Page 95 of Kilt Trip

Here was the perfect segue to ask about working out of Edinburgh, but she couldn’t take it. Couldn’t risk her position any more than she already had. And if he said no...she wasn’t ready to give up on this dream yet.

Her breath came out in white puffs, the cold air like a numbing blanket. “That’s all.”

Addie hung up and slumped against the black metal window shutters behind her.

She could take a few more days to finalize the compromise tours, then she could present everything to Logan, show him that she had a plan that would save his company, keep his connections to the people and places that held his heart, and allow him to keep doing what he loved, even if it wasn’t perfect.

So far from perfect.

“You okay?”

Addie startled at the voice and dropped her fist from her lips. The sight of Elyse brought on a wave of prickling tears. Addie shook her head. “My boss wants me in Amsterdam next week.”

Elyse wrapped her up in a hug. “Shit.”

Not even a dagnabbit. Addie pinched her eyes closed, leaning into the embrace, trying to siphon some of her strength. But all she felt was a gaping nothingness swallowing up everything she’d found here.

Over Elyse’s shoulder, the buildings disappeared into the fog above the lamplight glow, transforming the streets of Edinburgh into a rat maze with no way out.

And Addie was the rat.

39

Logan looked up when Neil appeared, drumming knuckles on his and Addie’s shared desk. The caterpillar was happy today. “Can we all meet in the conference room?”

Addie had been heads-down working all afternoon, not even looking up when he flicked a paper clip her way. She gave Logan a questioning look, but he shrugged. Neil probably wanted to discuss which poem to read on Burns Night.

Settling into the leather chair, he clasped his hands over his stomach. “I just got off the phone with Marc, and I can’t wait. Can you walk us through the new itineraries?”

“We’ve only finished building out half the tours so far...” Logan’s assurance that they were talking about the heritage itineraries diminished with each word he said as Addie’s face went shock-white, her lip turning the same shade where she bit down hard.

Neil waved off Logan’s comment. “No, the new tours.”

New tours? Logan’s shoulders tensed as wariness swarmed around him like midges in the summer. “What are you on about?”

Addie sat up straighter. “Oh, I don’t have everything polished to present—”

“I’m not fussy. Whatever you have now will do.”

She shifted in her seat, twisting her necklace as if it was choking her, and Logan’s heart rate kicked up a notch. There wasn’t anything to present yet, polished or otherwise. She’d been keeping something from him—something everyone else was in on.

“Neil, I’m sorry. Can I speak to Logan privately for a minute?”

Adrenaline pumped through his veins. He didn’t want to hear her explanation. He wanted to know exactly what was going on. Right the fuck now. “No. By all means, I’m also impatient to see this.”

Addie held his gaze a moment longer, that pleading in her eyes that brought him right back to this room when she’d hoped he wouldn’t reveal she’d snuck onto his tour and completely beguiled him.

His breath left him at the reminder of what she would do to get ahead in her job. “Come on, then.”

Neil’s brows drew together, and he shot Logan a look meant to bring him in line. But he wasn’t the one double-crossing anyone here.

Addie closed her eyes for a long moment before pasting a half smile on her face. She shuffled papers and fiddled with her computer’s connection to the projector before pulling her hair back into a bun.

She stood and gestured to the screen. “We’ve already gotten positive feedback on the reservation system. It accomplishes the needs of guests for a smooth booking experience and for the guides to have easily accessible personal information to tailor trips on the go.”

She couldn’t look more corporate and distant if she’d dug out a red laser pointer.

Neil smiled up at her. “And if Elyse is happy, we’re happy.”

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