A Highland Heist A Contemporary Highland Romance Book Three (11 page)

“Aye, love. I wouldn’t expect ye to.” He kissed her, now understanding her so much better. “It’s why ye always say ye live life to the fullest, aye?”

“Yeah…when I finally came around, I realized I’d wasted nearly a year of my life. A year I wouldn’t get back. I’ve dated plenty since then, but…this…what we have feels different.” She looked up at him, worry lining her face. “I need to know ye’ll not hold back, Conall.”

“How could I hold back when ye’ve shown me what it is to truly love someone-and to be truly loved?” He kissed her, and then steeling himself, got ready to tell her his story. “I’ll tell ye now, my story’s not much different from yer own. Dated a bit, got to college and fell for someone there. Janet. Broke my heart. Then came back begging for forgiveness and I took her back only to have her break my heart again. I know, I was a fool to think she’d changed and that lying and cheating on me was just a one-off. But that sort of thing never is, is it? I left for the States to get away from her and go to grad school.”

He hated having to think about it, and his mood had now soured. Until Maggie held him tightly. “I swear, Conall, I’ll only ever tell ye the truth. You can trust me, love.”

He kissed her, and with it went the hurt he’d been keeping balled up all those years. “I already do.”

***

“Just look at you.” Rowan was grinning ear to ear. “You’re…
happy
. I swear, I never thought I’d see the day. That must have been some trip to Dublin. Has Lara seen you like this? She’ll probably drop dead right there on the spot, ale and burgers all over the floor.”

Angus pulled her away, and nestled her against his side, silencing her with a quick kiss. “Quit harassing the poor man. Ye’ll make him self-conscious and then we’ll get the old scowling Conall back.”

Conall leaned back against the counter, his smile refusing to be contained. “Tease all ye want. Just remember, I know what the two of ye were like when ye first started dating and were mooning o’er each other-not that it’s changed any.”

“So, when are we going to have you and Maggie over for dinner?” Rowan’s eyes sparked with mischief and a grin tugged at her lips. “Maybe I should steal her for a girls’ night out first. That way I can get all the juicy details about Dublin beforehand.”

“I swear, lass, ye’re nothing but trouble.” Conall shook his head, thinking he should have snuck in to get Piper when they were away at work so he could spare himself Rowan’s inquisition and teasing.

“Did ye meet her family then?” Even Angus was looking curious.

He sighed, knowing it’d be near impossible to avoid discussing the details. Not that he really wanted to keep things from them. Rowan and Angus had become good friends, and he valued their friendship. “Aye, I did. Both her parents and her two brothers. The third brother’s the one who works with her. Been away on some other job they’ve got going.”

Angus scoffed out a laugh. “And ye made it back in one piece? They must have liked ye, then.”

Conall shrugged. “I sure as hell hope so.”

Rowan’s jaw dropped open and her eyes went wide, excitement thrumming through her. “No frigging way!
You’re in love!
”

He must have blushed a thousand shades of red. Yet there was no hiding it, and he certainly wasn’t going to deny it. Publicly acknowledging how he felt for Maggie was a huge step for him. Yet it felt right.

He ran a rough hand across his stubbled chin, a smile tugging at his lips. “Aye, I am. Well and truly a goner, I’m afraid.”

Chapter Eleven

Andrew was a nice enough guy, but Maggie swore he was on the jobsite just to get in her way and distract her from getting any work done. He kept wanting to chat and linger, and she had far too long a list she needed to finish if she had any hope of staying on schedule. Small problems with the job continued to pop up, making her wonder if the necklace had some sort of curse on it. Most of her jobs ran smoothly, but this one here hit one snag after another.

“How was Dublin? It’s been ages since I last got over there.” Andrew leaned against her worktable, his long legs stretched out in front of him as she soldered her connections.

“It was fine.” The man must be blind if he didn’t see that she wasn’t in the mood for conversation. Maybe if she were less subtle. “I’m really sorry, but I need to concentrate on getting this done so I can wrap up for the day.”

