Page 14 of Refuge for Ailsa

The locks clicked on his truck and he was opening the door when he heard that voice again. “Tav?” Tavish wheeled to find Ailsa coming toward him, that red mane clouded around her.

“Yeah. It was good seeing you, Ailsa. Can I call you? About dinner?”

“Of course. But where are you going? Aren’t you going to stick around?”

“Nah.” He wheeled and leaned up against the side of the truck. “I’m, uh, gonna get going. Thought I might go back out to the house, look around a bit more, figure out what to tackle first.”

“Oh. Well, okay. You’ve got my number from the investigation, and I’ve got your card. So just give me a call and we’ll figure out a time.” It was like she was stalling, and Tavish couldn’t figure out why.

He dipped his head until his eyes met hers and he frowned. “Everything okay?”

“I don’t want to… I mean, it seems silly, I guess, but…”

“Ailsa, just say whatever it is.”

“I…” She lifted her head and looked straight into his eyes. When she did, Tavish felt a little jolt of electricity, and it wasn’t above his belt. “I really like you.”

That was the most direct a woman had ever been with him, and he liked it. “I really like you too.”

“And I’m looking forward to dinner with you.”

He smiled. “And I’m looking forward to dinner with you too.”

She dragged her toe back and forth in the dirt, and Tavish thought it was adorable. “So you’re going back out to your house?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“And would it be a horrible thing if somebody else showed up while you were out there?”

Ah! Now I know where this is going!“Uh, no. It would not be terrible.” She was about to speak when he said, “I’m going to need a good framer. Probably a union framer.”

“What if the framer you want to hire has let their union membership lapse?”

“Then I guess I’ll hire a non-union framer.”

“You’d do that?” she asked with a crooked grin.

Tavish chuckled softly. “Depends on who the framer is.”

“I see. Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you when we have dinner together.” She turned to walk away, then spun and started to walk backwards, grinning. “Or maybe sooner. You never know.”

“Yeah, I guess you never know, huh?” he answered with a smile so broad that it hurt his cheeks.

“Okay then. Bye, Tav. See you around.”

“Yeah, see you around, Ailsa. Bye.” He watched as she mounted the front porch steps, and she turned at the top to give him a little wave.

Tavish climbed into the truck’s cab and looked around. “Fuck it all,” he muttered under his breath when he realized he wasn’t in his work truck. There was nothing in his big GMC Sierra four-by-four. No sleeping bag. No blanket. Nothing. Bummer.

Hell, it didn’t matter. If he had to, he’d take her up against a wall, but one thing was certain. He wanted that woman, wanted her badly. And it was obvious she wanted him. It had been a long, long time since a woman had affected him the way she did.

No way would he just let that go.

CHAPTER3

Everything seemed to be buzzing.Ailsa just wanted to find a way to extricate herself from the Stewarts’ house and get on the road. Based on the bulge in the front of those ass-hugging jeans Tavish was wearing, he felt the exact same way she did, and she couldn’t wait to find out. Ailsa had always been the one in the family to go after her dreams, and TavishStewart was definitely a dream come true.

When Pete and Bonnie decided they all needed to play lawn darts, Ailsa saw that as her out. “Um, I think I’m just gonna go. Y’all have fun. I’ve got things I need to do before work tomorrow.”

---