Chapter 3
THREE
Jenna was running the vacuum cleaner when Dylan returned with Cormac. She didn’t hear them enter and when she finally did look up she jumped, clutching her chest.
“You scared me!” Her heart was racing in her chest.
“Sorry, cuz,” Dylan apologized with a sheepish grin on his face.
Jenna looked around Dylan and an angry scowl lit across her features as she spied Cormac.
“I thought I told you to take him to a shelter. What didn’t you understand about that?” She snapped.
“I couldn’t do that to him, Jenna. He’s from another country and he doesn’t know anyone here. He’s a good guy, really. We just spent the last hour having breakfast and getting to know each other.”
“Dylan, I know what you’re up to, so you can stop right now.” Letting go of the vacuum, Jenna crossed her arms over her chest.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dylan replied.
“I know this is all a practical joke. I don’t know how you pulled it off and I don’t know where you got this guy from, but I can’t believe you would do that to me. You know how upset I’ve been lately and when he appeared out of nowhere, well … I thought he was a serial killer or something.”
“I would never harm ye, lass.” Cormac said as he peaked around from behind Dylan.
“I know that now, but at the time I was pretty scared.”
“I apologize to ye. I didnae mean to scare ye.”
“It wasn’t a practical joke, Jenna. This guy, Cormac, is from Scotland and he was sent here by a witch. That’s the Edna he mentioned. Anyway, he’s not even from this time. He’s from the sixteenth century. Can you believe it?” Dylan asked excitedly.
“No. I can’t believe it and I don’t. Nice work trying to convince me of something completely impossible. Have you been taking acting classes lately, Dylan, ‘cause you’re pretty good. If I didn’t know you better, I might even believe you.”
“It’s true, Jenna. I’m not making it up. Tell her Cormac.”
“He’s telling the truth, lass. Edna sent me from the year 1514. She said ye were to be me wife.”
“Now don’t start that again. You both need to give it up. I don’t believe you. There’s no such thing as time travel. Period. The end.”
“Okay. I won’t mention it again, but we’re not lying and time travel is totally possible, you’ll see.” Dylan insisted.
Jenna got a chill down her spine. How could she possibly see?
Something was off here, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Best just to let Dylan have his fun and ignore his Scottish friend as much as possible.
She stood there, vacuum cleaner in hand once again and looked from Dylan to Cormac, where her gaze rested.
He was truly an amazing looking man. He could have stepped out of one of those fancy men’s cologne ads.
He was definitely not hard on the eyes. Speaking of eyes, his were the most beautiful shade of blue.
The word cerulean came to mind. Although why she couldn’t say.
It wasn’t a word she ever used. I guess I’ve read one too many romance novels.
His face was perfectly constructed - the features were bold and angular from his straight nose to his strong jawline.
He was definitely all man. His mouth revealed very kissable lips and she wondered if they were as soft as they appeared.
His body was next up for examination as she continued her perusal.
He had broad shoulders, strong arms and hands.
His chest was straining the bounds of his t-shirt and tapered to narrow hips and really nice legs.
That kilt he wore was so sexy. She wondered if it was true that nothing came between a man and his kilt.
Jenna suddenly became aware of the fact that the room had gone completely silent.
She raised her head and was embarrassed to see two pairs of eyes watching her.
A slow, sexy grin spread across Cormac’s face and she thought she might just faint from embarrassment and the devastating affect that grin was having on her heart.
“I’ll get the guest room set up for Cormac, since we’re the only people he knows here and we can’t just put him out on the street to fend for himself,” Dylan broke the uncomfortable silence.
“He looks pretty capable of taking care of himself, if you ask me. Can’t he just stay at a hotel?” Jenna asked.
“Don’t be like that, Jenna. We don’t want Cormac going back to Scotland with stories about how rude Americans are, do we?”
“I guess not. Okay. He can stay, as long as he doesn’t mention taking me back to Scotland to be his wife. Understood?”
Both men nodded in agreement.
“Come on, Cormac. I’ll show you to your room.”
“Jenna, lass, thank ye.”
“You’re welcome. I think.”
***
Cormac followed Dylan to what would be his bedroom. It was small in comparison to his bedroom at Breaghacraig, but there was plenty of room for him to be comfortable. The bed was large and the windows let in enough light to keep the room bright and cheery.
