Page 23 of Wild Scottish Fortune

“Well, he asked you as his date, didn’t he?” Lia looked at me in the mirror.

“I mean, not really. He’s paying me.”

“What?” Both women stopped what they were doing and turned to me in shock.

“Um…he’s paying me?” I repeated, realizing, now, that it made me sound like an escort.

“I need immediate details,” Willow demanded.

“How on earth did that happen?” Lia asked.

I wasn’t used to women, hell,anyone, questioning me about my life or really showing much interest at all. I couldn’t tell if they were angry with me for agreeing to be paid to go to this gala or if they were angry at Finlay. I wasn’t good at reading social cues most times, particularly in groups of women, and my stomach churned. I wished I hadn’t said anything at all.

“It’s nothing, really. It’s a donation to my favorite animal rescue is all.” There, that made it sound less escort-y, didn’t it?

“Orla, why don’t you tell us what happened?”

“Um, it’s not a big deal. It was just a suggested donation to the animal rescue. It’s not like he’s paying me to, you know…” Great, if they hadn’t been thinking that before, they likely were now.

“You know what I think we need?” Lia asked.

“What’s that?” Willow turned back to Lia, wrapping the tape measure around her hips.

“A drink. Let’s go to the pub after this. I know Shona wants to meet Orla now that she’s a part of the Order, and we’ll have ourselves a nice glass of wine and can discuss everything. How does that sound?”

Terrifying.

Not that I was going to admit that to these women who were not only trying very hard to be my friend but were also a part of the same magickal Order that I’d just joined. I’d known that getting along with the other women would be part of the deal when it came to joining the Order. It might be nice, I told myself, to have some people to talk to about all this magick stuff.

A cat wandered into the room, brushing against Willow’s legs, and she looked down at him.

“Hi, sweet baby,” Willow cooed. “Calvin says I’m stressing you out.”

“The cat…” I looked down as he approached me, rubbing against my leg, and I instantly crouched, helpless to resist the advances of any animal. I loved when people’s pets came to me for a cuddle. It felt like I was the chosen one, every time, and it was my favorite part of any site visit.

“Yes, he’s my familiar. He communicates with me through imagery. He’s very sweet, but not as fancy as Lia’s familiar.”

“I would hardly call Brice fancy.” Lia laughed.

“Brice? Familiar?” What were they even talking about? At my confusion, Lia sobered.

“We’re all witchy women of some sort in the Order of Caledonia. Which means we get a familiar. Someone to help us on our quest, so to speak. Calvin is Willow’s. Mine is a touch more unconventional, though I would argue that Shona’s is as well. Since I’m a kitchen witch, I get a house broonie.”

“Och, go on.” I laughed, realizing they were just having me on. Broonies were definitely not real.I’d grown up with tales of the little house elves and knew that stories of them were often used to keep children in line.

“Brice? Can you pop in to meet Orla? Calvin’s here,” Lia called.

A blur of motion, a shimmer of energy, and all of a sudden, I was staring down at a wrinkled wee man, in faded overalls, who seemed to be having one big love fest with Calvin, who instantly jumped into his arms.

“Holy shite,” I breathed.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Orla

Adrink was one hundred percent called for after meeting a broonie in real life for the first time. Brice turned out to be quite shy, seemingly very sweet, and well-besotted with Calvin. The two frolicked together like long-lost best friends, and the result was decidedly endearing. Not that I wanted a broonie, because I wasn’t sure I could really deal with another magickal being popping into my life regularly, but Lia assured me he stayed in her kitchen and was generally quite helpful when he wasn’t up to mischief.

The Tipsy Thistle was the main pub in town, and really, from what I could gather, the hub for which all gossip, news, and important events was disseminated. They served a good meal, prices were affordable, and the owner, Graham, was not hard to look at.

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