Page 24 of A Thistle Beyond Time
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Needing to cool his ardor, Cormac swam to the waterfall and let the icy water splash over his body. Watching Jenna walk away in the odd little bits of clothing she called abathing suithad him more than ready to follow – partially to cover her from the view of the others, and partially to find out if that kiss they shared would lead where he hoped it would.
Closing his eyes, Cormac tipped his head back and enjoyed the feel of the water coursing through his hair. The sounds of feminine giggles from nearby alerted him to the fact that he was not alone, and upon opening his eyes, he was surprised to see he was surrounded by a number of naked women, all smiling, and observing him with obvious admiration.
“Ladies,” he nodded. As he attempted to move away from them, the circle around him tightened.
“You’re a cute one,” the red-haired lass with the emerald green eyes said.
“Cute?” Cormac repeated, not knowing what she meant.
“I’m Amy. And you are?” she asked.
“Me name is Cormac. I’m pleased to meet ye.”
The girls all giggled.
“I love your accent,” the dark haired girl on his right said, as she moved closer.
“Thank ye,” Cormac replied. “Are ye a friend of Jenna’s?”
“No, we’re here with the guys.”
He wasn’t sure which guys, so he looked around to see if anyone was missing them. No one seemed to notice his dilemma.
“Dylan’s friends,” yet another girl said.
“No one told us there was going to be a hot English guy here,” Amy said.
“I be Scottish, lass,” he replied, feeling insulted.
With that, they all started oohing and aahing in chorus. Cormac was getting a bit nervous. That was not his usual reaction to women who were interested in him, but this time he didn’t want their attention. In the past, he would have enjoyed the company of the lot of them, but now he suddenly and inexplicably wanted to be out of the pool. Where had Jenna gone? He moved to swim past the girls, but the redhead wrapped herself around him. She had her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She was looking him right in the eye, with her nose touching his. Of course, Jenna chose that very moment to return, along with some of the catering staff. They all carried armloads of dry towels. Jenna took one look at Cormac, and stopped in her tracks, before she dropped the towels and ran back inside.
“Hey, Amy. What do you think you’re doing? You’re supposed to be here with me,” the man Dylan had introduced to Cormac as Tank yelled, from across the pool.
“Just having some fun, babe. Nothing for you to worry about.” Amy disentangled herself from Cormac and swam across to Tank, giving him a kiss on the lips and putting herself in the exact same position she was just in with Cormac. The other lasses followed, latching on to the rest of Dylan’s friends.
“Jenna’s pretty pissed,” Dylan said, as he swam up to Cormac. ‘What did you do that for?”
“The lass threw herself at me! I didnae ask her to. I need to find Jenna and explain to her,” Cormac was worried; Jenna had seemed extremely upset.
Dylan laid his hand on Cormac’s shoulder. “I’d leave her alone for now, if I were you. Let her cool off. I’ll talk to her later for you.”
Cormac shook his head ruefully. “Dylan, I cannae ask ye to intervene for me every time something goes wrong with Jenna.”
“Okay, but I’m telling you, she’s not going to want to hear it right now.”
“I’m going to go find her,” Cormac said, and he could hear the determination in his own voice.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Dylan, I’m nae afraid of yer cousin. She’s but a wee lass, with a big temper.” Cormac swam for the side of the pool and grabbed a towel, which he wrapped around his waist before beginning his search for Jenna.
* * *
Jenna couldn’t believe her eyes. She had just started, stupidly, to think Cormac might be what she needed in her life, at this moment in time. She wasn’t out of his sight for more than five minutes and he was already glued to some girl she didn’t even know!Typical man.Well, she wasn’t about to let that happen again. To think, she had kissed him! What was wrong with her? She couldn’t seem to keep her lips to herself when he was around.I hope you learned your lesson this time, Jenna. Men are not to be trusted, no matter how good they kiss.
“Jenna, I must speak with ye.” Cormac appeared in the doorway to her bedroom.
