Page 114 of Kilt Trip

Logan strained to see the front of the line. He stepped to the side like he was trying to count how many people were in front of them. It was April. They basically had the place to themselves.

“What has you so impatient today? You’re not suddenly caring about timetables, are you?”

He scoffed. “I hate queueing.”

“Someone should make an app for buying tickets in advance...” She mumbled under her breath before looking up at him. He crossed his arms and ignored her needling. After they got their tickets and headed in, she said, “Come on, tell me all about it, Tour Guide.”

“Did you know Edinburgh Castle is one of the oldest fortified structures in all of Europe?”

Addie stopped in her tracks and raised her arms in a What the hell? gesture. “Now I’m staying and you’re just letting yourself go? That accent is a four out of ten. Max.” He wasn’t even trying.

His lips tugged up at the corners, but he kept an otherwise straight face. “Och, lass. Edinbrrra is a verra, verra important fortress. I’ll call yer attention to her presence on the high vista.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “Ye’ll be wantin’ to see the incoming armies well before they reach ye.”

That deep Scottish burr and his eyelashes and his sexy smirk... The butterflies were back in action. “God, it gets me every time.” She pushed Logan toward an alcove off the main entrance. All her attention was consumed by the way his eyes darkened as he walked backward, letting her manhandle him.

She pressed him against the stone arc, gripped his jacket, and kissed him like she would never make the mistake of running away again. He kissed her back as if to say he had a lifetime of passion and love in store for her.

He grinned against her lips, but she was more interested in his hand slipping underneath her raincoat, his warm fingers sending chills up her spine.

“Careful. I might get used to kissing you in castles,” she said.

“I know a lot of them, if you need any recommendations.”

“That’s okay. I’ve got Rick Steves in my bag.”

Logan shook his head as his hand cupped the back of her neck. “That mouth on you.” He tugged on her hair and proceeded to render her speechless. She wasn’t even embarrassed they were making out in the middle of the courtyard of a medieval castle. Nothing was making her let go of this man now that she had him back.

Logan pulled back to smile at her, and she burrowed into his embrace, warmth radiating through her body.

His contented sigh matched her feelings exactly as he nuzzled against her shoulder. “You know, when I first invited you on a tour, I thought, ‘I can’t take this woman to any castles. I can’t trust myself alone with her.’” He placed kisses along her neck.

“You’ve always had a strong intuition,” she said, before his mouth moved to her earlobe, and her eyes rolled back.

“I’ve never had a near-kiss work me up so much I couldn’t sleep,” he whispered in her ear.

“I can’t relate.” She grabbed his lapels like she could shake him down and raised her eyebrows in mock annoyance. “I was dueling a ghost all night and was far too terrified to be thinking about you, except to be raining curses down on your head.”

“I regret nothing,” he said with a smile. Logan took her hand and led her farther into the castle.

Addie slowed down as they approached the jagged guillotine-like portcullis, but Logan pulled her underneath before she could refuse to go through. Like so many other things, he challenged her to be braver. And it was always worth it.

On the other side, she came to a complete stop and pulled his hand so he’d face her. “Hey, Logan?” She reached up on tiptoes to kiss him gently. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, lass.” He brushed the hair behind her ear in a lingering caress. “Come on. I have something I want you to see.”

He picked up speed, and Addie tripped over the uneven cobblestones, no idea why they were moving so fast. Probably to find where Mary, Queen of Scots, was born or something.

Logan brought her to the rim of the Argyle Battery. “Do you recognize this place?”

She gave him a dubious look. “Seeing as how I’ve never been here before...no.”

He widened his eyes like she should have figured out the punch line by now.

She took in the mottled stone wall, the thin film of moss turning the top layer green, and the blue sliver of the Firth of Forth in the distance. Addie pressed her hand against her chest to keep her heart from busting out. “Wait, is this the place in the last picture?”

Logan nodded, a soft smile on his lips.

She swallowed past the tingly feeling in the back of her throat. Her eyes went all shimmery as she scanned the area, trying to commit this last place in Heather’s pictures to memory. Although, she didn’t have to. She could come back here anytime.

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