Page 27

"That's for bears," he says. "So I was surprised you made it. Don't think anyone's ever cooked for me before, especially not Head of House."

"No one has ever cooked for you before?" I say in disbelief.

"Not like this," he says.

"Well, that's just sad."

He surprises me with a laugh as he rounds the kitchen island, making his way to the coffee machine on the counter behind me.

"I didn't know how to use the espresso one or I would have. I could make you a cup, but I don't know how to do that."

"Lass, if you're trying to apologize for not making me an espresso after you've made me a full feast for breakfast, I might have to knock some sense into you. You've gone above and beyond, and you have my thanks. We'll need this food this day, mark my words."

"I don't like the sound of that," I tell him, sipping my own coffee.

"You drink your coffee black?" he asks, leaning over to peer into my cup.

"Yeah. Sugar is something I saved for special occasions if it was something I had on hand. And I couldn't keep creamer in the house because Cole would dump it out and tell me I needed to be careful about what I ate," I say his name without thinking about it, Kirk giving a plaintive mew from where he sits on my foot as Lachlan stops mid-coffee pour and stares at me with pure disgust on his face.

"You let a man keep you from drinking your coffee with cream? Is this the same man that⁠—"

"Don't worry about it," I say. "He's not a part of my life anymore."

As of yesterday.

"And where would I find this man? You haven't said that yet," Lachlan says, finally finishing pouring himself a cup of coffee.

To my surprise, he doesn't put sugar in it, though. He grabs one of the pieces of honeycomb I brought up from the larder and drops the entire thing in. I grimace because that looks fucking gross, then shake my head, because you know what? I'm the last person to judge what someone puts in their coffee when I drink mine black like a cheapskate.

I sigh, buying myself some more time by eating another forkful of scrambled eggs.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, lass," he tells me. "I'll have my way of finding out exactly who this man is if you don't want to tell me. I can't guarantee you'll like that any better, though, than if you just come clean."

"Fine," I say, completely annoyed. "His name's Cole. We dated for several years. He made me feel crazy for looking into the Eternal Society, which we both now know is real. And then when my research actually started to get somewhere, he stole it, claimed that I had plagiarized him, got me fired from my admittedly terrible job at the university. But because of the academic dishonesty standards and the fact that he is a year ahead of me in the PhD program, they believed him, not me, and I was kicked out of the program in addition to losing my job."

My voice gets tighter and tighter the longer I speak. "He did everything he could to ruin my life,. And I put up with his bullshit for so long that I feel like it's my fault for letting it get that bad."

"Och, lassie," Lachlan intones.

The next thing I know, he's pulled me into a massive bear hug. Considering he's a bear, it perhaps redefines the entire definition of bear hug. Regardless, it's a good hug, and I lean into him, soaking up his warmth, soaking up the safety I feel in his arms—which doesn't make any sense at all considering the last man I hugged like this betrayed me in some of the worst ways possible.

Sniffle, and a fresh wave of emotion hit me. "Sorry," I finally say, backing up, putting some space between us only to hit the kitchen island with my ass. "I don't usually cry."

I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand, grab my cup in an act of self-preservation, putting it firmly between me and the giant man staring at me like he'd like to pull me back into his arms and comfort me.

"There's nothing wrong with crying, lass. Especially not after that. That's quite the bullshit the evil fucker did to you."

"Yeah, it ended pretty badly," I agree, laughing a little as I shake my head, embarrassed by the fact I'm crying. "Don't worry, the best revenge is living well. Well, we've got to make sure I live at all for me to live well."

"Lassie, don't worry. You've got me protecting you, after all."

He waggles his eyebrows, flexing his arms in an attempt at a joke. But I can't laugh because they are genuinely massive fucking biceps, and I'm not gonna lie, it does something to me. Cole wasn't exactly built, not that he was any slouch either, but compared to Lachlan's sheer size, he'd kick Cole's ass in a heartbeat—of that I am aa hundred percent sure. But that cheers me up a little, and I grin at him.

"So we're going shopping. What for? Is there a bookstore we can go to?"

He gives me a look of amusement. "Out of all the places I could take you in a magical area of the city, one that mortals never venture into, and you want to know if you can go to a bookstore?" he says, incredulity leaking through his Scottish accent, so thick that it makes me laugh.

"Well yeah, I have a lot I need to read up on, apparently."