Page 50 of Scotch & Dreams

Going through the supply list, he barely heard the soft knock on his open door. He glanced up from his laptop. “Violet.” He jumped up so abruptly from his desk that he smacked his knees on the underside with a thump, knocking the desk askew.

"Oh."

He could hear the concern in her voice. Her mesmerizing eyes were wide on him.

He straightened up, nudging the desk back into place. "All good." He smiled, ignoring the faint throb on the top of his knees. "Please come in.” He picked up a chair that was tucked in the corner and put it closer to his desk, gesturing for her to have a seat. “Is everything going okay?”

In the back of his mind, he was fearful that perhaps Violet was going to give her resignation. In a way that would solve the problem of him being her boss, but at the same time, he wouldn't see her, at least not with any regularity.

He'd barely spoken to her in the week since they'd run into each other here, but he'd found himself watching her far more than was appropriate. Aside from his typical guy reaction to seeing her—the one that was far from typical for Lachlan—it was seeing her interact with the horses and staff that struck him. What was it about her? She lit a room. It was like she left a sprinkle of fairy dust everywhere she went, making the world a better place just by being in it.

William, his main stable hand, was in his early seventies. Lachlan had hired him because the man knew horses better than anyone else. Even if he was as prickly as a cactus, it was worth having him around. Lachlan was sure the old grump was incapable of smiling, and he'd noted that the staff gave him a wide berth. He could hardly blame them. When he overheard William bletherin' away to Violet like she was an old chum, chuckling with a puffed chest, Lachlan had to pick his jaw up off the hay-covered floor.

And it wasn't just William she'd weaved her spells on. It would be a blow if she were to leave the sanctuary—for many reasons. Shifting in the wooden spindle chair, she eyed him a bit sheepishly. Concern pricked his mind.Please, please don’t say you’re leaving, he whispered to himself in silent prayer.

“I wanted to come talk to you.”

He swallowed hard, trying to relax the tension already building in his shoulders. Her hands were clasped in front of her, tucked between her denim-clad knees. He didn't allow his gaze to linger on the tear exposing her perfect shapely knee cap—dear God, he was losing it.

“I was going through the programs, and I had some ideas that I was hoping to share with you.” He was mightily grateful she couldn't read minds. "It's okay if not, though. I don't want to overstep.”

He blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and ran a hand through his hair. “Ach, lass, ye mean ye aren’t planning to leave us?” Sweet relief flooded him.

Her brows knit together. “What? No. I... Did you think I was giving you my resignation?”

“I dinnae ken. I wasnae sure. Ye looked so serious coming in here.”

She appeared to be letting that thought sink in as she looked down at her folded hands.

“I love it here," she said thoughtfully. "I can’t fathom leaving. Truthfully…" Her voice trailed, and her eyes drew to his.

He hung on to that word between them, aching to know, with a tingle low in his belly….Truthfully what?

"When I’m not here, I’m still thinking about this place.”

He leaned back in his chair, letting go of the silly hope that had momentarily gripped him. What had he hoped? That she thought of him? And not just the sanctuary.

“I’m supposed to be working on my styling business. Highland Haven is my side gig, but to be quite honest, it’s completely become the other way around. I've been coming here during my off hours too." She said it as if she were confessing some dark sin.

Lachlan stared at the beautiful woman before him, sitting like an elegant angel in her uniform of denim, black graphic t-shirt, and rubber boots, and she was telling him that she loved the business he'd built so much that she was willing to work on it even on her days off. She didn't just look like an angel. Violet was intelligent and thoughtful, and the fact that she felt so strongly about the sanctuary and the work humbled him. It was like she was taking his dream and making it her own. She got it. She understood. Highland Haven was as much hers as it was his, and he couldn’t be happier about that revelation.

“I dinnae even ken what to say, V.”

She got sheepish again. “I'm sorry.”

"Sorry? Ach, lass, I'm gonna need ye to tell me the extra hours ye've put in so we can get yer pay sorted properly. And then we are going to have to get ye on the benefits plan as a full-time employee, och, and a raise, of course." When she stared at him wide-eyed, he realized he might be overstepping. "I mean, ye dinnae huv to work full time, but I want to make sure ye are properly compensated for the work ye are doing.”

"I do want to work here full time," she cut in as if it was an offer that might evaporate if she didn't snatch it up.

Lachlan smiled, feeling things for the woman in front of him that he had no right to feel. Now, he was really in for it. She would be a full-time employee. Christ, now it was definitely not okay to do all the things he wanted to do to her. Like peeling off her jeans down to those damn-near perfect knees and sliding his face right to her beautiful core to taste her and all her fucking magic pixie dust.

"Um, well, I have some ideas I’d like to share with you if you're okay with that.” She eyed him tentatively.

He swallowed, stunned at how far off the rails his thoughts just detoured. He never thought he'd have to keep a short leash on his wayward thoughts.Saint Lachlan. “Yes, aye, of course, please tell me. I’d love to hear them.”

They ended up holed up in his little office for four hours, talking about the programs at the sanctuary, the marketing, the branding. It surprised him how well she understood the many facets of business. She challenged him, made him re-think things, and it was perfect. Her ideas were outside the box. It felt damn good to have fresh keen eyes on his business, and it made him want to talk about the running of the distillery with her too. He'd only ever relied on himself when it came to business, but talking to Violet now, it gave him a sense of what it would be like to have a business partner.

They began to have regular business meetings that turned into a combination of meetings and productive work sessions. Violet began bringing her laptop, and they'd work alongside each other like business partners for many hours each week. And all the while, Lachlan struggled to keep his insatiable hunger for the lass contained. It was tough, though, especially when her slender fingers would casually brush against his when taking a file from him or when he desperately wanted to put a hand on the small of her curved back when they'd leave the office at the end of another productive day.

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