Page 11 of Wild Scottish Beauty

I loved animals. All kinds. I wasn’t a dog person any more than I was a cat person or held strong viewpoints on their veracity as pets. I didn’t care. If a cute fuzzball wanted to make my acquaintance, I was happy to do so, frankly far more so than with any people that wanted to chum up to me. Pets, I liked. People, I could do without. Sir Buster, seeing Lola getting all the attention, dropped the tough guy act and sidled closer, shivering as a gust of wind pushed him backwards on his teeny feet. Risking alost finger, I scooped him up and tucked him in the crook of my arm, where he instantly settled into the warmth of my jumper. He growled at me once, as though to let me know he was still in charge, and then his eyes slid to half-mast as I carried him toward the castle car park.

MacAlpine Castle, as stately as she was understated, loomed over manicured gardens put to bed for the winter. With half the castle kept historically accurate and offering tours, MacAlpine Castle typically did a brisk business in the summer. Winter and early spring were the slower months, but even so, there should have been a few visitor cars scattered in the car park. Instead, it was just Sophie’s car next to mine.

A statuesque woman got out of the passenger side of Sophie’s car, the wind blowing her auburn hair across her face. She tossed her hair back with a laugh, and I was too far away to make out her features, but her laugh punched me in the gut. It had a raucous vibe to it, as though inviting me to join in on the joke, and my interest piqued.

If I were to date, she was the type I liked, at least from a physical standpoint. Ripped jeans covered thick thighs, and the wind molded a heather grey jumper against sizeable breasts. Black and white Adidas trainers, big hoop earrings, and a cheerful grin on her face made her seem casual, cool, and approachable. Being a big man myself, I liked a woman who didn’t feel like she would snap under my hands. This woman’s body looked like a virtual playground to me, and I had to dart my attention away before I was caught staring too long.

I wondered if her jumper was real wool.

Nerd.I snorted lightly to myself. I was such a fabricnerd when it came to the products I used for making my kilts. It was one of the reasons I’d gone into the business, to preserve the history of Scotland, and I only used locally sourced textiles for my kilts.

Sophie popped the boot of the car, and I almost dropped Sir Buster in my rush to step in front of Lachlan and offer a hand with the luggage I saw there. Whoever this woman was, she was staying for a while, and even though I’d just told Munroe that I was off relationships, I certainly wasn’t off sex. There was nothing wrong with a casual holiday fling, as far as I was concerned. Handing Sir Buster off to Lachlan, I offered a hand.

“Here, lass, let me get that for you.”

The woman turned, a smile on her lips, and her face froze. A myriad of emotions flashed through her eyes, the most damning being anger, before the smile returned.

“Ramsay?”

I squinted, my brain scrambling to place where I’d met this beautiful woman before. Had it been that one-night stand in Glasgow last year?

“Ramsay, it’s Willow.” Willow looked at me, her eyebrows raised in expectation, and then it all clicked.

Oh shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I’d just been ogling my good mate’s little sister. I hadn’t seen her since she was in high school, and her hair had been bleached blond with odd green streaks at the time. Now, the auburn color brought out the turquoise tones of Willow’s eyes, and I blinked at her as my brain struggled to move from picturing her straddling my body to friendly acquaintance.

“Willow. Wow, what areyoudoing here? Is Miles here, too?” I looked around, as though he would pop out from behind a bush or something. It also gave me an excuse to force my eyes away from Willow’s sparkling eyes and rid myself of indecent thoughts.

“You two know each other?” Sophie asked, tilting her head at me.

“Kind of. I mean, we do, but we’re not like…” I stumbled over my words, immediately annoying myself.

“Ramsay is one of my brother’s good friends.” Willow’s eyes narrowed at that, and there was that flash of anger again. I wondered if I had done something when I visited, and she’d harbored some secret grudge against me all those years.

Then immediately chastised myself. Inflated ego much? She probably hadn’t thought a thing about me since.

“You look great,” I said. So much for keeping my mind off her luscious body.

“That’s great you two already know?—”

“I haven’t seen Ramsay in years. Odd you show up now, isn’t it?” Willow said, interrupting Sophie, tilting her head at me. I definitely hadn’t imagined that flash of anger.

“Odd, how? I live in Loren Brae, lass.”

“Do you? Miles hadn’t mentioned that. I thought you were running some fancy business somewhere.”

“Ramsay is?—”

“Fancy business? Miles must be talking me up.” I smiled, wondering why Willow seemed so on edge.

“No, he rarely mentions you except for when you go on your yearly trip together. In fact … I hadn’t heard about you in ages until a few hours ago when I told my brother I was coming here.Thenhe brought you up. Weird, right?” Willow tapped a shell-pink painted nail against her pillowy lips, and I had to swallow against the surge of lust that ran through me.

Down, boy. Friend’s sister. Not yours to touch.

“Not that weird, no. I do live in Scotland, so it seems pretty natural for him to bring me up.”

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