MacLarens of Balmorie 05 - Once Upon A Time In Scotland (2 page)

“Where did you and Jake go on your honeymoon,
Abbie
?” Mia asked.

Liam glanced in the rear view mirror at the black-haired lass, surprised to learn she was married after the way her exotic eyes had eaten him alive at the pub. Not that he'd minded. In fact, he'd experienced a definite jolt at the flash of lust in her eyes.

Well, hell. He was a wee bit disappointed.

“Oh, don't give me that look, Riley,” Mia said. “She's been divorced for four years and I doubt she'd want everyone to tiptoe around it. Isn't that right,
Abbie
?”

Divorced. His grip eased on the wheel and his shoulders relaxed. Liam couldn't help but flick another glance in the mirror to see
Abbie's
soft smile as she said, “Totally. No need to tip toe.”

Liam returned his attention to the road.

“We went to the Poconos,” she answered.

He had no idea what the Poconos were, but from the slight disappointment in
Abbie's
voice, it was clear she'd had some disappointment with the locale.

“Well, that could be nice,” Mia began with gentle optimism. “Nice cabin, romantic fire...”

“It was a cheap hotel off the interstate.”

“Oh.”

“Ouch.”

“Damn,
Abbie
.”

Abbie
gave a drunken laugh. “I didn't care, you know? The only thing that mattered was being together, not the location.” Most women wouldn't have thought of it like that. Well, at least the ones he'd been intimately familiar with. “It became pretty clear things weren't going to work out when he calculated all the receipts from the honeymoon and billed me for my share.”

“No!” Riley almost shouted.

“What a loser,” Mia said.

“Total fucker is more like it.” Blake tossed her hair over her shoulder with an angry flick. The girls went silent for half a second before bursting out laughing. “Well, it's true. No offense,
Abbie
.”

“None taken. He was. I should have seen it though, you know? In hindsight, he was so angry about me being pregnant, angry about getting married, angry that it would put a huge dent in his financial plans. All the cutting costs and things he claimed we had to do without was really punishment for Logan. Because we had enough money to be comfortable. He was relieved when it ended, relieved to wash his hands of the both of us.”

Bloody bastard if ever there was one, Liam thought, frowning. Old anger stirred inside him; he knew exactly what it was like to be abandoned by a parent.

“Well, good for you for getting out of the situation. I know it must've been hard.” Mia let out a heavy sigh. “I wished we would've kept more in touch. I miss you girls.”

Oh,
shite
. Liam stepped on the gas, hoping that by the time he got to the castle, the women hadn't flooded the cab of his truck with tears.

CHAPTER 2

By the time he parked, more than a few tears had been shed. But it hadn't been as bad as he'd expected. Jamie stepped from the castle to collect his drunken bride-to-be—no doubt, the man had been pacing the length of the Great Hall waiting for them to get back safely—as Liam helped everyone from the truck.
Abbie
was saying goodbye to her friends while Riley planted a kiss on Jamie's smiling lips.

“Appreciate you giving them a lift,” Jamie said as he approached. “I'll escort Blake and Mia to the cottage. Would you mind seeing
Abbie
to hers?”

“Aye, 'tis no trouble.”

With a grateful nod, Jamie helped Riley and her friends down the path that led to the small two bedroom cottage near the castle, leaving Liam standing in the drive with the black-haired beauty.
Abbie
was petite and curvy with creamy skin and a faint splattering of freckles across the bridge of a small nose. Her mouth was sexy as hell, and those dark, exotic eyes were mesmerizing.

She was so striking, he found himself asking, “What are you?”

She flinched. “What do you mean?”

Brilliant. He hadn't meant to give voice to his question so bluntly. But since he had... “Sorry. I mean your ancestry. You have an interesting look about you.”

Her deep frown suggested she was unsure if the word
interesting
was a compliment or not. “My mother is Greek and my father is Irish.”

“Ah. That makes sense then.”

“What makes sense?”

“Your eyes.
They're
,” he paused, trying to find a word that wouldn't embarrass him or insult her. “Beautiful. And your freckles...”
And that mouth and that fall of black hair..
. “It's a . . . nice, uh . . . combination.”

Holy
shite
. What was he, thirteen again?

Right. Well, he'd just screwed that up royally. He cleared his throat. “Ready to go?”

Her face was still stuck in a confused frown. “I'm fine. I brought the bike, so I can just walk it home.”

Liam shoved his hands in his pockets. Christ, he was jumpy tonight. “Where'd you leave it?”

She glanced at the corner of the castle and he saw it propped there against the wall. Without a word, he brought it over and put it in the back of his truck, then opened the passenger side door.

With a sigh, she got in.

He shut the door and went around to the driver's side, berating himself. Women never made him uneasy. But, this one...

The sooner he dropped her off, the better.

