Page 86 of Gift-Wrapped in a Kilt

Oh. She'd forgotten that requirement for this evening. Gavin had insisted on complete secrecy about what he had planned for tonight, but he'd been explicit in his instructions that she wait in the lobby for fifteen minutes and that she wear a blindfold when she came to the room. She dug the length of silky pink fabric out of her purse, holding it up for Gavin to see.

"Put it on," he said. "Can't let you in until you do."

She draped the blindfold over her eyes and secured it in back.

He took her hands, guiding her inside the room. When they reached the bed, he helped her sit down on it.

"I've got a lot to make up for," he murmured in her ear, his voice low and deep, a sensual rumble that awakened her body. The dark, spicy scent of his cologne enveloped her. "I plan to do as much of it tonight as I possibly can."

"Can I take the blindfold off yet?"

"No." He nibbled her earlobe, flicking his tongue over it, then dragged his mouth down her throat, making her shiver with a delicious hunger. His lips quivered on the skin above her collarbone when he said, "Trust me, babe. This is all for you."

"Gavin —" Her voice abandoned her when he thrust his tongue out to forge a wet, hot trail down her chest until his head was nestled between her breasts, pushing down the neckline of her blouse.

He splayed his hands on her back, sliding them down to her bottom. "Mm, you smell so good."

"Unh." She couldn't form words, couldn't form thoughts, couldn't do a blessed thing except melt into him.

"But we're doing this the right way." He pulled his head away, his hands too, and whisked the blindfold off her head. "How do you like your surprise?"

She straightened, hands on her lap, and admired the scene around her. Candles flickered on the dresser and the bedside table, casting shimmering light on the room. A wheeled cart, draped with a white tablecloth, held dishes concealed under covers and a bottle of champagne bookended by a pair of glass flutes. Gavin had stepped back several feet, granting her a full view of him. He wore a tuxedo and shiny black shoes, and he stood with his shoulders rolled back and his head held high, his face clean shaved.

"Is that the same tuxedo you wore on Halloween?" she asked.

He fingered the lapels. "It is. You seemed to like it."

"Oh, I do." Her breasts tightened the longer she looked at him, so handsome and sexy in his black suit and bow tie. "Can I tear your clothes off yet?"

Gavin laughed. "I love your enthusiasm, but I've got something else planned first."

While he headed for the food cart, she twisted around to examine the bed. The blindfold lay beside her. He'd pulled the thick quilt down to the foot of the bed where it lay neatly folded beneath her. The blanket had been tossed aside so it covered half the mattress. She ran her hand over the sheets, surprised by their silky texture. She'd never stayed at the Loch Fairbairn Arms before, and she'd had no idea how luxurious their accommodations were.

"This is a lovely room," she said, for something to say. Her skin tingled with a nervous excitement, and she'd gnarled her fingers in her skirt.

"I got the biggest room at the best hotel in Loch Fairbairn."

"This is the only hotel in the village."

He glanced over his shoulder to flash her a sly grin. "Then it would be the best one, wouldn't it?"

She craned her neck in an attempt to peek around his body. "What are you doing over there?"

"You'll see." He returned his attention to the cart. "Can I trust you to close your eyes and not peek? Or should we put the blindfold back on?"

With a sly grin of her own, she snatched up the blindfold and tied it in place.

"That's my girl."

And she was his. Completely. Willingly. Forever.

The carpeting muted the sound of his footsteps as he approached her, and the rustling of his clothing told her he'd knelt in front of her. He clasped her hands, his warm and roughened by the manual labor he'd done lately. She didn't mind at all. The thought of those rough palms on her naked skin rippled a hot shiver through her body.

He kissed her knuckles one by one, then set her right hand back on her lap, keeping her left hand in his. "I love you, Jamie. There's nobody else for me, not now, not ever."

When he tore the blindfold off, she blinked at the sudden change.

Gavin knelt on one knee, his steady gaze on her. In his right hand, he held a small, velvet-covered box with the lid flipped up to reveal a diamond ring. "Jamie MacTaggart, will you marry me?"

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