Page 73 of Wild Scottish Beauty

“That was my thought. By making it silk, we’d give it an elegance.”

“Smart. People are always looking for gifts from their travels and I think something more unique like that is a good talking point. Sophie will love it, I’m sure, even if Ramsay doesn’t.”

“We’ll see. I haven’t asked him yet.”

“How’s that all going?” Lia pulled out a cast iron skillet and put it on the stove. “I heard he can be a bitch to work for.”

“He has his moments.” My lips quirked. “I’m sure you’ve had to work with your share of personalities in the service industry.”

“Oh, for sure. I kneed my last boss in the nuts and quit on the spot. Trust me, I know difficult.”

I threw my head back and laughed, immediately feeling a kinship with Lia.

“And now you’re in Loren Brae. And getting married, I hear.”

“My own restaurant. Love of my life. Magick. I mean, hard to believe for a poor girl like me from the streets of Boston.” Lia tossed a few drops of water on the skillet, testing the temperature. “It all seemed to fall in place in a way I could never have expected.”

“That’s kind of how I’m feeling,” I said, beginning to sketch. “Minus the love part, of course.”

“Ramsay’s wicked hot.”

“He is.”

I let the silence draw out until Lia cursed.

“Throw a girl a bone, would ya?”

“He’s hot. He’s also my boss and good friends with my brother.”

Lia whistled, long and low, and shook her head, pouring batter into the skillet.

“That’s spicy, isn’t it?”

“Just a bit. But, in other news, I do have a date tonight,” I said, wanting to direct her away from askingquestions about Ramsay. Largely because I had no answers for her. Ramsaywashot. And that was that.

“Oh, with Ramsay?” Lia’s face lit with excitement, and I shook my head.

“Simmer down. No, with a man I met at the grocery store yesterday. He’s cute enough, friendly, and asked me out for a drink. Can I be honest with you? I’ve never been picked up like that before. Not, like, out in the wild.”

Lia snorted, her eyes on the skillet. “I find that hard to believe, a pretty girl such as yourself.”

“For real. Not once. Maybe it happens to women like you, but a lot of men are put off by my size.”

“Then they don’t deserve you.” Lia flipped the pancakes, not missing a beat, and I smiled in her direction. I didn’t need her validation, but it was nice to hear the compliment, nonetheless. I’d become such an advocate for body acceptance in the fashion industry that I’dhadto become my own personal cheerleader along the way. While occasionally the insecurities of growing up as a big girl surfaced, for the most part I’d learned to love how I looked. Sometimes it could be a battle, since society badgered us constantly with messages that thin equals healthy, but I just took that as a challenge to prove to people otherwise. I was big, I was strong, and I was usually the most fashionable person in any group I was in.

And yet still, I’d never been picked up in a grocery store before.

There was a first for everything, and I was going to enjoy this little moment as another win for all the plus-sized women out there who thought that they didn’t deserve a fun meet-cute like in a romance novel.

A strange sound drew my attention.

It was a cross between a purr and a roar and I jumped up, realizing I’d lost sight of Calvin.

“Calvin?”

Lia went to a door that led to a hallway and turned, a look of delight on her eyes, and waved me over. Crossing the room, I leaned through the doorway, my eyes widening at the sight that greeted me.

A small man, or, um, elf, I guess, with wrinkled skin, faded overalls, and big brown eyes was currently having a mutual lovefest with Calvin. He cradled the kitten in his arms, and Calvin licked his face, cleaning him like he’d found his baby. A soft purring of sorts was coming from the broonie’s mouth, and he looked delirious with joy.

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