Page 52 of Wild Scottish Fortune

“It’s fine.” I shrugged a shoulder and took a sip of the champagne. It tasted like starlight.

“It’s anything but fine. She’s grown tough over the past few years, since we lost my dad, but I hadn’t seen the cruel part. You didn’t deserve to be put on display like that, nobody does.”

“All of those children were,” I said softly, turning the glass in my hands. “Every photo in there was someone like me.”

“Had I known…I never would have invited you, Orla. I wouldn’t have exposed you to that.”

At that, I laughed. Turning, I shook my head at him. He still didn’t really get it.

“Exposed me to what? I’ve already been exposed, Fin. You can’t grow up in poverty and not be constantly exposed. If the government isn’t involved and prying in your life, school workers are. If not there, then it’s photos at the soup kitchens. Growing up like that literally is about exposure. You have no privacy. Nothing to call your own. This?” I gestured with my glass toward the building. “This is nothing. Not in the big scheme of things.”

“It was mean-spirited. Even if in some twisted way she thought she was being helpful, it was wrong. And it wasn’t fair to you.”

“Oh, Fin.” I gave him a small smile before making a tsking noise. “Don’t you know the world isn’t fair?”

“No, but it can still be kind.”

At that I stilled, meeting his eyes.

“Orla. I think you’re incredible. You’ve entranced me from the first moment I met you. You’re terrifyingly competent, brilliant at what you do, and you constantly leave me in awe of your capabilities. And your stunning beauty only adds to the package. The world may have been unfair to you, but all I see is a goddamned warrior. And I’ve come to realize that I quite fancy you.”

I blinked, stunned at his words, even as my heart swelled in my chest. Did he just say he fancied me?Me?

“Me?” I whispered. “But why?”

“Didn’t I just list the reasons?” Finlay reached out and traced a finger along the neckline of my dress near my shoulder. “Nogoldfish badge?”

“It’s in my handbag,” I whispered, his touch at my neck doing weird things to my stomach.

“Show me.”

I reached for my bag, having grabbed it when I ran, but now remembering my shawl.

“Damn it, I’m going to have to go back for my shawl.”

“I’ll get it for you, Orla.”

“You don’t have to?—”

“Let me take care of you.” Finlay’s tone had an underlying note that I couldn’t quite discern, and I shifted, unsure how to respond to someone wanting to take care of me. It made me uncomfortable the same way that it did when Hilda fussed over me by trying to feed me copious amounts of food. Not saying anything, I unsnapped the closure to the little silk bag that Willow had made and showed Fin the goldfish badge pinned to the green and white striped lining.

“See? How could I not fancy a woman who wields a handsaw with no problem but pins a goldfish badge in her handbag?”

“Oh, Fin.” I bumped his shoulder lightly with mine, needing to take the tension from the air. We were so very different, me and him. It was pointless to even go down this path. “You’re very sweet.”

“Sweet,” Fin all but growled. “Just what every man wants to hear.”

“You are though.” I grinned as Fin cursed low. The tension gripping me shifted, the mood lightening a bit.

“I am fierce. Strong. Some might even say a ninja.” Fin sliced the air with his hand and I laughed.

“Wow, I didn’t even see that coming.” I nodded approvingly.

“Did you see this coming?” Fin turned my chin up with a finger, his face hovering close. He waited, his eyes on mine.

He could have claimed, taken my lips without my consent, stolen a kiss on a dark staircase on a misty night in Edinburgh. Instead, he seemed to understand that I needed to be the one who gave myselftohim. And because of that, his waiting, his innate understanding of what I needed, I closed the space between us.

It was just a kiss.

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