Scandalous Scotsman - M.J. Fields Page 0,56
shows how much she cares for my daughter. Not that I doubted it. Kai adores her, and she has a very good sense of people and their true intentions. I see it in her body language.
In fact, when she returned, the first thing she wanted to do was take Scotch out so she could ride her bike, and she stopped in front of Elizabeth’s house and spoke her first words to me in the thirty minutes she had been home.
“Can I say hi?”
“Ms. Bloom’s at work.”
“There’s no school.”
“She works two jobs. The school and a restaurant by the water.”
“Why?”
“To make extra money.”
“Why does she need extra money?”
“Apparently, Ms. Bloom has an expensive habit.”
“What?”
“It’s called Ben and Jerry’s.”
“Who are Ben and Jerry?”
“Ye’ll have to let her explain.”
“Does she have two boyfriends?”
First, what in the fuck? Second, what has my little girl thinking it’s okay to have two boyfriends? And third, why am I all of the sudden pissed off at ice cream?
She giggles, snapping me from all those disturbing thoughts.
“What’s so funny?”
“You like Ms. Bloom.”
“She’s a very lickable …” Fuuuuckkk. “Likeable person.”
“You said lickable.”
Parent fail number one. Yes, one. This was one hundred percent my fault.
“I didn’t.”
“Uh-huh.” She smirks.
“I think ye’re just craving ice cream. How about we get Scotch home and go get some?”
She nods and grins.
“Kai, did you lose a tooth?”
She quickly closes her lips around her teeth, scowls, and her face grows red.
I squat down. “It’s okay, a sheòid; I was just wondering.”
She nods.
“Then we better hurry and get Scotch back. We have cause to celebrate.”
She puckers and twists her lips.
“These things are called milestones. And in this house, we celebrate milestones.”
“Can we have dinner first?”
I nod while trying to check my anger at them so it doesn’t resonate to her. “I’ll cook you anything you want.”
“Can we go out to dinner?”
Shocked, because she’s been adamant about eating dinner at home and knowing crowds set off her anxiety, I nod. “Of course.”
“Somewhere by the water?” she asks, getting back on her bike.
“Yes, of course.”
Tuesday
Lizzie
Soaking in the bath, I keep my leg raised because I may be healed, but it’s obviously going to take some getting used to. Plus, I ended up covering the last three hours of Lucy’s shift because her water broke.
My phone rings and, knowing myself all too well, I don’t dare to keep the phone in hand while soaking, so I lean over and gasp when I see the picture that pops up on the screen identifying the caller.
Laughing, I hit “Accept.”
“Ethan James Stewart, what in the hell did you do to my phone?”
He sighs. “Right, about that—”
“How did you get into my phone?” I interrupt when understanding hits.
“This should be an in-person conversation.”
“I’m taking a bath.”
“I know.”
I sit up, and water nearly splashes my screen. “How do you know I’m taking a bath?”
“I’m not sure how to explain this other than”—he pauses—“fate a good enough answer for ya?”
“Ethan,” I growl his name.
“Are you challenging me?”
“Questioning you, yes.”
“Yer security code isn’t hard; it’s like mine … Well, sort of. Forty-four is my country code and twelve is Kai’s birth month. Yers is your parents’ birth month, and I know their birthday because of the text. That part is divine, pure, and untampered with truths, Elizabeth. Ye may have not given me access directly, but I was given it indirectly.”
Seriously?
Totally okay with it.
He continues, “I changed the caller identification for me, because I thought my cock looked better than Ethan Jamie Outlander dash Stewart and the drooling face emoji and may serve as a reminder of why I am, in fact, better for ye than the television and yer vibrating wand.”
I cover the laugh threatening to escape.
He sighs heavily. “My bedroom window faces yer house; I see when the lights are on, and I know the rooms in it, so I know ye’re in the bathroom. Is that acceptable?”
“Oddly, yes.”
“Good. Now, can we discuss the other member of the Stewart clan who is seemingly as obsessed with ye as I am?”
“She’s my favorite member of the clan, so yes.”
“I’ve been demoted, have I?”
“Your creeping set you back, big guy, but rest assured, your actual member is my favorite of any clan, so that should make you feel totes-ma-goats better.”
“What the fuck is a totes-ma-goats?”
I can’t help laughing. “It’s something you should never say again if you ever want anyone to take you seriously, Dr. Stewart.”
He sighs.
“Talk to me, Ethan.”
“She’s on to me.”
“What?”
“She thinks I lost my chance with ye because of two men named Ben and