself down, and offers our guest his most charming grin. Of the three brothers, he’s the one you’d call the most good-looking, I suppose. He’s always taken pride in his appearance, and it’s on him that lassies’ eyes tend to linger. On this occasion, though, his smile does nothing to neutralise the venom in the Londoner’s gaze.

“You are adults, right?”

“Last time I checked,” I reply. “There’s hair in all the right places.”

She closes her eyes and shakes her head, which amuses me. Lassies like her are never interested in guys like me, so why not torment her a little? I know that’s the thinking of many a pubescent lad to whom girls are a mystery, but so what? She’s already accused me of being immature.

“I see there are two of you.” She glances between us. “And I thought one was bad enough.”

Well, she gives as good as she gets.

“I’m Lewis.” My brother tries his grin again, perhaps puzzled it’s not having its usual effect. “And there are actually—”

I place a hand on his shoulder to silence him. She doesn’t need to know we have another brother, and a sister too. She’s clearly not in the mood for chatter.

“How can we help?” I say.

“I’m not happy with my room, and I will not be spending a month there. I very much hope you’ll be able to offer me something else.”