Page 70 of Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop

Chapter Twenty

Rosie

“Let’s see the kilt.”

“Right now?” Alexander crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed.

The fire crackled behind us, and night had blanketed the back garden, though the moon shone a bright path across the inky surface of the water.

“Aww, are you a sore loser?” I asked, laughing at the disgruntled look on his face.

Not only had Alexander lost, but I’d wiped the table with him.

“I am not.” Alexander sniffed.

“Either you can go put your kilt on or I can go into great detail about just howmuch of a startlingly bad loss it was for you. I mean really just an absolute embarrassment?—”

“Och, fine.” Alexander trudged away and I laughed. Wandering across the room, I plopped on the couch in front of the fire. Music pulsed low in the background, and I thought once again, just how much I loved this room. I honestly didn’t really want to leave. If I had a pile of books with me, I’d curl up right now and read.

Or.

Or …

Or.

My mouth went dry as Alexander exited his bedroom in only his kilt and nothing else. Walking around the back of the couch, he came to stand in front of me, that scowl still stretched across his face.

My entire body heated.

The man was seriously built. And he wasn’t getting those muscles from working on computers all day. Clearly, all the work on his house had paid off because the dips and valleys running down his abs were seriously impressive.

“Like what you see?” Alexander’s voice was low, his accent delicious, and his words hung in the air between us. The energy of the room shifted. Desire pooled low inside me, and I wet my lips.

“Um, of course. You’re very well formed.”

Well formed?I’d just made it sound like he’d hatched from an egg.

Alexander seemed to read my embarrassment because his lips quirked as he moved forward. Surprisingme, he dropped to his knees in front of me, nudging my legs open, and I gaped at the incredible image of a hot Scotsman in a kilt kneeling at my feet. The fire danced in the background behind him, casting warmth and shadows across his skin, and he tilted his head at me.

“Would you like to see more of these?” Alexander flexed an arm muscle and twisted to point at his shoulder. “I know you have a thing for them.”

I mean, I wasn’t going to lie. Based on how ripped he was, I could definitely get on board with having a shoulder fetish.

“Gee, and I left the alien at the shop. I didn’t think to bring your blow-up doll with me.”

“He is not mine,” Alexander hissed, and I laughed as the scowl returned to his face. “Now that you have me like this, what was your plan?”

“Um.” Panicking, I tried to straighten up, but he held my legs down with his hands. Hands that I desperately wanted all over my body. Could I just say that? We were meant to be just friends with benefits, weren’t we? Wouldn’t it be perfectly natural to explore what that meant? Preferably naked and sitting on his lap?

“Rosie?”

“Yes?”

“I’d very much like for you not to be wearing these anymore.” Alexander toyed with the button of my jeans, and I blinked at him before lifting my hips so he could unbutton and slide my pantsandunderwear down my legs. Hitching me forward on the couch, Alexander looked down at me sprawled before him.

Before I could start to feel awkward, a look of wolfish desire crossed his face.

“Beautiful,” Alexander said. He stroked my thighs lightly, nudging my legs wider. “Do you know one of the things I love about being a software engineer?”

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