“Yeah. Sure. Didn’t mean to disrupt your work-and I probably should get back to mine. We’re finishing up the main addition.” He pushed away from her table and stuffed his hands in his jean pockets. “Don’t suppose you’d be up for grabbing a pint, seeing as it’s day’s end?”

“Sorry. I’ve got plans with Conall.” Andrew had to know she didn’t go to Dublin alone. The man couldn’t possibly be this dense. And Conall must have Andrew-ESP, since he was once more coming to save her. “Here he is now.”

“I’ll leave you to your work then.” Andrew wandered off just as Conall approached.

Conall wrapped an arm around her waist, his gaze on Andrew until he was gone. Only then did he give her a quick kiss. “I swear I’m not the jealous sort, but that man makes me want to put a fist through his face.”

“I don’t know what to think of him anymore. I used to think he was just bored and interested, but he can’t possibly be this determined or clueless.” She snuggled closer to Conall, liking the feel of his solid comfort and the way he smelled of wood fire and the salty sea.

“Iain said they’re nearly done with most of the construction. Hopefully that means Andrew will get sent to supervise a different job.” He tilted his head towards the door. “Do ye have a minute? I was going over some of the data coming in off the security measures I have in place, and wanted yer opinion. I brought my laptop so ye won’t have to head all the way back to my house. If we could use yer office, though, that’d be great.”

“Yeah, sure.” She quickly packed away her tools and headed for the bus, quickly overriding the security to let them in. Conall grabbed a seat and set up his laptop on the small table, the rest of the surfaces covered with her own equipment. Maggie looked over his shoulder at the information he was pulling up. “What do ye have?”

“Honestly, it could be nothing. But ye see here?” He pointed to a running list of data taken from the security checks run by his scanners. “This feels a bit off to me. Like someone was pinging our walls to test the threshold of what would trigger a reaction. What I need is to look at yer systems to see if there’s anything similar.”

Maggie pulled up a seat beside him and accessed her security systems. She was decent with computer stuff, but she didn’t quite see the pattern Conall was finding in his data. “Here…take a look. It’s just one more thing, yeah? I swear, I’ve never had so many problems with a job before. Just small stuff-loose connections, snagged cables, chewed up wires. But it’s starting to take its toll on my deadlines.”

“Old places like this can be like that, given the moisture and age of the place-not to mention the rodent population. Until it’s sealed tight and the environmentals are running, I’d imagine ye’ll still hit a few snags.” He tilted his head towards the screen. “Let me see what ye’ve got.”

She slid over so he could take a look, his eyes already scanning the information. He worked quickly, keying through the information, his focus complete. And she had to admit, it was a complete turn-on to see him work. Not only was he ruggedly gorgeous, he was brilliant-and that was like catnip to her. He was absolutely irresistible.

“I don’t know. It’s not really anything conclusive, but I do want to keep an eye on it. I’ll throw up additional precautions and monitoring for the entire system.” He let out a sigh, and then spun to face her. “Don’t suppose I can interest ye in dinner?”

“That all depends on what ye’re offering for dessert.” She flicked her eyebrows up with a teasing smile, not sure she’d ever get her fill of him.

He pulled her close and kissed her until she was breathless, her head spinning and her body thrumming with need. She got to her feet and pulled her t-shirt up over her head, eliciting a smile from him. “Dessert first, I take it?”

She shrugged with a flirty look and wandered towards the bedroom in the back of the bus. “Life’s too short to wait until after dinner.”

Conall certainly didn’t need a lot of encouragement, his lips already on hers as his hands wandered over her skin. Still kissing him, she made her way onto the bed, ridding him of his shirt so she could glimpse his hard abs in the moment before he covered her with his body. His scent filled her head as he trailed kisses over her face, leaving her desperate to have him once more.

“
Maggie!
For fuck’s sake.”

Bollocks! She scrambled to get her shirt on, grateful that Conall had been in the way and her brother had already disappeared back into the other room. Conall silently groaned, his eyes rolling upward. Once they were both dressed, Conall took her hand, kissed her quickly, and then led her into the living area of the bus.

“I’m Conall.” He extended his hand and Liam hesitated a moment before shaking it.

