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)
“Akiva snuggled with you?”
“Yes. We snuggled.”
“Wow.” Cammie shook her head. “But you and Ramsay didn’t …”
“Didn’t what?”
She wiggled her eyebrows.
I huffed indignantly. “I’m not the sleep with a guy I just met kinda person. And anyway, if you didn’t notice, Ramsay McRae isn’t interested. I think he finds me mildly irritating.”
“Uh, no.” Cam shook her head, her hair bouncing with the movement. “I picked up on definite vibes between you two. The way he was looking at you …” She fanned her face with a laugh. “That’s why I thought something had happened.”
So … it wasn’t only me? There really was something electric between us.
“Nothing happened.”
“Well, despite the crackle in the air, I wouldn’t anticipate anything happening.” Cammie gave me a smile to soften the blow of her words. “Quinn has done a good job of pulling Ramsay out of his hermit ways, but as long as he’s lived here, he has never slept with a woman from Glenvulin. Quinn says Ramsay doesn’t do serious relationships and he won’t ever sleep with a woman from the island because he wants to avoid complications. Last I heard, he was casually seeing a woman over on the mainland.”
Disappointment deflated my crush-induced butterflies. I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like I was looking for a relationship right now. Only eight months ago, I was living with someone.
“Look, it’s nothing,” I assured Cammie. “I’m not interested in anything right now. I have enough on my plate. Just … don’t tell anyone.”
She chuckled, wrapping her arm around my shoulders to give me a quick squeeze. “Aw, Tierney, you don’t need to ask me that. A little over two thousand people live on Glenvulin … which means you get very good at keeping secrets unless you want every bloody person in Leth Sholas to know every minute detail of your life. I’ll keep you right and let you know who you can trust to keep their mouth shut and who fancies themselves the town crier.”
I laughed, leaning into her. “Thank you. I honestly don’t think I’d be able to make this transition without you.”
And I meant it. Despite all the darkness I had gone through and still had to go through, in that moment, I felt very lucky to be in Leth Sholas with a friend like Cameron McQuarrie at my side.
6. Ramsay
As soon as I knew the women had left, I found Quinn and pulled him out into the garden that was now covered in rubble from the ongoing demo.
“Problem?” Quinn asked, wiping sweat and dust off his forehead with the back of his arm.
“Aye, there’s a problem. Cammie’s videoing our performances and uploading them online.”
Quinn nodded. “You have someone dealing with that stuff, though, right?”
“That’s not the point. Tell her to stop.”
“I have. You saw for yourself. It only makes Cam more bloody inquisitive.”
I knew that. I knew it wasn’t Quinn’s fault. That my request had the rest of the band wondering what the fuck I’d gotten up to in a past life that I didn’t want my face on the internet. “Fuck.”
“Why don’t you tell the guys and Cam that you were involved in some operations that left you with a few enemies?”
“And bring that baggage to the pipe band? Something these guys do to literally blow off steam?”
“Well, I don’t know what else to suggest.”
“Aye, me neither.”
Quinn turned to stare out at the water. I sensed tension radiating off him. Tension I suspected had nothing to do with my past. “Did you hear about Taran, then?”
My friend’s jaw clenched. “Cammie told me.”
“I met her.”
“When?”
“This morning. In the coffee shop.” I studied his face for a reaction as I murmured, “Bonny.” It was true. Quinn’s ex was a stunner.
“Aye, I don’t need the reminder.”
At his flat tone, I pushed. “You going to reach out?”
I thought he might not answer, but he turned from the water and nodded. “Aye, we’ll eventually run into each other, anyway. Sooner rather than later. And it’s only right that I do.” His features tightened with pain. “Isla and I … well, she forgave me, even if Taran couldn’t. I owe her. For her, I’ll talk to Taran and offer my support. Though I know she’ll throw it back in my face.”
“Heard she was engaged.”
Quinn cut me a betrayed look. “Are you trying to wind me up?”
Fuck.
“No.” I clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Just trying to see where you’re at so I can have your back. My shitty way of trying to say I’m here if you ever need to talk.”
One night, maybe a year after I’d moved to the island, Quinn and I got shit-faced and traded war stories. His was about Taran Macbeth. The one who got away. I knew what it was like to have a woman haunt you, even if my circumstances were different.
“I know. Thanks.” He eyed me. “Did I pick up on a vibe between you and Tierney?”