Chapter 6 Unwelcome Visitors
Unwelcome Visitors
Back in his castle office, Nial unpacked his honey samples and the notes he’d brought for safekeeping.
His mind drifted to Suzie—the annoying woman his bear craved and didn’t want to leave.
There had been women in his past, but none had affected him this way.
She kept interrupting his thoughts when he was trying to work, mucking up his efficiency and logical mind.
She’d asked if she could go for a walk—a reasonable request, but he’d had things he wanted to do.
So he’d sent a trusted employee with her with strict instructions for him not to let her out of his sight.
The problem—he’d noted the hint of appreciation in the wolf shifter’s gaze.
He’d kept everything together until the pair had left. Barely.
“Mine. Mine. Mine!” his bear chanted, the litany growing wearisome.
“She is staying for six months,” Niall muttered, praying that his bear would get over his infatuation with the leopard shifter.
He’d considered marriage, but when the idea occurred, it was because he was thinking of children and passing on the legacy he’d inherited and built upon.
He’d thought to look among the daughters of his business associates.
Human or not, the choice of a wife hadn’t mattered.
His bear had never asserted his opinion before.
Niall stalked to the window and glanced out at the private garden below.
His gaze went straight to Suzie. The sun glinted off her hair, and she laughed at something her escort said.
A low growl rumbled up his throat, and a burning sensation darted through his chest. He knuckled his breastbone to ease the pain while his gaze followed the pair through the garden.
“Mine!” his bear chanted.
Niall cursed and dragged himself away. He was ten years older than her, and her cheerful chatter would drive him crazy. By the time six months had passed, they’d be heartily sick of each other.
His phone rang, and glad of the interruption, Nial plucked it off his desk. “Sinclair.”
“Sir, it’s Robbie at the gatehouse. Two men to see you. They say they’re your brothers.”
Niall’s hand tightened on the phone, but he controlled the curse that tickled the tip of his tongue. “Did they give you names?”
“I shall inquire,” Robbie said.
Something told Niall he’d already asked and that the men had declined to give their names.
If it were his brothers, they’d be up to their usual games.
He mightn’t have seen them for almost twenty years, but he hadn’t tried to hide despite traveling to a different country.
His entire family were bullies and freeloaders and always took the easy way.
Mostly, stealing or intimidation, and as the runt, he’d taken their abuse.
Hell, had his brothers broken into his property?
Robbie came back. “They say their names are Euan and Colin.”
A growl crawled up his throat, his bear as perturbed as him. Their timing was certainly suspicious. “Tell my brothers,” he said in an icy voice, “they are not welcome here, and I have no wish to see them. They made their feelings very clear before I left home. Nothing has changed.”
“Yes, sir.” Robbie’s crisp acceptance released the tension seeping into Niall’s shoulders.
Niall pocketed his phone and resumed his position at the window. He sought Suzie and found her sitting on a bench with her face turned to the sun. Her escort was nearby and fiddling with his phone, his attention split between Suzie and his screen.
Niall returned to his desk, intending to go through his plan again to tweak and perfect, given the destruction of some of their product, but his mind refused to settle.
His brothers’ arrival. Why? Why did they seek him after all these years?
Knowing them, they wouldn’t have cared about his disappearance—one less mouth to feed.
Maybe he should’ve spoken to them.
No. He’d survived—no—thrived without his family to drag him down.
The door to his office flew open, and Suzie stalked inside.
“I strongly disagree but will stay. I’ll work for you without further protest. You will pay me a fair wage and give me time off. You’ll let me go into the village if I want, and you will pay for a music course so I won’t lose six months. I love my music and refuse to give it up. Do we have a deal?”
Niall dissected her expression while his mind worked the angles and requests she’d asked of him.
He’d already promised Saber he’d help with her music.
“Give me a list of the music courses you’d like to take.
Yes, it’s only fair to receive remuneration.
Yes, you can go to the village. Check with the pastor because they sometimes have musical concerts and recitals at the church.
If you have any problems, please ask me, and we’ll have a reasonable discussion. Is that agreeable with you?”
