The Great Scot (18 page)

His lips did curve a bit then. Someone was hiding here, but he didn't think it was him at the moment. “I appreciate that. So, you've prospects then?” he asked, definitely relieved she'd shifted her focus from him in this instance. If she'd promised to find someone else, he trusted she'd do just that.

But then he couldn't help but picture her interviewing those other blokes…and wondering if perhaps they would be looking at her and thinking the same thing she had him thinking. Of course, in the end, despite the sparks between them, she'd taken the professional high road. So he could rest easy knowing that even if one of them did strike her fancy, it was doubtful she'd pursue it. If she were inclined that way, she'd be pursuing him then, wouldn't she?

Gah. He really needed to get her naked as soon as possible. All this waiting and wondering was making him over-think things. Surely he'd cease to care so much once he'd gotten his fill of her. All his questions would be answered.

Though he'd have liked to be a wee bit more convinced of that than he was.

“Um, well, I do have a target of opportunity,” she answered.

“A ‘target of opportunity.' Sounds more like a military drill.”

“A well thought out battle strategy never hurt anybody.”

He laughed. Something he did with increasing frequency around her. Widower or not, he didn't like to think himself so humorless and severe. But he suspected it had been more true of him than not of late.

“Speaking of which, where are we headed?”

He glanced over at her, as he let the Jag run a little. The single track road they were on wasn't all that windy, nor was it well traveled at any time of the day. As late as it was, they were in little danger of coming abruptly upon a slow moving lorry, or a herd of sheep or cattle blocking their progress. Racing across the valley floor, the full moon lighting his way, his adrenaline surged to match their pace. He enjoyed the rare thrill, the heady rush of excitement, and perhaps a bit of the danger as well. The danger being seated next to him.

“Would you rather it be a surprise or shall I spoil it for you?”

She didn't answer right away, but rather seemed to settle back in her seat and relax a bit more. A quick glance showed her attention was on the moonlit road ahead, and not on him. But then he'd known that. He felt it whenever her gaze was on him. Like a physical caress.

“You did do a pretty good job of picking the last spot,” she said, at length. “I suppose I can trust you.”

He wondered if there was a hidden meaning in that, but decided there wasn't, as that suited his plans far more. She could certainly beg off once again if she didn't welcome his attentions. But he didn't plan on making it easy for her. “How I've come up in the world,” he said dryly.

He felt her look at him now, and caught the smile curving her lips as he downshifted and looked over at her, before starting the climb into the low hills.

“You might not be fully aware of your charms, but you're hardly an innocent,” she told him. “Not even close.”

“Are you saying I'm a wicked sort, then?”

That made her shift in her seat. “You told me yourself you were no saint. But what I'm saying is you're self-assured.”

“You say that like it's a bad thing.”

“Not at all. But while I appreciate your assistance, I figure it's probably best not to poke and prod at you too much. You tend to poke and prod back.”

He laughed again, because she was quite right. At least where she was concerned. If she only knew the poking and prodding he dreamed of doing with her. Well, he supposed she had a pretty clear idea after their little tryst in his library the other day. “When you decided to come down and meet me, you truly had only business on your mind, then?”

She didn't respond right away. His hands tightened on the steering wheel. He might have been holding his breath.

“Your track record with date sites is stellar,” she said at length, once again taking the safe tack.

He'd see how far she'd get with that. “Ah.”

“Ah, what?”

“So, that's it then. I'm only to play tour guide?”

“That is what you offered.”

He slowed the car on a curve in the road, then braked so he could turn off the main track onto a narrower packed gravel path. It was hardly more than a trail, but it only went about fifty yards, and having been out here once today already, he knew it was traversable in the sports car.

“Where are we?”

He rolled to a stop just before passing the end of a stand of trees that blocked the view of their destination. He released his seat belt and shifted in his seat to look at her fully, waiting for her to return his gaze. When she did, he said, “You were right when you said you could trust me. That has been true since we first met, and remains true now. I've been honest to the point of bluntness from the start, and admire the same in you, more than you might know. So answer me this. A man asks you to meet him at midnight for an adventure and you agree. Is business all that really came to mind when you read my note?”

“You first. Do you really have other intentions this evening?”

He responded by opening the door and climbing out, circling the back of the car and opening her door. He held out his hand, and after staring up at him for a long moment, she placed her hand in his and let him draw her out of the car. He didn't back away, keeping her in the narrow space between the open door and his body. She didn't shift away. Nor did she move closer.

“You know I wasn't the one who wanted to stop things the other evening. Do you think that has changed?”

“Given the way that meeting ended, and your silence since then, perhaps. Do you think my reasons for stopping have changed?”

“You said yourself that you're going to look elsewhere to find Tommy his next victim. There might be a bit of a muddled line between us, but I see your production team has no problems mixing business with pleasure.” His mouth curved at the corners. “I don't think the local lads have stopped beaming in days. Bragging over ales has kept Brodie's tap bent non-stop most every night.”

“Be that as it may—”

He stepped a bit closer then. “Do you usually set yourself apart from all that?”

She looked up into his face. “I don't have to. Normally by now I'd be back in L.A., getting ready to head out on a round of preliminary scouting trips for the next season.”

“Only this time the next season is here.” His smile deepened. “Lucky me.”

He saw the desire flare in her eyes. His body responded to it instantly and ardently. This time he didn't try to fight it or control it.