* * *

As Liam walked around the front of the truck,
Abbie
resisted the urge to rub her freckles—something she always itched to do whenever anyone mentioned them; as if she could ever rub them off. She'd tried enough times in her youth, but those faint spots were there to stay.

He'd said she looked . . .
nice
, and he'd been frowning like a madman when he said it. She had no idea what that meant exactly.

As he settled in and began driving her down the dirt track that led beyond the castle to her cottage,
Abbie
couldn't help but stare. He had a lovely profile. The way his hair curled around his ear and brushed his neck . . . she bet he smelled good there, probably tasted even better...

A low groan rumbled in her throat.

She looked away quickly when he glanced over.

Everyone said she was terrible at hiding her emotions. It was the eyes, they said, windows into every feeling she had.

Liam cracked a window, then let out a tense sigh. The muscle in his jaw ticked a few times. Awesome. He obviously did
not
appreciate being ogled by a semi-drunk, sex-starved—

“Everything is working well at the cottage?” he asked suddenly. “Power, water...”

The question was out of the blue and she had to concentrate in order to answer. “Well, the water in the bathtub won't heat beyond lukewarm,” she answered.

“Sorry about that. I'll have it fixed. Anything else? You're the first one to stay there since its renovation,” he explained.

“No, no that's it, I think. Just the water.”

Awkward silence filled the cab, but the cool air flowing in from the window was a welcome relief. Being alone with a smoking hot guy shouldn't have been so difficult. It was the alcohol making her all hot and bothered. Well, that, and the fact that she'd only had sex with a vibrator for the last four years. And even that eventually lost its meager appeal.

She craved companionship, touch, connection...

“
Abbie
?”

“Hmm?”

“We're here.”

Good Lord. They'd been idling in the small driveway for God knew how long. “Oh. Right.” She fumbled with the door handle, seeing double. Damn thing wasn't cooperating.

“Sit tight. I'll get it.”

“No it's fine, I can—”

But he was already out and hurrying around the truck. He reached for the handle at the same time she popped the door open, nearly falling out. Liam steadied her shoulders and then helped her out of the truck, his warm hands wrapped around her bare arms.

Nice. So nice to be touched again...

As she found her balance, her gaze traveled up the length of him with a wistful sigh, stopping on his face. And there were those butterflies again.

How she'd missed the feeling!

He was close and he hadn't let go of her arms, and she was starting to see double again, though double of Liam
MacLaren
wasn't exactly a bad thing because the view—or views—was so freaking fine. “You're so hot,” she blurted, and gave him a blinding smile.

The smile came into his eyes first, then led to an easy grin that broke the scruff on his cheeks and made her knees weak.

He stepped closer and
Abbie
reveled in the intimate bubble she found herself in. “You're pretty hot yourself, lass,” he replied in a low, amused tone.

She swayed forward, but he kept her from flattening herself against his chest. The world tilted a bit, but then righted itself. “Do you know,” she confided, “I haven't had sex in four years? Four.” She held up her fingers in case he needed to see. “Can you believe that? You know how many times I've had to replace my batteries?”

The world was beginning to tip slightly again and she swayed sideways. Liam—big, rugged, sexy as hell Liam—kept her from falling. What a guy. He was so great. And hot. So hot.

“Come on, let's get you inside.”

“All right,” she said with a hiccup and a laugh. “That'll be nice.”

* * *

Liam carried
Abbie
upstairs to the loft, set her on her feet, pulled back the covers, while holding onto her with one hand, and then helped her onto the mattress. Her dark, silky hair spilled over the white pillow like a halo. She stared up at him with glassy eyes and a soft, secret smile. Forcing himself to task, he went about unbuckling the straps to her sandals, trying not to note her trim ankles and calves, nor the way her skirt had ridden above her knees. His fingers were a wee bit fumbling, but he finally removed the shoes and set them on the floor.

Four years of no sex. And batteries. Dear God. He let out a breath before pulling the coverlet to her chin.

The moonlight through the window cast a pale glow over her lovely skin and those sexy freckles. Her slow blink revealed long inky lashes, tiny spikes against her skin. “I'm so
stinkin
' drunk,” she said with a happy smile. “Liam?”

He sat on the bed. “Aye,
Abbie
.”

“I found out something tonight.”

“You did?”

She nodded. “My
it
isn't really gone. It was just asleep. Like, in a coma. I didn't lose it.” Her grin was wide now and dreamy. Then, her look shifted to sadness. “And that's good because I'm so tired of being alone.”

Her honesty made his chest tight, one part of him wanting to run and the other wanting to lift her sadness.

“So,” she paused to draw in a deep breath, reaching up to cup his cheek. “Thank you.”

For what he wasn't sure. “You're welcome. I'm going downstairs to get you a glass of water. I'll be right back.”