nodded. “I guess we are. If you don’t want coffee, then we’ll go for wine. In fact I should have thought of wine to begin with.”
She followed him to the kitchen and took the mugs from him. “I’ll wash those.”
“No, you can’t do that. I don’t want you—”
“You rescued me, Brodie. The least I can do is help.” She ran the water until it was hot and soaked the mugs. Through the window the moon sent a wash of ghostly light across the surface of the loch and the snowy peaks. “This place is a jewel.”
“You’re not nervous? Most people would find it too isolated.”
“I’m not nervous, which is weird because in Boston if a man wanted to drive me to his shack in the middle of nowhere, I’d definitely say no.”
“Good. Sensible.” He unloaded the food from the bags into the fridge. Juice. Butter. Eggs. Bacon. “I would hope you’d have a strong sense of self-preservation.”
“So what am I doing here with you?”
“Escaping your family who make you want to scream.” He lit the woodburning stove. “That’s also a kind of self-preservation. I’m the least threatening of the two options.”
He wasn’t wrong about that.
She finished cleaning the mugs, and when she was satisfied that nothing toxic had been left alive, she put them to drain. Then she hung up their coats and made herself comfortable on the sofa, watching as he lit candles. “You don’t have lights?”
“I do, but I look better by candlelight.”
Would it fluster him if she said he looked good in every light? “I probably do, too.” She brushed her fingers under her eyes. “Do I have mascara all over my face? I probably look like a panda.”
“You look good to me.” His voice was rough. “And a panda happens to be my favorite animal.”
“An hour ago I wanted to scream, but now I want to laugh. You’re a funny guy, Dr McIntyre.”
“That’s not good, is it? Funny guys don’t usually get the girls.”
She looked at the curve of his mouth and the way his dark hair fell across his forehead. “I’m sure you do just fine.” Her heart kicked against her chest. “Thank you for bringing me here, Brodie. It was kind.”
“It was selfish. I need you to have a good time so that you recommend this place to all your rich clients.”
“Whatever happens, I’m going to do that.”
“You are?” He dropped the box of matches and retrieved it. “Best if I don’t burn the place down, then. This is a little nerve-racking. You’re only the second woman I’ve ever brought here. And the first time didn’t go well.”
“What happened to the first one? Don’t tell me—her bones are buried in a shallow grave under the cottage.”
“No, but I think she would have done that to me if she’d had the tools.” Candles lit, he put the matches back in the drawer and grabbed two glasses from the cupboard. “I intended it to be romantic.”
“It didn’t turn out that way?”
“She saw a spider. Screamed.” He put the glasses down on the table. “Her scream made me jump and I dropped the bottle of expensive white I’d been saving for a special occasion.”
She grinned. “That must have shocked the spider.”
“Never seen anything run so fast. And she was close behind.” He poured wine into the glasses and handed her one. “To us. May we survive everything our families throw at us.”
He sat down next to her and she tapped her glass against his.
“To starlight walks and survival skills. And to you, for rescuing me.”
He took a mouthful of wine and put his glass down. “Not sure what you mean by that, but you’re welcome.”
“If you hadn’t bundled me into the car and brought me here I would either have gone alone and died of frostbite, or I would have had an embarrassing meltdown in the house in front of your mother. Neither of those outcomes would have been great.” Her phone buzzed and she sighed. “I should have anticipated that.” She grabbed her coat and found her phone. “It’s my sister.”
“Wondering where you are?”
“Something like that.” She replied to the message.
Am fine. With Brodie, working. Don’t wait up for me.
A few seconds later, the reply came back.
Laid by the Laird?
She shut her phone off before Brodie could see it and dropped it back into her pocket, hoping he didn’t notice her blushing.
“Is your sister okay?”
“I think so. We had a big, tell-all, confessional conversation with our mother tonight, so that was a load of fun.”