Page 21 of Edinburgh Escape
“Where?” she whispered.
He chuckled. “Edinburgh. Let’s get out of the station. I texted a friend who lives nearby and has a flat in Old Town. He’ll let us use his place to sleep for a few hours rather than try to find a hotel. If we hurry, we’ll catch him before he goes to work, and he’ll let us in.”
“Okay,” Maggie nodded but didn’t move.
“Are you awake?” Callum whispered.
“I’m awake,” she said.
Something soft brushed across one of her closed eyelids.
“Mmm, that’s nice,” she said, not at all ready to open her eyes.
The same soft touch swept across her other eyelid.
Curious as to what could possibly feel so good, she opened one eye to Callum’s mouth coming closer.
His lips pressed lightly against her forehead. “Wake up, sweet Maggie,” he whispered.
For a moment, she basked in the tenderness, the haze of exhaustion slowly dissipating.
By the time she came fully awake, Callum smiled and pushed to his feet. “Feel any better?”
Maggie’s head spun a little at the realization that Callum had kissed her forehead. And, if she wasn’t mistaken, both her eyelids. Was kissing part of the standard operating procedures for a bodyguard to wake his client? If so, could she ask him to repeat the process?
Wait. What was she thinking? Heat flooded her cheeks.
Suddenly wide awake, she sat up straight. “I’m much better,” she lied and pushed to her feet.
Awake? Yes. Confused? Extremely.
Able to move about on her own, she didn’t take the arm he offered. Instead, she followed him off the train and through the station.
“We can take the shortcut or the long way around,” Callum said as they left the station.
“Shortcut,” she said.
His brow wrinkled. “I warn you, there are a significant number of stairs.”
The sooner they got where they were going, the sooner she could get a real shower for the first time since she’d left Montana. The shower-toilet combo in her cabin on the sleeper train didn’t count. “I’ll take my chances.”
Minutes later, on the hundredth step, Maggie was second-guessing the shortcut.
“Do you need to stop for a breath?” Callum paused a couple of steps above her, barely breathing hard despite the fact he carried her case, her backpack and his backpack. “I’m sorry. We should’ve taken the long way around.”
“You warned me,” she wheezed. “I’ll be all right once we reach the top. Please tell me we’re close.”
He grimaced. “We’re about a third of the way up.”
Maggie swallowed a groan. “I’m hiring a personal trainer as soon as I get home.”
Callum chuckled. “Seriously, you should stop and catch your breath.”
“No way,” she said, moving past him, “I’ll lose my momentum.”
He fell in step with her and stayed at her side the rest of the way to the top. Once there, Maggie bent over, a stitch in her side, sucking air into her lungs. After a minute, she straightened. “I thought I was in reasonably good shape from chasing four and five-year-olds around the classroom and playground. I was sorely mistaken.”
He took her hand. “Come on, it’s not much further.”
