Page 36 of Gift-Wrapped in a Kilt

She loved Emery for it, but still…

If she let the Gavin situation stew for three weeks, she'd turn into a bampot. Emery had suggested she make Gavin crave her so desperately he'd do anything she wanted. Jamie's addendum to the plan had been to declare she wanted sex only, no emotional nonsense. She'd enacted that plan on Halloween, but she needed to take it further. What if she made Gavin want her so badly he lost his ability to think and couldn't restrain his lust? What if she drove him so wild with desire he'd rue the day he announced her brothers were the problem?

Afterward, she would walk out on him. No conversation. Out the door and away.

Could she follow through on her casual-sex scheme? The idea of using her body for revenge, of toying with him that way, made her stomach hurt. And yet…

The thought of seducing Gavin made her body ache in the most wonderful way.

What then?asked an annoying voice in her head.You make him barmy with lust, walk away, and then what?Och, she had no idea. She might've been hoping he'd realize his mistake, run after her, and fall to his knees to beg her forgiveness. Or she might've fantasized about him making a grand romantic gesture like Rory had done when he belted out a Frank Sinatra song in the middle of the village square in Loch Fairbairn, then stripped off his shirt and almost stripped off his pants, all to prove to Emery how much he loved her.

Gavin would never do anything like that. Military men didn't make fools of themselves for women.

Back to the plan, then. Make him crazed for her.

And then… She'd figure out the answer later.

*****

Two days later, Gavin lay on the bed in his room at Iain's house. Gavin had cooked dinner for the two of them by way of thanks for Iain's hospitality. The Scot's digs turned out to be a nice, if older, house of modest size on the outskirts of Loch Fairbairn. Gavin thumped the heel of his hand on the cushy mattress. He had no complaints about the boarding arrangements his sister and her cohorts had made for him. Plus, Iain was a cool guy to have for a roommate. Gavin liked hearing about Iain's good old days as an archaeologist.

A knocking emanated from the front of the house, muffled by the distance to Gavin's room and the big wooden door he'd shut for some privacy. Someone had arrived at the house. Since Iain was in the living room, Gavin didn't feel the need to get up and see who their visitor was. Probably one of Iain's conquests. Gavin had heard the rumors in town, the whispers about how Iain had seduced all of the single women in the village and some of the married ones too. Gavin couldn't reconcile the man he'd gotten to know with the version everyone else seemed to see. Then again, rumors could be vicious and completely wrong.

None of the MacTaggarts treated Iain like he was a ruthless cad.

How many women had the guy slept with? Come to think of it, how old was Iain?

Gavin pondered those questions until someone rapped on the door to his room. Hands clasped under his head on the pillow, he lifted his head to squint at the door. "Who is it?"

"Jamie."

He sprang off the bed and bolted for the door. With his hand on the knob, he paused to calm down. Yeah, okay, he was excited to see her. Excited she wanted to see him. But if he ripped open the door and grinned like an idiot, he'd seem like, well, an idiot. Instead, he drew in a breath and exhaled it slowly, assumed a casually interested expression, and opened the door.

Jamie's nibble-worthy mouth curved into a saucy smile.

His attention stalled on her outfit, if it could be called that. She wore a raincoat that stopped an inch shy of her knees. With the top two buttons undone, the coat revealed enough skin to suggest she had not much of anything on underneath. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders in loose waves, and red lipstick accentuated her mouth. High heels elevated her high enough she didn't need to crane her neck to look at him.

His mouth opened, but no words came out. He glanced at the lapels of her raincoat, and the way the coat exposed her breastbone straight down into the space between her breasts.

"Are you —" He lost his voice, flapping his head with his mouth gaping. "Tell me you've got clothes on under that coat."

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, releasing it gradually while she shook her head.

Though his dick stirred to life, he tried to maintain a casual demeanor. "You're actually naked under that thing?"

"Mm-hm."

He heard a noise from the other end of the hallway, and with the suddenness of a bomb blast, he realized Iain had seen Jamie in this getup.

"Iain saw you?" he said, powerless to keep the shock out of his voice. Shock with a little bit of excitement thrown in. Naked Jamie with nothing but a coat on.

"Don't worry," she said, laying her delicate hands on his chest. "He's my cousin, and besides, Iain is a gentleman."

"But he knows you came in here to, uh…" Gavin struggled for words but couldn't find any to describe what she seemed intent on doing. "What exactly did you come here for? A couple days ago, you were boiling mad."

"Sex only, that's the arrangement." She skated her hands up his chest, and even his shirt couldn't lessen the effect her touch had on him. "We can have fun even when I'm angry with you. No talking. A good, hard shag and nothing else."

Naked Jamie. A shag. His dick shot hard because it loved the idea, but his brain got hung up on the meaning of this.

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