Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss (3 page)

No, she would definitely get better,
Ruby told herself firmly. Her fever was only due
to a change in climate because she was now in a different country;
that was all. Or perhaps it was some sort of bug, nothing more.
Could it be malaria? But how could she possibly have gotten malaria
when she only spent one day in Kuala Lumpur? And most of that short
time, she stayed in her hotel room, sleeping.

Groaning silently, she ruefully hoped she was not bothering
the passenger sitting next to her. Gosh! What a nice kickoff for
her big overseas trip! Suddenly, she felt like she was about to
vomit. In response, she tightened her fingers around the elephant
pendant on her chest while her other hand cupped her mouth. That
way, she wouldn’t embarrass herself in front of the other
passengers. Thank God, most were asleep.

With a shiver, the pain suddenly hit her with full force,
making her groan in agony. She squeezed her eyelids shut tightly,
tears burning behind them. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she
yanked her glasses off to wipe the stubborn tears away. After
silently struggling her way out of her seat, she headed toward the
toilet, taking slow, painful steps and holding onto the aisle seats
for support. She knew she was sweating like a pig, and wondered,
contritely, if she smelled like one, too.
Oh God,
the
world was spinning around her like crazy. Her breaths were coming
in short, sharp gasps, and her vision started to blur. This was not
good. Not good at all.

She bumped against
somebody. A male body; hard, firm, and utterly warm against her
cold, clammy skin.

“
So—sorry,” she managed to murmur, her eyes on the floor,
entirely focused on avoiding a fainting spell.

“
Are you all right?” the
deeply timbred voice of a Scottish accent drifted softly to her
ears.

She felt the slight touch
of his fingers against her arm and tilted her head to see a blurry
face before her. She blinked, trying to make out who he
was.

“
I—I—no, I’m not all
right,” she whispered. Involuntarily, she closed her eyes and felt
herself falling.

When Ruby regained
consciousness, she knew one thing for sure: she was still on the
plane. The sound of the engine humming soothed her aching body and
blurry mind, which, oddly enough, made her feel better. The nausea,
to her surprise, was also gone.

Moving to get into a more
comfortable position, she suddenly realized her head was resting on
a hard, firm chest. She glanced up; and her eyes met those of a
silvery grey color. Well, at least she thought they were a silvery
grey color. She didn’t have her glasses on, so her vision was
dreadful, despite her close proximity. She touched her head and
hastily removed herself from him.

“
I’m sorry. I have no idea
how I got here,” she apologized weakly. Odd for her body to feel so
warm and rather tingly, which made her wonder what could have
caused it. Perhaps the fever broke and now she was better. She
sighed with relief at that thought.

Turning her attention to her surroundings, despite her
blurry vision, she noted the place was exceptionally spacious, and
the seat seemed very comfortable and large.
First class?

“
Are you feeling better?”
he asked, drawing her attention from her surroundings back to
him.

Ruby blinked, and her throat went dry. She didn’t dare look
at him, but instead, gazed at his very firm chest where the collar
of his white silk shirt parted. His body was hard, and she could
feel him beneath her: the warmth, the firmness, and the uncanny
feeling that it was just so right being there in his arms.
Instantly, her body shivered, doing something weird as her stomach
fluttered with a new excitement.
Dear God, this was beyond embarrassing.
She couldn’t believe that she was on top of a
man she didn’t even know! Her mother would have been
shocked!

“
Yes, thank you. How did I
get here?” she asked, blushing profusely.

“
You fainted. I thought it
was better for you to stay here until the plane landed. It’s too
stuffy and cramped where you were sitting.”

She licked her lips,
setting her eyes on his arm now, and marveling at the firm,
muscular shape. “Did I take someone else’s seat?” she asked
stupidly.

“
No, this one is
empty.”

Ruby swallowed. The low
resonance in his voice, combined with that deliciously hot Scottish
accent, made her head swim with delight. Brian had a Scottish
accent; yet his voice didn’t affect her like this one
did.

“
Go back to sleep. You’ll
feel much better later,” he suggested.

She had to agree with
that. Tired as she was, she didn’t argue, but dozed off again,
thinking how nice this Scottish man sitting beside her
was.

When she woke up again,
she felt well rested. And yes, to her annoyance and embarrassment,
she found her head leaning on the too comfortable shoulder of the
Scottish stranger again.

“
Sorry,” she murmured, her
eyes downcast, and her cheeks blushing a rather becoming
pink.

“
No problem,” he chuckled.
“I hope my shoulder made a comfortable pillow.”

She sneaked a peek at him,
and even though she couldn’t quite see him clearly, she could not
restrain herself from gasping in awe. To say this man was handsome
was a cruel understatement. Then she noticed him gazing at her
necklace with a look on his face that she couldn’t quite
understand. She automatically touched the elephant
pendant.

“
Where did you get that?
It’s beautiful.”

She was not sure why he
wanted to know. Perhaps it was because he liked it and wanted to
get one for himself? She wondered briefly, but at that moment,
frankly, didn’t care.

“
My friend gave it to me a
long time ago. I think when I was seven. I’ve never seen him since
then,” she said, thinking about the boy with brown hair and grey
eyes. The boy who once promised he’d come back for her. Her heart
constricted with pain at the memory of him.

The Scotsman moved his
head toward her, his eyes piercing into hers.

“
What’s his
name?”

“
Alee,” she said
absentmindedly; her voice soft with a hint of bittersweet
undertone. She gazed up at him and could see that he was looking at
her strangely, as if he just discovered something too painful for
him to endure. Realizing she was sharing a bit too much personal
information with a stranger, she commented, “I’d better get back to
my own seat.”

