Page 62 of Highland Games
‘But what about the other week when you helped me rescue Basil from the tree?’
‘RescueBasil?’
‘You said you were going to go home and drink a bottle of whisky.’
He grinned at her. ‘That’s the power you have. You could drive any man to drink.’
‘As far as I know, I’ve only driven one man so nuts he’s bought a rat to scare me away and chased a herd of yaks into my back garden.’
Heat ran across Rory’s high cheekbones. ‘You’re right. You drive me absolutely crazy.’
There was silence, a tingling current of electricity fizzed in the air between them.
Rory swallowed. ‘Is it okay? The steak.’
Zoe dropped her cutlery. ‘Oh my god, yes! I’m having a foodgasm. It’s the most incredible meal I’ve ever eaten in my entire life. If only I could eat like this every day.’
‘You can. This is pretty much all I eat.’
‘What? You just eat steak? For breakfast?’
‘I eat other meat too, and fish and eggs and occasionally dairy, but mainly beef.’
Zoe’s mouth dropped open. ‘What? But you eat fruit and veg, right?’
‘Nope. Plants are overrated.’
‘But?’ she sounded utterly bewildered. ‘Bread? Cereal? Pasta? Nuts?’
‘Nope, nope, nope, nope. Just meat.’
‘But won’t you get scurvy?’
Rory flashed her a killer smile, showing off his perfect white teeth. ‘Not in the last four years.’
‘FOUR YEARS? Doesn’t your mother force-feed you spinach?’
‘She gave up trying long ago,’ he replied with a grin.
He could see her confusion and questions so decided to help her out. ‘No, it’s not expensive if you eat the whole animal. My food bill is less than it used to be. I’m far less worried now about cancer and heart disease than I was before, and I presume you want to know how my bowels function? They’re now perfect.’
Zoe was beetroot red. ‘But, doesn’t it get boring?’ she asked sceptically.
He looked intently at her. ‘Are you bored right now?’
She swallowed, and shook her head.
They ate in a companionable silence for a few minutes. Rory mirrored Zoe’s smiles, but his guts were churning. When should he tell her? And how? He kept stalling, hoping that Prosecco and the best steak in the world might soften the blow. She finished eating before him and sat back in her chair, studying him. When he finished eating she leaned forward, her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her hands.
‘Okay, come on, out with it,’ she said, her dark eyes pinning him to the chair. ‘What’s up? You look like a condemned man having his last meal before facing the firing squad.’
He swallowed and put down his knife and fork, tugging at the top of his shirt. Anxious prickles of heat scuttering down his neck. ‘I, I don’t know how to explain, I’ve got no excuses. I should have told you weeks ago,’ he began. He was desperate, haunted. He knew this was it. He was about to step off into the void.
‘Who’s Lucy?’
Rory’s gaze flicked to the bed behind her, then back, his pulse racing.
Zoe cocked her head. ‘Did you make the bed for her?’
