Page 75 of Gift-Wrapped in a Kilt

She needed to tell him that — and more.

"Thought you needed a piss."

Jamie squeaked and whirled toward the doorway.

Gavin leaned against the jamb, a thumb hooked in the waistband of his slacks, his lips curved in that sexy way that made her tummy flutter.

"I did," she said. "Took care of it already."

"Good." He raked his gaze up and down her body, his gaze heating up and his voice turning smoky. "You're really hot when you get mad and yell at everybody."

Her tummy fluttered again, and her body warmed. "Not everybody. Just Rory."

"You told all of us to shut up, and you called me and Rory bawbags." His mouth quirked, his eyes sparkled golden in the muted light of the bathroom. "It was the sexiest thing ever."

"I'm glad you're here," she said, struggling to ignore the tingling between her thighs, spreading outward to suffuse her body. He shouldn't look so good, more edible than the turkey dinner. "Rory is an erse. A big, overbearing erse."

Gavin chuckled, low and deep. "I agree, but I'm beginning to think he has ulterior motives."

"Like what? Making me want to skite his face with my chair?"

He chuckled again and pushed away from the jamb to saunter toward her. "I'm not sure what he's up to, but I'm going to find out. First, I'm talking to Lachlan. Then, I'll talk to Rory and get him to fess up."

She held motionless, immobilized by his proximity as he halted centimeters from her, his face angled down so he could lock those glittering eyes on her. She clasped her hands over her belly. "You don't need to do that anymore. I should never have said we have no future if you can't get along with my brothers. I love you, Gavin, and I want to be with you no matter what."

"I love you too." He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, then trailed his fingertips down her throat. "I get it now. Family is important, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to become a part of this one."

"But I'm saying you don't need to —"

He placed a finger over her lips. "I need to do this for me. I haven't been myself for a while, and that has to change. This might sound weird, but tonight, arguing with Rory, I felt more like me than I have in a long time. It felt… good."

She pulled her head back and rolled her eyes up to gaze into his. "You liked having a rammy with Rory in front of everyone?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh?"

Jamie let her hands float up to his chest, her palms settling over his firm muscles. "I'm yours, Gavin. You have nothing to prove to me. I've never loved anyone the way I love you."

He stopped blinking, his lips parted.

"I didn't understand," she said, "how much my break-up with Trevor had affected me. Not until we started having problems. I think I was using my brothers as a buffer between us, to keep you at a distance in case you left me the way Trevor did. If you had done that, it would've hurt so much more. I don't know if I could've gotten over losing you. I might have overreacted to the credit-card debacle, but I'd been expecting you to say something else and it hurt when you didn't." She'd expected a proposal, but she didn't want to say that and have him think he had to ask her today. "I started to worry you might be like Trevor, but that was my fears getting the better of me. You are nothing like him. You are a good man."

Gavin laid a hand on her cheek, holding it there for a moment before he dove his fingers into her hair. "I've never loved anyone the way I love you either."

"I won't leave you, Gavin. Even when I broke up with you, I couldn't stay away." She turned her face into his arm and kissed his wrist. "Calli didn't leave you, and I won't. Your parents didn't want to abandon you. Your wife sounds like a selfish twat to me. I hope you know I'm not like that."

"Of course I do," he said. "To be fair, Leanne had good reason to walk away. She's the kind of woman who needs to be taken care of, but she wound up taking care of me instead. She stuck it out as long as she could. I don't blame her, and wherever she is, I hope she's happy."

"She could have been kinder in the way she left you."

"Maybe, but I think she did the best she could."

"You're a good man, Gavin, to forgive her like that."

"It's time I let go of the past." He eased closer, his hand sliding deeper into her hair until his palm spread over the back of her head. "You're an incredible woman, Jamie. I know you won't leave me. I belong with you, wherever that is, and I want to become a part of your family. They accepted my sister without any reservations. I could've tried harder, especially with your brothers." He flashed her an impish smile. "I think your mom likes me, though. She called megràidh. That's a good thing, right?"

Jamie gave him an impish grin in return. "It means darling in Gaelic. Mom must like you almost as much as Mrs. Darroch does. You're very popular with the women in the MacTaggart family."

"There's only one who matters."

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