“Dylan—”

He placed a finger over her lips, further surprised to feel the fine tremor and realize it wasn't her lips that were trembling. “Why don't you let me show you the site?”

“So there is a site, it wasn't some ruse to get me alone in the middle of nowhere?” Her eyes danced a little. He liked it when she teased him.

“Oh, there's a site.” He grinned. “Not to say it wasn't a ruse, though.”

She shook her head, her smile a dry one. But the desire hadn't abated one bit. “So tell me, I don't hear any waterfalls. What could be up here that's best seen at midnight?”

“You'll see. I wanted you to look at it through the same eyes as the couple you're tracking this site for, who will hopefully be experiencing this setting with a bit of romance in their hearts.”

Her lips twitched.

“What?” he asked, a wee bit affronted. “I thought we established that, shockingly, perhaps I had a wee bit of romance in my soul. Ye think I dinna appreciate the pleasure of it?”

She shook her head. “No, that's not it. I just—I don't know. Never mind, ignore me. You read me far too well.”

He smiled now. “And that's a bad thing?”

“Sometimes,” she said archly, but with obvious amusement.

He took her hand. “Come on, walk with me. It's just around the bend, past the trees.”

“It?”

“Aye.”

She bumped her shoulder into his, but matched his pace. And left her hand in his. “Tease.”

“No' yet, but give me some time,” he said, his tone never more heartfelt.

Her step faltered.

He turned and tugged her closer, so there was barely a space between them. “I willna lie, Erin. I want you. You know that.”

“Yes, but—”

“But I willna take you, that I swear.”

She looked confused. “Then why are you—”

He tugged her closer, so her body brushed his and she had to tip her head back to hold his gaze. “No' without your request. I willna do anything unless you ask me to.”

Even in the moonlight, he couldn't mistake the way her eyes darkened, or miss the way her throat worked.

He ran the tips of his fingers along the side of her face, and down along the side of her neck. “You're right, I'm no saint, Erin. I could have brought you here in the daylight, no' that it would have made a difference, I suppose. It didn't the last time we were alone. But this is a place meant for moonlight and stars. It's what gives it its romance. And I'm a selfish man. During the day you have so many people pulling you in so many directions. I wanted you to myself. Away from the calamity.”

“Away from untimely phone calls?”

“Aye, that, too,” he answered honestly. “And it's no' to say I'm not trying to bend things to my favor. I wanted to show you this site, aye, and help you. But of course it wasn't entirely for your benefit, but also about my own. I needed to know…” His voice trailed off, suddenly unsure of the words to use.

“Needed to know what?” she asked, sounding a slight bit on edge.

He knew the feeling. He let go of her hand and cupped her face with both palms. “I needed to know what this is about,” he said, sliding his fingers into the short wisps of her hair, cupping her head, tilting her mouth up to his.

“What what is about?”

“This.” He lowered his lips to hers, surprising even himself, given the voracious hunger she unleashed in him, that he didn't crush his mouth to hers, but took her gently, almost tenderly. He tasted her as if he'd never tasted anything so wondrous in his life, and maybe he hadn't. Slowly, as if he had all night, praying he did, he seduced her mouth, teased her lips apart slowly, before sinking sinfully deep into her mouth. Her groan of pleasure was matched by his own, and he wanted nothing more than to drag her down to the ground right there. His lack of control should have been unnerving, and perhaps it was, but in an exhilarating, life-affirming way that was in equal parts terrifying and addictive.

Only when she lifted her hands to his shoulders, and he felt her body sigh into his, did he force himself to lift his mouth from hers. He wasn't sure if it was to avoid losing what was left of his control so soon…or losing what was left of him. Forever.

He leaned his forehead on hers as they both steadied themselves, taking several deep breaths.

“I don't believe I asked for that kiss,” she said a bit breathlessly, fake rapprochement in her tone.

“Aye, but ye did. I saw it in your eyes.”

“Oh, so that's how it is,” she said, amused.

He smiled, but addressed the question seriously. “Maybe I have been out in the countryside too long,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, but clear in the still night air. “All I know is, we didn't feel as if we had finished yet.” He tipped her chin up so her eyes met his once again. “And I don't like to leave things unfinished.”

She stared at him for a very long time, during which he went through a kaleidoscope of feelings. Most of them unnerving. It mattered more than it should, he knew that. She mattered more than she should. It was time he stopped pretending otherwise.

“It—” She stopped, looked away for a moment, then back to him. “It didn't to me either.” Her gaze was beseeching. “I really don't know what to do about this, Dylan. What I do know is that I have a job to do, and I am not savvy enough to juggle a personal life with a professional one when they're so tangled up like this.”

“So when do you have a personal life?”

Her short laugh held not a whit of humor. “I guess I don't.”

“But you love your job.”

“Of course I do,” she said automatically, without a second thought. “It's a dream job.”

“So that's enough then. Does it fulfill you completely? And remember who you're talking to. A man who gave up his entire life to bury himself in a new one not of his direct choosing. A man only now coming to terms with such things as fulfillment and putting personal needs up against professional obligations, or, in my case, family and ancestral ones. So you canno' bullshit me, Erin.”

“Maybe it's not all fulfilling,” she confessed. “But I've never had to think about it. If I wonder about it from time to time, and I do, I guess I just figure it would find its own way at some point. I've been busy enough where I haven't really had time to think about it that much. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. Or I didn't.”