Page 62 of Gift-Wrapped in a Kilt

"Baloney. You're the sweetest, most loving person I've ever known."

"Except for Calli." Was that a hint of bitterness in her voice? She couldn't be jealous of Gavin's relationship with his sister. Jamie loved Calli like they were sisters too.

Gavin tugged at his shirt collar. "Let's revisit that subject later. I want to know about Trevor."

Though he still spoke with a gentle tone, he'd tensed his jaw, almost gritting his teeth. After a second, he relaxed with a visible effort, blowing out a breath. She couldn't decide if he was angry about her Calli comment or anxious about hearing the story of her time with Trevor Langley.

Maybe both.

Jamie couldn't look at him when she spoke. "I met Trevor five and a half years ago. He came to Scotland on holiday to celebrate graduating university. We ran into each other at the store when I was buying lip balm and he was looking for sunscreen. I showed him where to find it, and we got to talking. He was charming and clever, attractive and well-spoken. Of course I wanted to fall in love with him. He seemed like a prince straight out of a fairy tale. He even had a title, Sir Trevor Langley."

"Seriously? The English Ass is titled. Figures."

"English Ass?"

"That's the title I gave him. It's way more appropriate." Gavin tickled her cheek with his fingertip. "You could've been Mrs. Sir Langley."

"I would've been Lady Langley, but I didn't care about that." She decided to ignore the slight growl in his voice when he spoke Trevor's title or his name. The English Ass, as Gavin had named him, enjoyed lording his title over everyone who didn't have a title. Never mind that as a baronet he wasn't even a member of the peerage. He still felt superior about it.

"Go on," Gavin said. "You can tell me about Sir Smiles-A-Lot."

The tiniest laugh bubbled out of her. Gavin's creativity in assigning derogatory nicknames to Trevor made her happy. How strange.

"After three weeks together," Jamie said, "I told Trevor I loved him. He said he felt the same. Since he'd overstayed his two-week holiday, he invited me to go home with him to England to meet his family. I'd been to London a few times visiting Lachlan when he lived there, but that was years before. Trevor had a flat in Greenwich, but his widowed mother and extended family lived in the country. I couldn't pass up the chance to see the English countryside."

"What's his family like?"

"Stuffy. They asked what my father's title is. When I said we call him Da, well, Trevor's mother wasn't amused." Jamie picked at her dress, remembering the expression on the woman's face when Jamie had dared to make a joke to Trevor's mother. "The Langleys don't have a sense of humor. Trevor was different around his family and friends, more haughty and upper-crusty. He apologized to his family for my lack of family title or social rank. He bloody apologized. Asked them to grant me leeway because I was raised in the boonies of Scotland."

Yes, she remembered that bit very clearly. Trevor had made her family sound like a clan of heathens who slathered on blue paint every day and rampaged across the English border for a lark.

Gavin didn't say anything, and she appreciated that more than he could know. Sharing all of this was harder than she'd expected.

"I stayed two days at his family's estate," she said, "then I asked Trevor to take me back to his flat. He did. Everything went well between us after that, mostly because he never took me to see his family again. We alternated visiting each other over the next few months. Sometimes I'd go to London, and other times he'd come to Scotland. He seemed to love the Highlands as much as I did. I tried to love London, but the city wasn't for me. I never told him that, though. We had good times together, but he preferred not to spend much time with my family. I didn't argue about it. In fact, I spent more days with him than with my sisters or brothers."

She glanced up at Gavin, expecting to glimpse annoyance on his face. After all, she'd admitted to forsaking her family to make Trevor happy. She'd refused to give up her family for Gavin. Maybe she hadn't explicitly stated it, but Gavin was clever enough to deduce the truth. Still, he watched her with a calm expression, his focus intently on her with no trace of irritation.

Unease trickled through her, little drops of discomfort that cooled her on the inside. She picked at the grass, plucking one blade at a time then discarding each.

Why wasn't he angry? She'd avoided her family to make Trevor happy, but she insisted Gavin must get along with everyone including her brothers. He ought to rail at her.

He lay back on the grass, braced on his elbows, the picture of serenity.

Jamie ripped a clump of grass from the earth, crushing it in her fist. "Why are ye sitting there like that? Donnae ye see? I gave up my family to make Trevor happy."

"Yep, I got that part."

"Why aren't you shouting at me?"

He pulled his head back, chin tucked. "When have I ever yelled at you?"

Never, of course. Even when he got angry, he didn't shout.

"I'm sorry," she said, glaring at the clump of destroyed grass in her palm. "I know you wouldn't speak to me that way, but you must be upset at hearing what I did for Trevor. I hardly saw my family for months. Back then, I was finishing my degree at university, but I would come home often. Once I got involved with Trevor, I rarely came home."

Gavin took a bite of his sandwich, chewing slowly, his attention always on her.

She scratched her arm, afflicted with a sudden, deep itch. "Five months into our relationship, Trevor proposed. I said yes without hesitation, without thinking about it. Being married sounded wonderful, everything I'd dreamed of since I was a little girl."

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