Page 7 of A Thistle Beyond Time
Jenna looked around Dylan and an angry scowl lit across her features as she spied Cormac.
“I thought I told you to take him to a shelter! What didn’t you understand about that?” She snapped.
“I couldn’t do that to him, Jenna. He’s from another country and he doesn’t know anyone here. He’s a good guy, really. We just spent the last hour having breakfast and getting to know each other.”
“Dylan, I know what you’re up to, so you can stop right now.” Letting go of the vacuum, Jenna crossed her arms over her chest.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dylan replied.
“I know this is all a practical joke. I don’t know how you pulled it off and I don’t know where you got this guy from, but I can’t believe you would do that to me. You know how upset I’ve been lately and whenheappeared out of nowhere, well… I thought he was a serial killer or something.”
“Iwould never harm ye, lass.” Cormac said, as he peeked around from behind Dylan.
“I know that now, but at the time I was pretty scared.”
“I apologize to ye. I didnae mean to scare ye.”
“It wasn’t a practical joke, Jenna. This guy, Cormac, is from Scotland and he was sent here by a witch. That’s the Edna he mentioned. Anyway, he’s not even from this time. He’s from the sixteenth century. Can you believe it?” Dylan asked excitedly.
“No. I can’t believe it and I don’t. Nice work trying to convince me of something completely impossible. Have you been taking acting classes lately, Dylan, ’cause you’re pretty good. If I didn’t know you better, I might even believe you.”
“It’s true, Jenna. I’m not making it up. Tell her Cormac.”
“He’s telling the truth, lass. Edna sent me from the year 1514. She said ye were to be me wife.”
“Now don’t start that again. You both need to give it up. I don’t believe you. There’s no such thing as time travel. Period. The end.”
“Okay. I won’t mention it again, but we’re not lying and time travel is totally possible, you’ll see,” Dylan insisted.
Jenna got a chill down her spine. How could she possibly see? Something was off here, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Best just to let Dylan have his fun and ignore his Scottish friend as much as possible. She stood there, vacuum cleaner in hand once again and looked from Dylan to Cormac, where her gaze rested. He was truly an amazing looking man. He could have stepped out of one of those fancy men’s cologne ads. He was definitely not hard on the eyes. Speaking of eyes, his were the most beautiful shade of blue. The word cerulean came to mind. Although why, she couldn’t say. It wasn’t a word she ever used.I guess I’ve read one too many romance novels.His face was perfectly constructed – the features were bold and angular from his straight nose, to his strong jaw line. He was definitely all man. His mouth revealed very kissable lips and she wondered if they were as soft as they appeared. His body was next up for examination as she continued her perusal. He had broad shoulders, strong arms and hands. His chest was straining the bounds of his t-shirt and tapered to narrow hips and really nice legs. That kilt he wore was so sexy. She wondered if it was true that nothing came between a man and his kilt. Jenna suddenly became aware of the fact that the room had gone completely silent. She raised her head and was embarrassed to see two pairs of eyes watching her. A slow, sexy grin spread across Cormac’s face and she thought she might just faint from embarrassment and the devastating affect that grin was having on her heart.
“I’ll get the guest room set up for Cormac, since we’re the only people he knows here and we can’t just put him out on the street to fend for himself.” Dylan broke the uncomfortable silence.
“He looks pretty capable of taking care of himself, if you ask me. Can’t he just stay at a hotel?” Jenna asked.
“Don’t be like that, Jenna. We don’t want Cormac going back to Scotland with stories about how rude Americans are, do we?”
“I guess not. Okay. He can stay, as long as he doesn’t mention taking me back to Scotland to be his wife. Understood?”
Both men nodded in agreement.
“Come on, Cormac. I’ll show you to your room.”
“Jenna, lass, thank ye.”
“You’re welcome. I think.”
* * *
Cormac followed Dylan to what would be his bedroom. It was small in comparison to his bedroom at Breaghacraig, but there was plenty of room for him to be comfortable. The bed was large and the windows let in enough light to keep the room bright and cheery.
“This is it.” Dylan extended his arm as he presented Cormac with the room.
“’Tis verra nice. I will be most happy here.”
“Well, don’t get too comfortable. We’ll be heading to the other house in the East Bay tomorrow.”
“Ye have another home?”
