Page 71 of Gift-Wrapped in a Kilt

Aidan raised his hand. "Is that one bird enough for twenty-one people and four bairns? Donnae know about you, Rory, but I'm famished."

"No you're not," Calli said. "You ate five waffles for breakfast, not to mention all the sausage patties and bacon."

Her husband lifted his shoulders, attempting to spread his hands but unable to do so without smacking Jamie and Hadley. "It's a holiday."

Emery whistled again. "We've got two more turkeys in the oven. Don't worry, Aidan, you can stuff your face until your wife is too disgusted to touch you."

Aidan and Calli spoke in unison. "That will never happen."

Rory was frowning.

Emery whispered something in his ear, and he perked up. He ferried the platter to the far end of the table and set it in front of his place setting. Then he pulled out Emery's chair, pushing it in once she'd settled onto the cushioned seat. She aimed an adoring look at him, and he reciprocated with the exact same expression.

Rory claimed his seat at the head of the table — and shot Gavin a sharp look.

Oh aye, disaster ahead.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The first bird had been gobbled up, and the second bird brought in with the same ceremony as the first, when the trouble started. Gavin tried to mind his own business throughout the meal. He chatted with Mrs. Teague, Erica's mom, and Mrs. MacTaggart, the clan matriarch. Why Emery had placed him between the two moms, and directly across from Lachlan, he had no idea. He would've been more comfortable sitting next to Iain. Lachlan studied him occasionally, even smiled a couple times. With all the conversation din around them, though, he and Lachlan had trouble speaking over the wide table.

So, he gabbed with the moms.

The longer he talked to them, hearing stories about Erica's life before Lachlan and the MacTaggart brood's shenanigans, the more antsy he got. It shouldn't have bothered him after all these years, but all this family time reminded him he had no family anymore. His parents were gone six years. Calli had joined the MacTaggart clan more than a year ago.

He nibbled at his food, but his stomach didn't seem inclined to accept any of it.

One of the rug rats — he couldn't see which, but Nicholas seemed like the prime suspect — lobbed a yeast roll at the adults table. It bounced off the top of Aidan's head and landed on Jamie's lap. She yelped and giggled. Cole, Emery's brother-in-law, snagged the roll and tore off a big mouthful.

"It wasn't my kids," Hadley, Emery's sister, proclaimed. "They're little angels."

Calli piped up with, "Sarah's too little to pick up a roll, much less throw one."

Everyone looked at Erica.

She pretended offense. "Oh that's right, blame Nicky. I'd like to see the evidence incriminating him. I think Lachlan did it."

Erica scowled at her husband, but the twitching of her lips exposed her humor.

"It was Iain," Lachlan countered. "He knows how to throw bread like a boomerang."

"Do I?" Iain said with that mildly sardonic tone Gavin had come to know as signature Iain. "I'm a magician then, eh, Lachie?"

Laughter and more good-natured taunts followed.

Gavin set down his fork, unable to eat. Families teased each other. Families traded jibes and shared meals. He glanced at Emery, and she winked. Whatever that meant. She was a little weird.

When he'd first arrived at the castle, he'd been in a damn good mood. Jamie had greeted him with a brilliant smile that melted his heart. Then, she'd thrown her arms around him. Yeah, that was a great start to Thanksgiving.

Sure, yesterday he found Trevor here trying to make time with Jamie. She wasn't having any of it, though. The quickest glimpse of the English Ass made him really, really annoyed. Finding out the guy had offered Jamie a job, that had him grinding his teeth. And suddenly, an urge to prove she was his had overpowered him. He'd dragged Jamie to her bedroom and fucked her like she'd vanish into thin air if he stopped, making her come so many times she'd been dazed afterward. Maybe it had been stupid manly pride, or maybe a desperate need to reclaim her.

Not that she'd ever belonged to him. He didn't want to own her. He wanted her, period.

Which meant getting in good with her brothers.

And Lachlan was studying him again.

He couldn't have a real conversation with the guy in this situation. Too much noise, too much of a crowd. What he needed to talk about with Lachlan required privacy. He really didn't need gossip about him sucking up to the Three Macs to spread across this table.

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