Page 16 of 40 and Flashing (the Scotsman)
“International finance, which is a fancy way of saying we handle investments all over the world. The details can be boring, but I work on the international part of the business, clients who are not located on US soil, so it involves a lot of travel. I can be in Japan one week and Norway the next.”
Scarlett couldn’t imagine.
“Sounds like a lot of jet lag,” Claire said.
Gavin chuckled. “There is that.”
“How long will you do that?” Linc asked. “You have, what, fifteen years till retirement?”
“Give or take, though Carter and I have discussed early retirement.”
Linc’s brows hit his hairline. “For both of you?”
Gavin nodded. “There are a lot of hungry up-and-comers in our business, with a lot more energy than me, and we’ve managed to acquire a few with a lot of talent. I’ve got a group I’ve been mentorin’, but nothin’ has been decided yet. I’d love to keep travelin’, but I’d also like to spend more than a few days at any location. And at home.”
“With family?” Claire asked. Scarlett eyed her friend, wondering if her questions were idle curiosity or if she was drawing information out for Scarlett’s benefit. Claire had spoken with Gavin before, after all. The four men frequently video chatted, and Scarlett knew the women were included whenever they were around.
“No,” Gavin said. “I’m not close to family. Carter’s the closest thing to family I have.”
He said he wasn’t close, not that he didn’t have any. He’d told Iris he had stepsiblings and their children. Something about his family didn’t lend itself to closeness then. She wondered why.
It sounded lonely, all that travel and his friends scattered across the world, but she had a feeling Gavin wasn’t. And she got it. She had no family left either—she was an only child, and her parents had died in an accident while she was in college. No grandparents still alive. It was how she’d ended up in Black Wolf’s Bluff, a choice that had allowed her to meet her own found family—Erin, Claire, Lily, Iris.
“Ever thought of moving to the States, or any of the places you’ve traveled to?”
Her ears couldn’t help perking up at Claire’s question, but Gavin was shaking his head. “Can’t.” A small smile appeared on his lips. “There is something different about Scotland, even the crowded urban parts. There’s nothing like it. The air itself feels different. And when I can get out of the city…well, it’s home, ya know? No matter where I go, I’ll always come back to her.”
Scarlett loved her little home, this town, but what Gavin had…it was special. “That’s beautiful, Gavin.”
He winked. “Remember that for your next alpha hero.”
“Alpha hero?” Linc asked.
“Have you been reading up on the romance genre, Gavin?” Claire asked.
“I have had a sudden surge of interest,” he admitted, grinning. But the way he looked at Scarlett made her wonder if he wasn’t talking about more than a book.
ChapterSeven
JD told Gavin at breakfast that the temperature was expected to drop the next day, just in time for Christmas. Despite the walks he and Scarlett had taken around town, Gavin was itching to get outside. A quick text with Scarlett and she agreed to show him some trails in the nearby Smoky Mountain National Park.
Gavin had visited Nashville several times, but the beauty of the city could not compare to the wilderness he and Scarlett found themselves surrounded by that morning. The air was crisp but not frigid, the trees breaking up any wind that would freeze them out and filtering the sunlight to a soft glow around them. Scarlett led the way on the trail, the surety of her movements telling him she spent a good bit of time out here. As they moved, she warmed and unbuttoned her coat, then tied it around her waist, giving him a better view of her curvy body.
Talk about beauty.
“Tell me about your life, lass. What do you do besides write?” he asked as they traversed a stack of moss-covered boulders crowding against the trail.
Scarlett paused, a hand on a boulder to steady herself as she looked over her shoulder. “My life?”
“O’ course.” He found himself holding his breath as he waited to hear more about the intriguing woman who had somehow managed to cross his path in this tiny little town.
She continued along the trail. “This is pretty much it, Gavin.” She stepped over a tangle of roots and began a downward descent. “I’m nowhere near as exciting as you.”
“I don’ believe that at all.”
She pushed her sleeves up. “I write books, go to the pub and dance with my friends on Thursday nights, help out Iris in the library sometimes. Hike. Visit the café every now and again. Life is pretty simple.”
“Did you always want to live in a small town?”
