Page 70 of Lochlan

HIDDEN AGENDA

LOCHLAN

Icall Aubrey from the theaterto tell him we'll stay for dinner, and to prepare a new room for us to stay the night. We treat our time together as a bubble where no one else exists until morning, when we turn back into the people we were when we entered the mansion.

On the drive back to her apartment, Kenzie tells me she’s leaving for San Diego that afternoon to interview volleyball clubs because she left Crimson Beaches. She neglects to say that I am the reason she's no longer with the club.

I appear suitably shocked. I can't let her know that Pru already gave me this news in confidence.

We talk a bit while sitting in front of her apartment. I make no promises for a future; she knows I can't. I get her permission to use the painting for the Catriona project as a parting gift.

* * *

The dark morninghas me moving around the apartment by instinct. I'm not ready to turn on a light, so I set the coffeemaker to brew while I shower.

I'm dressing when there's light tapping at the door. I have at least fifteen minutes before my meeting with Geordie. He wouldn't come to my door this early unless there's an emergency, and he'd be breaking the door down to get in.

I finger-comb my wet hair and slip into my shirt. In jeans and barefoot, I should be decent enough to answer the door. The tapping begins again. I swing open the door to a woman not facing me, and for a few heart pounding moments, I think it's Kenzie until she turns around and it's Fiona's bright smile that greets me.

“Good morning. I had hoped to catch you before you met with Geordie. I came to your room on the chance you might still be here. You've been answering my texts late, and there're people in your office when I drop by. You're a hard man to catch alone.”

I open the door wider for her to come in. “Good morning,” watching her walk by. “Don't we have a standing meeting this afternoon?”

She saunters to the kitchen and pulls down two cups. I shut the cold out and join her at the counter.

“We have a meeting today, but my news and what I need to ask you can't wait.”

I rest my hip against the counter while she drifts around the space.

“Have you heard from Granda?”

She opens the refrigerator as if she lives here and pulls out the milk.

“I speak with Ian tomorrow. Don't worry; what I have is good news.” She opens cupboards. “Where do you keep the sugar? Never mind, I see it just there. You still take milk and one sugar?”

I nod. “Fiona, there's no need to fix my coffee.”

She smiles as she dumps in the milk and stirs in the sugar. “You might have been gone three years, but there's one thing that hasn't changed. You need coffee in the morning to think clearly. I'm just making sure that you're alert when I give you my news.”

She grabs both mugs, heading for the table. “Sit, Lochlan, while we discuss this over your first cup of coffee. And could you turn a light on? I want to see your reaction when I tell you what's about to happen.”

The lights blaze on when I hit the switch and Fiona appears in sharp detail. I take my seat as she eyes my open shirt, then looks down at her coffee. Is that embarrassment? That's something new for Fiona. My fingers find my bottom shirt button to make myself more acceptable for company. She inclines her head towards my cup as a sign to begin and I'm caught in a time warp back in Scotland when she ruled my life.

My mind, as a defense, remembers my time with Kenzie a few days ago. I lift my cup and drink deeply, happy for the recent memory.

“I have enough caffeine buzzing through my system. What's your news?”

“First, I want to know if Logan has given you permission to use his portrait for the Catriona brand?”

“He has, and he's agreed to a portion of the marketing sales.”

“Excellent. Now that we have that secured, we can go forward with the marketing. You'll be on a segment ofGood Morning San Pacitas. I've given an exclusive to the host, Jillian Barry. I promised her you'll announce Catriona and discuss the facility.”

A familiar dread ascends on my awareness.

“I don't enjoy publicity. I've been in the tabloids enough to hate it.”

This comes out before I realize why I was in the news, and my callous remark strikes a nerve with Fiona. She recovers with a tight smile.

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