Chapter 16
The sun was barely visible through the coastal fog, but as it peeked through the windows, Richard knew morning had indeed arrived and he’d spent the entire night with Angelina in his arms. He lay perfectly still, not wanting to disturb her, as the nights events came flooding back.
He’d slept fitfully, spending most of the night reliving their love making and wanting to do it again, but Angelina had put the wall up around herself once again.
He had also listened for anything out of the ordinary that might break the silence of the night, remembering their intruder.
The first order of business today was to find out who was following Angelina and why.
With that thought in mind, he carefully got up from the bed without disturbing her.
His gaze fell on her face for a long moment and he was quite certain her angelic beauty was unparalleled.
Tearing himself away, Richard threw on his jeans and marched across the hall to the room where Nick was sleeping.
“Nick!” He shook his friend who, for all intents and purposes, remained completely unresponsive. “Nick!” He tried again, pulling off the blanket and removing the pillow from beneath Nick’s head.
A groan from the bed confirmed he had made progress. “What do ye want of me?” Nick rolled onto his back and covered his eyes with his arm. “’Tis too bloody early for this, Richard.”
“Angelina’s in danger! I must speak with you now.” Richard stood upright, towering over Nick, his eyes blazing with the desire to solve this problem. He nudged Nick with his foot, to prevent him from falling back to sleep.
“Alright, alright! I’m awake. What’s this ye say about Angelina being in danger?” Nick sat upright, before grabbing his head. Richard knew he was probably suffering the ill effects of all the drinking he’d done the day before. “Water, please?” he managed to croak out.
“I’ll get the water; you get up and meet me in the kitchen. Whatever you do, don’t go back to sleep,” Richard threatened.
Richard went into the kitchen to pour a glass of water and waited impatiently for Nick. He sat at the small kitchen table and tapped his fingers on the tabletop in irritation. Finally, Nick appeared and sank into a chair opposite Richard, who shoved the glass of water in his direction.
“I can see yer angry, Richard, but do not misplace yer anger on me. I’m here now and I’m listening. Tell me what’s got a thistle up yer arse.” Nick took a long drink of water before placing the glass back down on the table and meeting Richard’s glare with one of his own.
Richard proceeded to tell Nick what had happened the night before and how Angelina thought someone had been following her for a while. “Can you think of anyone who might want to follow Angelina?”
Nick appeared to be contemplating what Richard had just told him and took a minute or two to respond. “No. I cannae think of anyone,” he finally admitted. He joined Richard in rhythmically tapping the table with his fingers.
“We must find out who and why. We cannot allow any harm to come to her.”
“Calm yerself. We’ll keep her safe. One of us must be with her at all times, until we know exactly what is going on.” Nick got up and refilled his glass before he began rummaging through the cabinets, obviously in search of something.
Angelina’s voice came from the doorway, startling Richard. “Aspirin are in the cabinet next to the sink. Just above the glasses.” She retrieved the coffee pot from the counter and eyed the two men. “Coffee?”
***
Angelina had caught the tail end of their conversation and she wasn’t happy.
She began preparing the coffee and from the corner of her eye, saw that Nick had found what he needed for his hangover.
“I can take care of myself, you know,” she announced, irritated that these men were planning to handle this situation as if she were a helpless female.
“I heard what you were saying and it’s not necessary for anyone to stay with me. You’ve seen me fight.”
“Yes, we have, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll never come upon an opponent who could overwhelm you and do you harm.
And it may not be a single attacker, whomever is after you might send more than one man to do the job.
” Richard seemed to be visibly gauging her reaction before he continued.
“It could happen to any of us, Angelina, not only you. I’m not suggesting that because you’re a woman, you need our protection.
All I’m saying is there is strength in numbers.
We are stronger together than we are apart. ”
She had to admit he made sense, but it went against everything she believed in to need a man’s help with anything. She silently continued working on breakfast, giving herself time to ponder what he’d just said.
The difficulty was, she wasn’t certain she wanted to have Richard around all the time.
