Page 13 of Wild Scottish Beauty

My gut said no.

My head said yes.

And there it was, the war that I always had with myself. Drying my hands and looking in the ornate mirror hung over the bathroom sink, I studied my reflection as I schooled my breathing. Thus far, I’d had one hundred percent success rate in surviving bad days, so Iwould be fine.

Leaving the bathroom, Sophie had indeed left the apartment, which gave me a moment to look around. Grey stone walls showcased watercolors of the loch, colorful rugs were thrown across the floors, and two arched windows allowed the wintry light through. Crossing, I stood at the window and took stock of my situation.

Sophie hadn’t pinged on my radar as being a bullshit artist. Everything she’d told me so far she’d delivered on in a timely manner, and she’d been bubbly and excited on the drive down, regaling me with tales of her own mishaps in moving to Scotland the year before. We hadn’t spoken about the job, as though we both understood there was a time to jump into work talk, and instead had begun to forge the beginnings of a friendship. I’d only met Lachlan for basically a millisecond, but the way his eyes had heated when he’d seen Sophie made me instantly approve of him. There was just something about seeing a man deeply in love with his woman that made my heart flutter.

The clouds shifted outside, and a single ray of pale sunlight broke through, spearing a little island smack dab in the middle of the lake. Loch, I corrected myself. Loch Mirren. Even though I came from the land of ten thousand lakes, I’d never seen one like this—discounting Lake Michigan, of course—and being near water instantly soothed me. Rolling hills dusted in snow hugged her shores, and the buildings of Loren Brae stood out against the wintry landscape like colorful confetti left on the ground after a party.

Stay.

It was the same voice that had guided me in the past, even when the outcome had been considered a failure byothers. This voice was the one that had led me to take chances, to learn from my mistakes, and to build on every new opportunity. It was the voice I trusted above all else, the same one that occasionally gave me flashes of insight about other things that I couldn’t quite explain, and I knew I needed to trust it now.

Seeing Ramsay had unsettled me. But at the end of the day, if this opportunity resulted in a huge win and great step for my career, then maybe, just maybe, I would be able to bring myself to thank my brother for meddling in my life once again. Even though the loss of the Dolce and Gabbana internship still felt bitter, I reminded myself that I could always apply for another. Nothing in life was set in stone, it was all a matter of choices.

And I chose to see the good side of things, even when it was a struggle at times.

The skies opened, icy rain drifting down in sheets, and my eyes were drawn once more to the small island in the loch.

There wassomethingthere.

I didn’t know what, or why I thought that, but once the idea came to me, it stuck like a burr to my skirt.

Maybe I’d get a chance to go there one day, when the weather wasn’t so moody.

Pulling myself away from the window, I glanced once more around the apartment, excitement finally breaking through my anxious thoughts. This place was seriously cool, and I got to live in it, like a real freaking princess. I mean, I would pay to stay in a rental like this, so the fact that it came as part of my job was a huge bonus. Already imagining the many cool photos I could take when I postedmy outfit of the day on Instagram, I opened the door and stepped into the hallway, a smile on my lips.

A flicker of light, a shimmer in the dim light of the stone hallway with high ceilings, was the only warning I had that something was off before a massive cow jumped out at me from the wall.

I lost it.

Screaming, I turned and ran straight into the door that I had just closed, my hands only just catching me before I broke my nose, and I wrestled with the doorknob in panic. When it wouldn’t budge, I whimpered, too scared to look over my shoulder, and when I couldn’t get the door to open in time I turned to run.

And slammed into another wall.

This one being a decidedly warm and more forgiving wall. Ramsay’s arms came around me and he lifted me into them, cradling me against his chest like I weighed nothing more than the chihuahua he’d been carrying earlier, and I gaped up at him.

“What happened?” Ramsay’s eyes scanned the hallway, on alert, his jaw set. In profile, he looked ready to go to battle, and when he glanced down at me again, I shivered at the barely restrained violence I saw in his eyes.

This man could do some damage.

“Um … it’s just…”Shit. How was I supposed to tell him that I saw a cow jump out of the wall and not sound like I’d well and truly lost the ability for coherent thought?

My hands were pressed against his chest, the hard curves of his muscles making me itch to explore more, and my eyes widened. No. No. Absolutely not. Sure, Ramsay was smoking hot, and seriously built, but that was not a tree Iwould be climbing. No, ma’am. He was my brother’s friend and likely involved in this scenario of finding a “safe” place for Willow to land.

But I could still appreciate a muscular chest when pressed against one.

Angling my head, I glanced over my shoulder to the empty hallway, where sconces in the shape of lanterns warmed the stone walls and shed light across stately ancestral portraits. Surely I’d just imagined the cow. It seemed I should have slept on the plane over here. That was it. Just a bit of jet lag making me see things.

“Moooo?”

I stiffened in Ramsay’s arms. The moo had been a whisper in the air, barely discernable, and my face froze, waiting to see if Ramsay had also heard it or my sleep deprivation was now leading to me hearing voices.

“Moooo?” Again, just a whisper. Bracing myself, I glanced up at Ramsay.

His head was tilted, as though listening for something, and a perplexed expression hung on his face. Relief filled me.

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