“This is it.” Dylan extended his arm as he presented Cormac with the room.
“Tis verra nice. I will be most happy here.”
“Well, don’t get too comfortable. We’ll be heading to the other house in the East Bay tomorrow.”
“Ye have another home?”
“Yeah. They both belong to Jenna’s parents, but they’ve more or less given them to her.”
“Where do they reside?”
“They have homes all over the world. They never stay in one place very long and they haven’t been back to San Francisco in years. The bathroom’s in here.” He led Cormac to his own private en suite.
“Dylan, ye may need to explain things to me. We dinna have rooms like this where I come from.”
“Right. I almost forgot.” Dylan showed Cormac how everything worked in the bathroom. He showed him how to turn the lights on and off in both rooms and where he could find towels and soap. “You look like you’re about my size, so if you need any clothes, you can borrow mine.”
“Aye. Ye are most generous, Dylan. Thank ye.”
“No problem. Tonight we’re going to a karaoke bar in Hayes Valley. You should be okay wearing what you have on. It’s been a winner for you today. Why mess with success?”
Cormac just shook his head. This was almost too much for him.
He could barely understand what was being said around him.
Why had he let Edna convince him to come here in search of a wife?
Jenna had not been verra happy to see him and she tried to get rid of him almost immediately.
She had, however, given him quite the once over when he came back with Dylan.
She was attracted to him. He knew that look.
Many a lass had looked at him the verra same way.
As she examined him from head to toe, Jenna looked like she was planning to devour him for dinner.
That thought alone had the blood rushing through his aroused body.
She was a comely lass and he wondered what it would be like to hold her in his arms, to feel her hands on his body, her lips on his lips.
He groaned out loud at the thoughts reeking havoc with his brain.
Dylan cleared his throat, “I’ll leave you to it then. You might want to rest a bit. I’ll bet time travel really takes it out of you.”
“Aye. I believe yer correct. I should rest.” Cormac was feeling a bit drained, but it was unusual for him to lay abed during the day. He would never do that back at Breaghacraig as there was always so much that needed to be done.
Dylan closed the door behind him and Cormac lay down and closed his eyes. He had no sooner done so when he heard Edna’s voice.
“Cormac. Can ye hear me?”
“Aye, Edna. Tis ye?”
“Who else would it be? How many people talk to ye in yer head, dear?”
“Only ye, Edna.”
“Yes, well, how is everything? Have ye met Jenna?”
“Aye. She is quite a lovely lass, but she doesnae care for me I’m afeared.”
“Don’t ye worry, dear. She’ll come around. Remember ye only have a week to get her to agree to return with ye. Then at that time, ye need to go back to the exact same spot so I can bring ye back.”
“Her cousin, Dylan, has been helping me, else I’d be staying at something she called the homeless shelter.”
“Oh, my. Thank goodness that didn’t happen. Be patient with her. She is not a happy young lady. She has had a life lesson at the school of hard knocks and it will take her time to trust ye.”
“Are ye sure she is the one for me?”
“I would not have sent ye otherwise, now would I?”
“Nay. I would hope not.”
“As I told you, try to fit in. Don’t act surprised by anything you might see.”
“Tis been difficult, but I dinnae believe anyone has noticed. I told Jenna’s cousin about Ashley. He willnae tell a soul.”
“Good. I’m glad you have someone to confide in. If ye need me, just call to me.”
“I will.”
And then she was gone and Cormac decided it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to sleep for a while.
***
Jenna was perplexed beyond reason. She had been puttering around the house for the last hour, cursing Dylan.
She didn’t think she was going to be able to deal with having Cormac under her roof.
The last thing she wanted was to find herself attracted to him.
She wasn’t ready for that. She was still reeling from the deception she had been living with during her marriage to Jonathan.
Romance was not high on her to do list. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t on there at all.
“Damn, damn, damn,” she muttered.
“Damn what?” Dylan had just walked into the kitchen to find Jenna, head in hand, cursing something.
“Dylan, what were you thinking?”
“Huh?” Dylan cocked an eyebrow in her direction.
“Inviting Cormac to stay with us. I’m not sure how I feel about having a total stranger sleeping right next to my bedroom.”
“Afraid you’ll accidentally end up in his room? Or him in yours.” Dylan was teasing her.
“You know what I mean. And stop that. No one’s going to end up in anyone else’s room. I don’t have time for that.”