While she had been happy only moments before about being wrapped protectively in Richard’s arms all night and the earth-shattering love making that she’d experienced, she wasn’t sure what to do about Richard in the long term.
One minute he was the one holding back and then it seemed it was Angelina who was back-pedalling.
This back-and-forth volley of emotions was driving her crazy.
They both needed to make up their minds about what they wanted and put an end to their mutual suffering.
A casual fling might work for her, but she had the feeling that wasn’t what Richard wanted.
It would be all or nothing for him and she wasn’t sure she could do that.
She never had before and even though what she felt for him was different to anything she’d felt for anyone in her past, she was afraid to make herself vulnerable to any man, even Richard.
And the prospect of having Richard babysitting her while this stalker was following her—well, she certainly didn’t like that idea.
She needed time and space to figure things out.
She could see Nick and Richard exchanging glances and mouthing words to each other. The sight of two grown men behaving like little girls talking behind someone’s back made her want to laugh. She giggled quietly and set plates of food down in front of them.
“Oh, I dinnae believe I could eat a thing,” Nick said, rubbing his stomach and eyeing the food uncertainly.
“You’ll feel better if you eat,” Angelina encouraged him, but Nick didn’t look convinced.
She sat down and put some eggs and toast on her own plate. She poured a cup of coffee for herself, before pouring some for the two men and then quietly went about eating her breakfast.
Nick, who had said he couldn’t eat a thing, made a miraculous recovery, wolfing down everything on his plate and heading back for seconds.
Angelina smiled softly to herself—she knew him so well.
Richard ate at a more sedate pace, and she eyed him discreetly when she was certain he wasn’t looking in her direction.
He was the one she wanted to know more about.
How was it that these two had become friends?
Nick was light-hearted and always talking, while Richard was the exact opposite, serious and quiet.
He was mysterious and she found she liked that character trait.
Angelina wanted to know more, especially after last night and hoped that by asking questions, she’d be able to make up her own mind better. “How did you two meet?”
Nick and Richard exchanged concerned glances. “You tell her,” Richard said. “You were always a much better storyteller than I.”
Nick drained his coffee cup and refilled it, before he began. “Well, ye see, Richard and I are verra different in many ways—he’s English and I’m Scottish.”
“Obviously,” Angelina said in an amused tone.
“Richard has a Scottish cousin, who is a close friend of the Mackall Clan. We met at a wedding when we were much younger. How old would ye say we were, Richard?”
Angelina cast her eyes in Richard’s direction and once again was met by his searing gaze, the one that warmed her body and made her squirm in her seat.
“We were but lads,” Richard answered. “Perhaps fifteen or sixteen.”
“Richard was smitten by a lass from the MacKenzie clan.”
Angelina noted that Richard appeared uncomfortable at the mention of this girl, and Nick was watching him carefully for his reaction. “Really? Was she pretty?”
“Verra,” Nick continued. “We could hardly separate him from her side, but alas, she was in love with another and our Richard never stood a chance.”
“I’m sorry, Richard,” Angelina said.
“Why? There’s no need to be sorry.” Richard sat rigidly upright in his chair, seeming as if he’d much prefer to flee, than to continue listening to Nick’s story.
“She broke your heart.” Angelina could see the truth in his face, even if he was not willing to admit it.
“My heart is fine. Nick, continue telling how we met,” Richard said, giving Nick a deadly glare.
“Fine then, enough about the lass. When she departed, Richard and I spent time riding out around his cousin’s lands and talking about things that fifteen-year-old boys talk about.
We became fast friends and spent many years together, before losing touch.
” Nick again eyed Richard warily, but he seemed relaxed once again.
“So, what happened? How’d you lose touch?” Angelina asked.
Richard took up the story from here. “My behaviour became difficult for Nick to tolerate. So, he went home and that was the last I saw of him until I arrived here.”
Angelina was sure that there were some holes in the story, but she’d let it go for now. If Richard wanted to tell her more about it, he would. One thing was certain though—the mention of that girl had caused him to react like a man with something to hide.