Page 10 of Scotch on the Rocks

Ten minutes later, with the sorrowful otter the twins had nicknamed Finneas tucked into a beach towel, I made my excuses to April and Mal.

“Just can’t resist playing the hero.” April laughed, leaning back against Mal’s chest. “No wonder June calls you ‘Community Ken’.”

“She does?” Amused, confused and slightly aroused at the knowledge, I couldn’t resist sneaking a glance her way. My teeth clicked. Still on that damn blanket with a man ten years my junior, Jamie’s expression suggesting Christmas and his birthday had come at once as his eyes pinged between her legs and her face. I couldn’t even fault the lad; both were irritatingly spectacular.

“Hey, girls.” I waved to the twins, dripping water pistols still in hand. “Aunty Juniper’s looking a little too dry for a beach party.” They squealed, accepting their mission with a little too much enthusiasm.

“Shit,” Mal said.

“Well … this has been fun.” April turned in Mal’s arms to watch the show. “Remember what I said about your balls.” I blocked all images of Juniper and my balls before they could take form. This was a family affair.

“You’ve had a good time?” Mal asked into her hair.

She tipped her head back on his chest, her expression spilling over with adoration. “The perfect day. Thank you.”

“Princess—”

A scream split the air.And… that was my cue.

Juniper was wringing out her short hair by the time I passed by, accepting the towel an equally soaked Jamie so gallantly offered.We get it. You’re a real fucking Prince Charming.

“Captain,” he said when he spotted me. “All ready for the game next week?”

“Yep.” I wasn’t. I hadn’t even found time to book the pitch, which as captain of the Kinleith Shinty club was my responsibility.

I didn’t spare the kid another glance, too busy soaking up the furious little snarl on Juniper’s face as I clutched Finneas to my chest.You’re a sick, twisted man,a voice whispered. Because if I couldn’t have her affection, you’d be damn sure I’d take her fury. Anything that kept my name on those red lips.

“You’re looking a little … wet, harpy.”

“Screw you, Macabe.”

I winked, already retreating. “Enjoy the party.”

2

Juniper

The Macabe brother rule book (according to Juniper Ross):

1. Don’t look at a Macabe brother.

2. Don’t talk to a Macabe brother.

3. Don’t even think about a Macabe brother.

“I swear, I’ve never gone through this many lint rollers in my entire life.” I cast a look from my shirt, saturated with a coat of thankfully black hair, to Shakespeare. The deceivingly elegant black cat currently taking up the centre of my bed. She yawned and stretched onto her back, spreading more fur across the bedsheets. “Your grand plans for the day?”

Narrow eyes met mine. Tempted by her soft little cat belly, I extended a finger then immediately snapped it back when the action won me a fresh welt across my forearm.

“Remind me why I adopted you again?” Circling the island that separated the kitchen from the bedroom in my small, open-plan cottage, I ran the scratch under cold water and pulled my sleeve down to cover it. “You’ve been a painin my arse from the moment I brought you home. I should have made you into a hat.”

A pain in my arse was an understatement. While gorgeous to look at, the cat was a fucking menace who hated me.

With every passing day, it became more and more obvious that Kelly, Kinleith’s sweet-as-pie veterinary nurse, had played me. She’d flat outbeggedme to take the ‘misunderstood sweetheart’home. A month and too many wounds to count, I’d come to realise Kelly simply wanted her to be someone else’s problem.

Pouring kibble into the hellion’s bowl for her to ignore, I called, “Don’t wait up.” And stepped out the door before the sun had even risen, not bothering to lock it behind me. One of the limited benefits of living a hundred metres from your place of work.

I’d moved into the small, stone-wall cottage six years ago, upon my return to Kinleith. Sitting on the very tip of the wildflower garden, it offered a little more privacy than the family apartments covering the top floor of Ivy House Inn.

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