The moment she stood up, her surroundings spun and began
swimming past her.
Damn!
She knew she
shouldn’t stand too quickly, what with her low blood pressure and
all.

“
You all right? It’s not
long until we land. Might as well stay put,” he
suggested.

Ruby felt his firm hand on
her arm, and her body tingled in response.

“
No, I’d better go now,” she replied quickly, realizing this
man was too handsome, wealthy, and powerful for her peace of mind.
She felt rather intimidated by him and quickly struggled to move
past. “Thank you so much for the seat and, um, for looking after
me,” she managed under her breath with embarrassment. Then she
rushed away as if the devil himself were chasing her.

Back in the crowded
economy class, she tried to remember where her seat was as she
searched her surroundings with a strange sense of dread.

“
Are you all right there?”
the flight attendant asked behind her.

“
Er, yeah, I’m fine,” Ruby
replied, scanning around once again before she remembered it was
row 15B. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she confirmed; more to herself than to
the flight attendant.

After taking her seat, she
closed her eyes and wondered if she’d ever meet the handsome
Scotsman again in the future.

* * *

One Week Later

Alec James Hasting,
multibillionaire of the Hasting Empire, turned his eyes from the
tranquil view of their backyard garden to look at his sister. Yes,
Susan was a beauty all right, and even more so at that moment. She
was wearing a red Dior Greek gathered dress with matching ruby and
gold Dior earrings, necklace, and bracelet. She was tall and
slender with the face of an angel. Men fell at her feet, begging
for her love, and yet, Susan only had eyes for one man; and that
was her ex-fiancé, Brian McArthur.

“
Please, Alec, won’t you help me?” Susan begged, her eyes
glistening with fresh tears. “I’m your sister. I know Brian is
falling for
that
girl; and I don’t know what to
do.”

“
I’m sure it’s only your
imagination, Sue,” Alec said soothingly. “You do tend to rely on it
too much. Besides, you said it is the first time you saw them
together.”

“
Oh, Alec, you think I’m
making this up? You know me better than that. I just know it’s her.
She’s the reason why we drifted apart, the reason why we broke up.
She’s the cause of it all.” Susan turned from her brother, ambled
to the sofa, and sat down with her head bowed. “I know I was the
one who broke up the engagement six months ago, but I just can’t
get over him. I know I want him back, Alec.”

Alec sat beside his
sister; his arm wrapped around her slumped shoulders. “Just give it
time. Surely, Brian is not the only—”

“
But there will never be a
man like Brian, Alec. I don’t know what to do. I just don’t. He’s
taking that girl to his castle in Scotland, just the two of them!
What do you think that means?” She looked at him
dejectedly.

Alec frowned. Brian, to the best of his knowledge, had
never taken any woman to Westwick Castle, a prime estate he
inherited from his great uncle, Sir William McArthur, five years
ago. Alec, himself, had only visited there a few years prior, just
before the major renovation. Brian said back then that the castle
was a present for his future, after he found the perfect woman. It
would be a place for him to raise his family. Since then, many
socialite chicks dated Brian, but to Alec’s knowledge, Brian never
took any of them to Westwick Castle.
That
, however, was
about to change with the appearance of this new young
woman.

“
Alec, what do you
think?”

Alec could hear the fear
in his sister’s soft, gentle voice. He rested his palm on the top
of her head and smiled in reassurance.

“
What if he asks her to
marry him?” She bowed her head and stared at her red Jean Paul
Gaultier pumps. “She’s only a girl and not even that
pretty.”

“
How do you know she’s
only a girl and not that pretty?” Alec asked as he took a tissue
from the Kleenex box before offering it to her.

Susan gently dabbed the tissue under her eyes, careful not
to mess up her makeup. The smell of rose soothed her frustration.
She sniffed and gave out a little laugh. “I saw him with her only a
couple of days ago at the McArthur Hotel restaurant, and on Bond
Street. They were shopping together, and I think he was buying her
clothing—
designer
clothing, Alec. She’s so stupid, she
doesn’t even know the difference between a Fendi handbag and some
random bag from a cheap shop.”

Alec wanted to tell his
sister not everyone was a fashion guru like her. He kept quiet,
however, knowing he might hurt her sensitive feelings.

“
I have a picture of her,”
she said suddenly.

Alec raised his brows.
“You have a picture of her?”

“
Do you want to see it? I
mean, so that you understand why. I mean, why Brian is falling for
her. You’re both men, and men kind of understand each other,
right?” She looked at him, hoping he could shed some
light.

Alec, an over-protective
big brother, knew he’d do anything to help his sister—provided it
was within reason. In fact, he was more like a father to her than a
brother since the death of their parents, thirteen years ago. He
couldn’t bear to see her suffer. After all, it took her a full year
to recover from the trauma, and much longer than that for him to
persuade her everything was going to be all right. In return, Susan
had always been there for him, even when he temporarily went off
the deep end after his divorce. The thought of Amy, his ex-wife,
didn’t hurt him anymore. He felt nothing toward her now, thanks to
Susan, who helped him climb out of the hellhole. Susan looked after
him when all he wanted was to be left alone to suffer the agony of
betrayal, rejection, and not being loved.

He knew firsthand the pain
of what it felt like to be rejected and unloved. It was lonely and
constant, and he certainly didn’t want that for his sister. Not his
lovely sister. She’d surely be dragged down into the quicksand,
never to re-surface. She was such a fragile thing. Hadn’t he seen
it before after their parents’ death? He was sure if Brian, a nice
young man and family friend since they were children, were to ask
this new young woman to marry him, Susan would, no doubt,
suffer.

“
We were in the restaurant
that night when one of my friends asked to take our photos.” She
took out her BlackBerry and showed him the picture. “What do you
think?”