she was safe at Creag Aerden. It was the outside world he worried about.
Mungo followed Holly in and shook his wet fur heartily. Then he wandered over to Lachlan and brushed against his legs.
“Aw. See?” Holly glowed. “He likes you.”
“Mungo,” Lachlan groaned at the mud the dog smeared on his pants. Still, he gave the dog a begrudging pat. The wiry canine had a way of growing on a man.
Tony cracked his knuckles in the slow, methodical manner of all felines. “If it ever stops raining, I might go out myself.”
“Don’t like the weather in Scotland?” Holly said in a warm-up to an old joke.
Lachlan couldn’t help chiming in with her on the punch line. “Wait five minutes.”
Tony rolled his eyes, and Lachlan smacked him on the back.
“Since when are you such a softy? We put up with much worse in the legion.”
Tony shook his head. “Don’t remind me. I’m living la dolce vita of a civilian now. Or, I should be.” He grimaced, looking out the window. “Is there a place around here where a lion can stretch his legs without sinking into a bog or falling into a lake?”
Holly pointed north. “My dad always goes that way. Follow the creek up the hill, then follow the ridgeline.”
Tony cocked his head. “Your father goes on foot?”
She smiled. “He’s a cougar shifter. So, yes, he goes on foot. All four, in fact.”
Lachlan’s lips cracked open. Holly’s parents were a mixed shifter pair? Interesting. He hadn’t known that.
So much we don’t know about her, his dragon lamented. So many fascinating things we could learn if only you’d let us.
“The views are great,” she went on. “Well, they can be great. But that’s Scotland for you.”
“Ah, Scotland. Every drop of rain makes me love it more.” Tony’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “I don’t know how I’ll ever drag myself back home.”
Holly seized the opening. “Home to…?”
Tony flashed a secret smile, but there was a hint of sorrow in it too. “France, naturally,” he said in a thick, decidedly non-French accent.
“Of course,” Holly murmured. Then she raised her arms in a stretch. “I think I’ll head to bed. Early start tomorrow, right?”
Lachlan nodded.
When their eyes met, she hesitated. Lachlan’s chest squeezed, and his dragon crooned, desperate to get out.
Wait. Let me come with you, it urged him to say. We need to talk. Or better yet, not talk. We could communicate in an entirely different way.
Her eyes glowed and sparkled, telling him she liked the idea. Still, she waited, forcing him to make the first move.
He opened his mouth, tempted to throw caution to the wind. But then a log crumbled and fell in the fireplace, sending up a plume of sparks.
Love is a distraction, they warned. A dangerous distraction. Don’t let yourself be swayed.
A moment later, Holly’s shoulders slumped, and she turned away. “Good night.”
Lachlan forced himself to face the fireplace instead of watching her go. He did his best to listen to Tony’s thoughts on precautions for the trip to Gleninnis the next day. But his heart wasn’t in it, and his mind kept wandering.
Love… Life… Regrets…
At some point, Tony trailed off and poured himself another grappa. Mrs. Killin called out that she was retiring for the night, and Lachlan mustered an absent-minded reply. But mostly, he stared into the crackling fire, weighing Trevor’s words against his father’s.
Follow your heart or Love is foolish? Which should he believe?
Then a motion outside the window caught his attention, and he snapped back to focus, rushing over for a look.
“Bloody hell,” he murmured at the sight of wings and a slender dragon tail. “Holly?” He stared as she disappeared into the night. “What is she doing?”
Tony motioned with his arms. “Flying. Must I explain to you how that works?”
“I mean, what is she doing, going out alone?” He stomped to the doorway, muttering, “When I catch up with her…”
Tony chuckled. “Sparks will fly.”
Lachlan whipped around. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Tony smoothed a hand over his perfectly trimmed beard. “It’s obvious.”
“What’s obvious?”
“Amore. You and her…” He waited, then rolled his eyes. “Must I spell it out? Are you so out of practice, you need some help? Or do Highlanders know nothing of love and pleasure? I could share a few tips—”
Lachlan growled, cutting him off.
Tony grinned and pointed to the door. “Go on, then. Have fun.”
Lachlan fumed. “This is not about having fun. Her life could be on the line. My job…”
“Your heart…”
Lachlan scoffed. His heart might be trying to wheedle its way into