Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“Wanted to give you a heads-up.”
Quinn’s gaze darted to me and apparently that was the end of the discussion. He handed us hard hats, insisting we put them on. As we moved through the dust-clouded building, I tried not to get anxious at the wreckage as Quinn shouted over the noise, explaining everything that was going on.
That’s when I saw him again.
Ramsay McRae was in the old kitchen, ripping out the cabinets, muscles straining against his tight, sweat-soaked T-shirt.
He might as well have been in a porn movie for the impact the sight of him had on my body. I felt a deep pull low in my belly and an answering wet tingle between my thighs.
What the ever-loving fuck?
“McRae!” Quinn shouted.
Feeling heat on my face, I turned to find Cammie staring at me, lips straining with laughter, eyes wide with knowing.
That’s when I realized my mouth was hanging open like a panting dog.
I snapped it shut.
Cammie leaned in and spoke in my ear, “Apparently, we also need to talk.”
My cheeks heated. “What? I don’t …” I laughed lamely and then whirled around, giving the men my back. “Am I that obvious?”
“Eh, only a wee bit.”
“Oh God.” I grimaced. “Okay.” I wiped my expression clean. “Better?”
“Aye. But you and I are going to talk when we’re alone,” she murmured before she stepped toward her brother and Ramsay.
The men were frowning at us and Quinn practically barked, “Problem?”
“No!” I answered a little too loudly. “Cammie and I were talking about the design for in here. But the demo is going great. Obviously.” I couldn’t make eye contact with Ramsay.
“Oh, hey, I need to show you two something.” Cammie pulled her phone out of her back pocket, shooting me an amused look. I could kiss her for saving me from my own awkwardness. “I posted a video last night from your gig on Skye last week and it went viral.” She held up her phone screen, and I heard the pipe band music ever so slightly beneath the sounds of the demo going on around us.
My curiosity had me straining to peer at her phone, but Ramsay snatched it out of Cammie’s hand, his fingers flying over it.
“What are you doing?” Cammie yelled over the noise.
Without a word, Ramsay handed the phone back to her.
“Uh! You deleted it. And you deleted it from my video folder. The brazen cheek of it!”
Ramsay glowered at Quinn who turned to his sister with an exasperated sigh. “Cam, I told you not to post any videos of the band online.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You know it’s interesting, because I see a ton of people videoing your performances but somehow there’s nothing online … though curiouser and curiouser, there are hashtags for the band name.”
“What’s the band’s name?” I hadn’t thought to ask Ramsay last week.
“Leth Sholas Pipe Band,” Cammie supplied. “So there’s no mistaking that at some point there were videos of the band uploaded to the internet that mysteriously disappeared.” She raised her eyebrow. “Don’t you find that curious?”
I did. My eyes were round with a million questions. “I do.”
“See? Tierney thinks it’s weird too.”
Quinn gave another long-suffering sigh. “Cam, stop reading into things, eh. Right. I think that’s enough of a tour for now.” He eyed me. “How about you come back at four and we can talk about the progress?”
Awareness prickled over me and my attention pulled to Ramsay. Just like last time, I found myself caught in his wolf-gray eyes. What was that?
I tried not to suck in a visible breath as my heart rate accelerated. “Sure,” I said to Quinn and then, weirdly desperate to have some kind of interaction with Ramsay, asked, “Where’s Akiva?”
“Annie at Leth Sholas lifeboat service watches her when I can’t have her around for safety reasons.”
“I could watch her,” I blurted without thought. “She and I kind of bonded.”
“You did?” Cammie pouted. “I always thought Akiva was aloof with everyone but Ramsay.”
Not me, I thought, feeling a little smug.
However, Ramsay gave me a small shake of his head. “She’s fine with Annie.” And then walked out of the room to continue the demo. I felt dismissed. And rejected.
My cheeks heated as I shrugged, flashing a forced smile at Quinn. “Four o’clock.”
A few minutes later, Cammie and I walked downhill back toward Main Street. I braced myself, waiting for the interrogation.
Cammie didn’t make me wait. “So, hot for McRae, huh?”
I rolled my eyes. “Say it louder, why don’t you? I don’t think they heard you on the other side of the island.”
She chuckled. “Sorry. It’s not like you’re alone in your attraction. There are many women here who cursed being married when he first appeared. You have to tell me what happened between you two on Stòr.”
“Nothing. He abandoned me for most of it to hide in his workshop while I snuggled up with Akiva.”