Page 45 of Some Like It Scot
A few scattered laughs followed her comment, but one look in those watery eyes of hers proved the humor a ruse. And if I hadn’t been trying to suss out what lay behind her fake smile, I may have spent too much time on the idea that she thought me handsome.
“I would have gone in after her ifhehadn’t beat me to it.” The eejit who’d pushed her waved toward me, but I refused to give his flimsy excuse a response. Instead, I wrapped my jacket around Katie.
Her expression registered surprise, and no wonder, with my less than noble reaction earlier. Well, if I was going to be a grump, at least I could be a decent one.
“Let’s get her to the bookshop and into the dry.” Mum wrapped her arm around Katie, a humorous picture, seeing as Mum’s petite stature barely made it to Katie’s shoulder. “Graeme can light a fire in the stove to help knock off the chill.”
I walked ahead of them to begin my task, with the sound of Mrs. Lennox’s voice in my ears. “Everyone, please carry on with your shopping. Carry on. We have the situation under control.”
Indeed! I increased my pace and stifled a growl.
“Katie-girl, let’s find you something to wear that’s not soaked to the skin.” Mum seated Katie on a chair near the stove as I worked with the wood. “Graeme, I’m going to the back to brew a pot and then ring Second Go to see what clothes Lara can send over.”
She bustled away, leaving me and Katie alone in the room. I kept turned away from her as I worked, but the sound of her shakingbreaths so near sent tingles up my back and sent me into quicker motion.
“I’d heard tea solved everything in Britain, but I hadn’t experienced its magic until I came here.”
I kept my face forward, lighting the kindling beneath a few dry pieces of wood. “That, or ale for some people.”
“Oh, right.” She chuckled. “Two drinks that cause two very different internal warmth responses.”
“Aye.” Though, the memory of her in my arms came with its own unwelcome internal warmth response. I pinched my eyes closed and sighed, then blew into the small flicker. The flame took hold, moving from the kindling to the wood pieces. I stood and turned toward her, her face paler than I liked. “Come a wee bit closer and you’ll start feeling the warmth.”
She obeyed. “You don’t need to stay here for my sake, Graeme. I’m sure you’d like to get some dry clothes on too.”
I ignored her dismissal and folded my arms across my chest. “Who’s the eejit?”
“The eejit?”
“The radge who pushed you in the loch.”
Her brows rose and then her lips. “Mark?”
“Aye, Mark. Why is he in competition with you?”
She shook her head and looked away. “We’re both up for the same award for using humor and creativity in our social media presence. I won last year, so he’s extra determined to win this time.”
“You write humor?”
“Miss Adventure?” She glanced back up at me and waved toward herself. “That’s me. I mean, my latest exploit, of which you played an integral role”—she gestured toward the door—“is just part and parcel of my brand.”
“I thought you wrote about travel.”
“I do. I write about travel tips and locations and people, but myfollowers are used to me sharing about the things that go wrong. Most of the time they’re more humorous or ridiculous than life-threatening, but humor has always been a part of my life.”
“Life can be hard. Humor is a good weapon to have in defense.”
Her gaze held mine a moment before we both looked away. The crackling of the growing fire broke into the silence.
“I’m sorry for...” She shrugged.
“No.” I raked a hand through my hair and took a seat across from her. “It wasnae your fault. And”—I drew in a deep breath, forcing out the words—“I was glad to be... a help.”
Her eyes narrowed for the briefest moment, lips wobbling as if trying to sort out what to say next. “What do you have against the whole hero thing?”
Heroes saved the day. Kept the girl. Rescued the moment. My track record so far wasn’t stellar. I couldn’t save my sister. Allison left. And I’d had to reach near-poverty to secure purchase of our family’s estate house. None of those things sounded heroic in the least.
I shrugged. “I dinnae have anythingagainstit.”
