MacLarens of Balmorie 05 - Once Upon A Time In Scotland (4 page)

As soon as the water came on and hit the cut, her dazed feeling evaporated.

“I'll need to pull it out.”

“Oh, jeez.” She braced her hands flat on the counter top behind her for support. “Yeah, okay. Just get it over with.” Her tolerance for physical pain was very low, and while she wasn't woozy around blood, she
hated
to hurt and hated the anticipation of hurting even more.

When he grabbed the small shard, she sucked in a hiss as it moved within the wound. “I'll pull on three. And stay still. I
dinna
want a piece to break off in your heel.”

“No, we
dinna
want that,” she echoed tensely.

“Ready?”

Deep breath in.
Abbie
nodded.

“One—”

He pulled.

“
Goddamn it!
” she yelled.

Liam pulled that sucker out on one and returned to manhandling her foot with a small smile on his face. A
smile
. She didn't know whether to curse him or kick him with her good foot. So she kicked him, swinging her good leg, which was hanging off the counter, and swatted him on the ass.

He jumped a little and let out a surprised laugh. His hand tightened around her ankle.

“Liar.”

“A wee one for the greater good.” He turned off the water and then wrapped a hand towel around her foot, holding it tightly against the cut to stop the bleeding as he turned his amused gaze her way.

Abbie
regarded him for a moment, a smile tugging at her lips. “What were you doing right outside the door anyway?”

“I came to adjust the water heater.”

When his gaze flicked down again and a muscle flexed in his jaw,
Abbie
realized, she was leaning back with her hands braced on the counter and her chest sticking out for all the world to see. In the thin cotton
cami
and no bra, she was giving him quite an eyeful.

Casually, she sat forward and rested her hands on her legs, trying hard not to think of her humiliating outbursts from the night before. But even as she tried, the thoughts flamed her cheeks and made her wonder how Liam must see her. Desperate. Horny. A sure thing.

Her mood plummeted.

“I'm sorry I frightened you,
Abbie
,” he said at length and she glanced up to find sincerity in his gaze. He unwrapped the towel to take a look. “It's a small cut. Might be sore for a little while.”

“It'll be fine,” she plastered on a smile she didn't feel. “Won't let it put a wrench in my day.”

“Any plans I can help with?”

“Not really. Was just going to check out the ruins. Take some notes. Do a little work.” And hope to hell the ruined castle would somehow inspire her and take her mind off the man in front of her.

“I have a first aid kit in my truck. We'll fix it up and you should be good to go.”

Abbie
watched him leave and let out a heavy breath. She'd made a terrible first impression. And, yeah, he probably had developed a certain view of her, which was so far from who she really was that it gnawed at her. She told herself his opinion didn't matter, but the truth was, it did. It mattered to her.

* * *

Once Liam was outside, he stopped, scrubbed hand down his face, and drew in a shaky breath.
Abbie
knocked him completely off-kilter. He went for the kit in his truck, trying to cull the memory of her brilliant cleavage from his mind, but it didn't budge, the image likely branded into his brain for all time. That thin cotton clingy thing she wore had done
very
little to hide what was underneath. He'd had a hell of a time keeping his eyes off her breasts and all the exposed olive skin... To make matters worse, her pink cheeks and sensitive eyes that told him she'd been extremely aware of him.

She was as attracted to him as he was to her.

And last night... He thought this morning would diminish the affect her words had on him, but he was wrong. Hell, Hamish had been all set to drive to the cottage and fix the water heater. And what had Liam done? He'd taken on the job himself. Just to see her again and see what mind-altering things she might say today.

Abbie
Murphy was the most exciting thing to come to
Balmorie
in a long time.

And there he was acting like a horny teen, trying not to look and failing miserably. And worse, he was an ass for noticing anything at all when she was bleeding over the sink. Not to mention the fact that if it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't have cut herself in the first place.

Brilliant job,
MacLaren
. Bloody brilliant
.

He should fix the heater and leave. His interest in her was entirely different than what he was used to, what he allowed. His usual type of women were like him, interested in a satisfyingly good time. And no strings. No need to know more. To get involved. To care.

With
Abbie
, he wanted to know more. And that was a bloody good sign he should walk away.

And, yet, as he returned to the cottage, he was already figuring out a way to spend time with her.

Liam went straight to the counter, tabling the internal debate for now, opened the kit, checked her wound again, glad to see it had stopped bleeding.

“Do you have any Band Aids in there?” she asked.

“Aye, but if you're going to be walking on this, tape and gauze will hold better. Does it hurt still?”

Abbie
shrugged. “A little. I've stepped on glass before. The pain ends up being more of a nuisance than anything.”