Suzie wore a frown but nodded. “I’ll trust you, but no funny stuff. Secretarial duties and nothing else.”
“I understand.” Niall winced when his bear started chanting. On the plus side, only he could hear the annoying protest. “I might require your presence at functions. Business dinners and a charity ball. Is that acceptable?”
Suzie thrust out her hand. “We have a deal.”
“Excellent. I want to review my strategy for the honey’s release and decide on a name and label.”
They spent an enjoyable three hours refining Niall’s plan.
Enjoyable for him. Working with an intelligent woman made him incredibly happy.
His bear was happy. He was happy. The plan was a winner.
He felt it in his gut, and part of that confidence came from the ideas they’d sparked together by imagining what if.
Exciting spins on the traditional that he thought would grab the public’s attention.
Once they tasted his honey, he was confident it would sell itself.
Angus had sent sandwiches and coffee from the kitchen, but now it was late afternoon. Niall glanced at Suzie and wondered if she’d like to take a forest walk with him. His bear sighed happily, and Niall verbalized the idea before analyzing the pluses and minuses.
“I could use some fresh air,” he said. “Would you like to walk in the woods with me?” Niall cringed. That sounded like a corny pickup line. A walk. Huh!
But to his relief, she beamed.
“I would love that. Do I have time to change into shorts? It’s such a lovely day.” She paused. “Or will we run in our animal forms?”
“Mine. Mine. Mine!” his bear chanted.
Niall’s heart leaped because that sounded like heaven.
He’d love to see her feline in person, but no, he could make do with her bare legs.
Shifting wasn’t possible since humans walked and rode their bikes along the paths.
“That sounds lovely, but not this time. The woods are a shared one. I like to walk there because the bluebells bloom in the spring. It’s a lovely sight. ”
She grinned, and his bear released a loud sigh. Loud enough to make her blink.
Heat invaded Niall’s cheeks, a novelty since nothing threw him. “My bear,” he said, avoiding Suzie’s gaze, then giving in to his need to see her reaction. “He loves the woods. Sometimes, I’ll go at night when shifting is safer.”
“It sounds delightful, and I’d love to go for a walk. I exercise often at home. My friend and I take exercise classes with Isabella, and she’s a hard taskmaster.”
“I’ll rendezvous with you at the elevator in ten minutes. Is that long enough?” he asked, praying she wasn’t a woman who preened for hours.
“Ten minutes is plenty of time,” Suzie said.
Niall took his time, changing from his suit into a more casual polo shirt and shorts with old and comfortable boat shoes on his feet.
Suzie was waiting when he arrived, and he braced for his bear’s habitual chant. Instead, a lustful sigh echoed through his mind. Yeah, that was something he and his bear could agree on. While Suzie was of average height, she had gorgeous, toned legs. His palms tingled with the urge to touch.
Instead, he placed his hand on the small of her back and urged her forward, his nose twitching at her enticing scent.
She wore white shorts and a green blouse that matched the color of her eyes.
She’d tied her hair back in a high ponytail and wore sensible shoes.
Not the spiked heels one of his past girlfriends had worn to walk in the woods.
She’d shrieked on seeing a squirrel, and their date had gone downhill from there.
Niall ushered Suzie into his car, and they drove through the village to the wilderness.
“I love the village,” Suzie said. “It’s like the traditional English towns I imagined before arriving. Your castle is beautiful, too. How did you come to own it?”
The question took Niall back to when he’d first arrived in Scotland.
He’d scrimped and saved to get the airfare.
He’d recognized the move would be difficult, but he’d also known his family would suck him dry if he stayed.
The bullying he could take, but Niall refused to sink to their level.
They lived by conducting scams and outright thievery, and each of his older brothers and sisters thought of him as weak because he’d wanted to go to school and learn.
His breaking point had come when he’d met a girl he liked a lot.
They’d been dating for six months when his brothers—Euan and Colin—had come across them at a cafe.
At first, their appearance had alarmed him, but his brothers had acted charming.
That should’ve warned him for a start. Instead, he’d been grateful his brothers weren’t treating him like crap.
Millicent—his girlfriend—had told him his brothers were lovely.