“Liam-
her brother
.” Those last words were spoken through a clenched jaw as Liam scowled at the two of them. But Maggie was having none of it.

“Ye could have called to let me know you were coming.” It wasn’t the ideal situation, but he had no right to get angry. “And you can leave yer attitude at the door. I’m an adult-not some teenager. I make my own decisions and do as I wish, Liam. You should know that by now.”

“As if I could forget.” He shifted his gaze to Conall. “And you-do ye really think ye’re up to the challenge of dealing with our sweet Maggie?”

Conall shrugged and threw her a smile. “I’ll try my best, at any rate.”

“Yeah…good luck with that.” Her brother scoffed, still glaring at them. With arms crossed and a final shake of his head as if realizing there was nothing he could do, he gave up. “So, any decent place around here to get a bite and a pint? It feels like we’re in the middle of fecking nowhere.”

Maggie gave him a smile, happy to have her brother back, despite his surprise arrival and his rocky introduction to Conall. “Come on then. We’ll show ye where the pub is. Introduce ye to the barkeep. Though ye’ll want to stay in her good graces so she doesn’t bar ye. Not many other places to go.”

Liam gave her a crooked smile filled with mischief. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Conall drove them into Dunmuir, the center of town quaint and picturesque with its pastel-colored shops facing the tiny fishing port, the setting sun painting the sky in pinks and oranges. Maggie pulled her jacket closed against the bitter wind coming in off the ocean as they walked to the pub, when Conall nestled her against his side with an arm around her, helping to keep her warm. Dublin could get cold, but it was nothing compared to the Scottish highlands.

Luckily, the pub was toasty warm with a nice fire going in the hearth, their table close enough to feel the warmth from the dancing flames. It didn’t take long for Lara to show up with menus, but Maggie wasn’t expecting the scowl on her face-especially not when it was directed at her brother.

“Ye have some nerve walking into my pub.” She whacked Liam’s shoulder with the menus, threw them down on the table and stormed off behind the bar.

Maggie turned to her brother, eyebrows perked in question. “Well, that was quick, even for you. What the hell did ye do to her?”

Liam groaned and rolled his eyes, looking miserable. “We hooked up when she was helping at her aunt’s pub a few years ago-back when we were working in Falkirk. I’d meant to keep in touch, but lost her number after we moved on to the next job.” He glanced in Lara’s direction with a sigh, and ran his hand through his thick brown hair. “If ye’ll excuse me a minute.”

Maggie could easily believe he’d lost Lara’s number. Her brother might be organized and reliable when it came to their work, but it didn’t always carry over to the rest of his life, even if he meant well. “I’d like to see him sweet talk his way out of this one. Lara doesn’t seem the forgiving type.”

Conall scoffed with a half laugh. “No, she’s not. And she’s a smart lass, too, so I doubt he’ll get away with much.”

Maggie shrugged, throwing a glance over her shoulder to see how her brother was faring. “It’ll do Liam some good if he can’t use his charms. It’s too easy for him to smile and flirt his way out of trouble, and I like Lara. I hope she gives him a good tongue-lashing-especially if she wants to keep him interested.”

Conall pulled her into his arms, the feel of him comforting. “Always thought it a waste that Lara came back after culinary school. I know her da needs the help and she’s good with the running of the business, but most days, she’s not doing much but waiting tables and pulling pints. Her father hasn’t let her make any changes to the menu other than the specials. I think that’s why she’s such a pain in the arse-it’s got to be frustrating for her, I’d imagine.”

“So, why did
you
come back after school? I imagine it’d be easier for business if you were closer to a city.” It’s not like the highlands were a hotbed of computer activity. Hell, she was lucky if she could get cell phone reception in some spots.

Conall leaned in and kissed her cheek, his strong arm draped over her shoulder. It took another moment, which made her think he didn’t discuss his private life much. “My father’s on his own now that my parents have divorced and my sister’s moved away. He’s still young enough, but I don’t like the thought of him being here with no one else around. Besides, the oil companies that work off the coast not far from here were some of my first big clients.”