“'Isn't deep. Shouldn't bother you for too long. I wouldn't advise walking to the ruins. By the time you get there, it might hurt too much for you to explore.”

“I'm riding the bike.”

He finished taping her wound. “Let me drive you. It's the least I can do for causing this mess.”

She thought for a long while, chewing on her bottom lip with indecision. He looked away, not needing to see her teeth over that plump lip... He wasn't sure why it mattered so much, but his pulse had risen with the question and he found himself nervous, which hadn't happened with a woman in . . . well, years.

“I'll fix the water heater while you get ready,” he said.

“All right,” she decided, looking as though she wanted to say more, but then decided against it. “Thanks.”

“Brilliant.”

He slipped a hand under her knees and lifted her from the counter. As her arms came around his shoulders, her hand brushed the back of his neck, giving him a start. Aye, it felt good having her in his arms. Good and exciting and disconcerting. She smelled like a ripe peach, the scent lingering in her hair. Her cheeks were pink again and she appeared a bit uncomfortable as she met his gaze.

Aye, he knew just the feeling.

Liam stepped around the mess on the floor and deposited
Abbie
on the steps that led to the loft. With a quickly mumbled thanks, she turned and limped up the stairs.

He found the broom and began sweeping up the remnants of the broken mug before cleaning the coffee from the floor. After that, he took the broom outside and brushed the bristles against his boot near the bushes to rid it of any small shards. He returned to the kitchen and swept two more times. Just in case. When he felt sure there was nothing more, he turned his attention to the job he'd come here for in the first place.

CHAPTER 4

Allowing Liam to take her to the ruins was practical.

She wanted to explore and jump start her creative process. Waiting until her foot healed would've wasted precious time. So, yeah, it was totally practical. It had
nothing
to do with the fact that every time she looked at him, her insides screamed like a little girl at Disneyland.

Abbie
was so determined to go with the practical angle that she made a point to leave her skin without a stitch of makeup. The mascara didn't count—those were lashes after all. She dried her hair, twisted it back up, pulled on a bra and her old Sherlock Holmes T-shirt, and finished off with jeans and sneakers.

It was too early to call home and check on Logan, so she'd save that for her return. Gathering her notebook, camera, and pens, she shoved them into her canvas bag before grabbing a light jacket.

She found Liam outside, putting a tool bag in the back of his truck. At the sound of her footsteps, he glanced over his shoulder.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

Because while she wasn't an easy score—and didn't want Liam to think she was—her attraction to him just might prove otherwise. And, of course, there was the elephant in the room so to speak. She felt the need to clear the air about her confessions last night, to make him see that she wasn't some hot and bothered, desperate, divorced...

Except, she kind of was.

“All set?”

She couldn't find her voice, so she nodded and got into his truck. He shut the door behind her. As he walked around the front, her eyes tracked his movements. Yeah. She was in serious trouble.

Of course, if she wanted to have a hot affair with the hunky Scot, she wouldn't have to worry about any messy attachments...

So why not go for it?

But, she knew why.

She didn't want to hurt when it came time to leave. And with Liam she sensed that her heart would get involved. And she'd been hurt enough. Whatever fun she might have with him just wasn't worth the pain of falling for him and then leaving.

As they made their way down the dirt track to the hill that overlooked the ruins,
Abbie
stared out the window and let the view take her attention.

“You like the Highlands,” Liam noted.

She glanced at him and smiled. “I love them. And there's so much history here...” They fell into silence. Biting her lip, she tried to think of a way to clear the air and address last night. Liam seemed at ease, but she wasn't, and while she wanted to act like his opinion of her didn't matter, she still wanted to change the impression she'd given him last night. So much so that she angled in her seat, drew in a deep breath and said, “Thank you. For your help last night. I was a little drunk and . . . talking nonsense. Please don't take anything I said...um, to heart or anything, okay? I'm usually not so...direct...”

She had to give him credit for keeping his cool even though he couldn't stop his mouth from twitching. Great. He thought it was funny. He glanced over and saw her frown. “Would it make you feel better to know something of an intimate nature about me?” he asked.

Well, she hadn't expected
that
. But now that he'd offered... “Really?”

He shrugged, totally confident. “Sure. Ask me anything.”

Oh, that was a loaded offer. Part of her really wanted to shock him, to see if he really meant it. Her thoughts went super dirty, and she had to clear her throat to get back on track. Maybe it was better if she didn't... “I'm fine. Thanks for offering though.” Then, she quickly changed her mind. “Okay. When was the last time you had sex?” If he knew her timetable it was only fair she knew his.

Abbie
wanted to bury her head in her hands. But Liam laughed. “Well, let's see... Last winter. Wedding hook up.”

“Ah,” she murmured. Longer than she would have guessed. “And how was it?”