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“I already do,” I sigh. Honestly, I just want this night to end so I can take Emily to my room and to my bed.
Under the table, I squeeze her knee. She doesn’t know it yet, but there will be repercussions for teasing me in front of our friends with her wandering hand. Upstairs, my hands will be doing some wandering of their own—all over her body.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
EMILY
I come to with a sore head and a dry mouth, smarting at the bright sunlight streaming into my room. Wait a minute, this isn’t my room. It’s Ally’s.
I rub at my eyes. I spent the night here? Until now, we’ve been careful not to do that: we’ve tried to be discreet and have returned to our own rooms after “doing the deed”. Last night, that plan obviously went out the window. Given Lewis and Jamie now know about us, maybe we decided there’s no need to keep up the room switching.
“Aw, sorry, lass. Did I wake you?”
I let out a sigh at the deep and reassuring Scottish brogue. “What time is it?”
“Half past six, so you can sleep on—unless you, Grace, and David were serious about getting up first thing and going for a hike up Ben Garve?”
I groan. “Did I really suggest that?” I snuggle further down Ally’s bed, pulling his duvet over my head. “The sun rises too early this far north. Can I make a complaint about that? And another complaint: you let me drink too much wine last night!”
“Oi! I was the one trying to get you to slow down!”
“Well, you didn’t do a very good job.”
“Oh, aye? Well, you never told me you snored.”
I poke my face out from under the duvet. “I don’t snore!”
“I just spent a night in a bed with you, so . . . I know you do.”
“When I’ve had too much to drink, maybe I snore a little, but I’m normally a very quiet sleeper!”
“Hmm. You’ll just have to sleep here again tonight, and I’ll see for myself whether that’s true.”
“You’re a sly one.” My eyes drift down from his face—which is way too bright and chirpy for this time in the morning—to his fitted top and shorts. His T-shirt sports a healthy patch of sweat. “Have you been for a jog already?”
“Aye.”
“Bloody hell! Who exercises at this time? What’s wrong with you?”
He grins. “Getting up early comes with working in a hotel. Besides, I could do with a clear head if I’m going to be discussing the adventure business with Aidan.”
“Oh! I remember—I talked you into that. I’ve got you wrapped around my little finger.”
He chuckles but then, scratching his head, turns serious. “Is anything else from last night coming back to you?”
“Such as . . . ?”
“What Grace said about me?”
“Oh. Yeah.”
“Listen, if I’ve been takings things too fast—”
“No! Grace is just looking out for me—that’s her job as my best friend—but she doesn’t know you yet. Once she does, she’s going to love you. Trust me.”
He raises an uncertain eyebrow. “If you say so. But if you do want to slow down—”
“No! I’m happy with things just as they are. I swear.”
