Chapter 2
“Arggggh!” I launched off my knoll, whirling around and stumbling on pebbles as I backed up toward the water.
Towering above me on the grassy dune was a mammoth, bearded, would-be killer. My heart hammered in my chest as I gaped up at the intruder.
I could barely make out his face for the bushy salt-and-pepper beard surrounding his lips and covering his cheeks.
He had massively broad shoulders and his navy plaid shirt strained against thick, muscled biceps.
Long, long legs were clad in dirty jeans, his big feet in well-worn hiking boots.
His brown hair was as shaggy as his beard.
Piercing wolf eyes glared at me. They were the most striking pale gray I’d ever seen.
A warning growl drew my terrified gaze to the stunning dog sitting perfectly at his side. The Alaskan Malamute had startling blue eyes. Its white, black, and tan fur was better groomed than its apparent owner.
“Hush, Akiva,” the stranger rumbled, and the dog quietened.
Uncertain of its nature considering the glowering man at its side, I took another step back.
“Watch it or you’ll end up in the water,” the man said blandly.
“I won’t hurt you. Neither will Akiva.” He patted the dog’s head.
“Unless I tell her otherwise.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Unfortunately, you’re not the first tourist to bumble their way onto my island and get stuck.
You all seem to deliberately miss the private land signs. ”
Realization dawned and a little relief with it. “You’re Ramsay McRae?”
The man gave me a brief nod. “Who are you?”
“I’m Tierney Silver.”
He raised an eyebrow. “The American who bought the guesthouse?”
“That’s right. We’re … Quinn told me we’ll be working together. Right?” The reminder was more for me. Surely, the stranger was harmless if he and Quinn were business partners.
Right?
Instead of answering, he scowled and asked in his anglicized Scottish brogue, “Do you not know how to read then, Ms. Silver?”
“The private land signs? I didn’t see them and Quinn said you wouldn’t mind me taking a look around the island. I’m afraid my curiosity sometimes gets the better of me.” I offered an apologetic smile that usually charmed people.
Not the yeti, apparently.
“I’m talking about the safe crossing times.”
I frowned. “I did check them. I’m good until nearly eleven o’clock this evening.”
His wolf stare was magnetizing. I felt caught in it. Sudden awareness heated through me and my cheeks turned hot under his attention. “You read the wrong side of the timetable. Tide came in as you came over. You’re stuck here until eleven o’clock this evening.”
Oh shit.
My shoulders slumped. “You’re kidding.”
He stared stonily in reaction.
Even though it might cost me my life, I couldn’t help my lip twitch. “I’ll take that as a no, you’re not kidding.”
With a sigh, he turned on his heel. “Follow me.” Ramsay did this whistle thing I could never hope to emulate, and Akiva tore her beautiful eyes from me and followed her owner. I gaped after him.
“I meant you,” he called over his shoulder.
Grabbing my backpack, I lunged up onto the grass after him, almost tripping over a tree root. “Where are we going?”
“There are only two places you can go on Stòr. Unsurprisingly, both belong to me.”
I rolled my eyes at his gruff, vague response. “I can wait it out in my car. I don’t want to impose.”
“Is that why you ignored my private land signs?”
“I told you—Quinn said you wouldn’t mind.”
At that, Ramsay grumbled something under his breath I couldn’t quite hear.
As I clambered uphill out of the woodland after him and his gorgeous dog, I noted the Defender parked behind my car. That thing had to be twenty years old.
“Follow me,” he ordered again.
Before I could respond, Ramsay and the dog were in his vehicle and backing out. At my just standing there watching him, he waved impatiently for me to get into my car.
Ugh, this was going to be fun.
Hurrying into my Suzuki, I watched as Ramsay executed an impressive three-point turn on the narrow road and then I tried to do the same. It took me a little longer and I think I scratched my alloys.
He waited for me, and I could practically feel his impatience vibrating from his very cool Defender into my turquoise baby SUV.
Wondering if I was following him to my death, I was only half joking to myself about that when he didn’t drive to the house at the dock. He drove us toward the causeway but then pulled off onto a track hidden in the woodland.
Starting to get nervous, I considered reversing out but realized there was literally nowhere for me to go.
I was trapped on this guy’s island with him.
“Well, you wanted an adventure in Scotland,” I muttered to myself. “Dying gruesomely here is pretty adventurous.”
Ahead of the Defender, the woods suddenly opened.
Pulling the SUV to a stop beside the Defender, I gaped at the house and barn sitting in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by mostly birch trees and a few oaks. Two large oaks had been planted, one on either side of the buildings, almost like guardians of the smaller birch and Ramsay’s home.
The yeti had two houses on the island.
Ramsay got out of the Defender, Akiva at his heels. He waited while I got out of my car, bringing my backpack with me because it had my phone. Not that I’d noted if we had a signal on Stòr. That would have been the action of a smart, cautious person.
Damn it.
Belated butterflies fluttered to life in my belly as the tall, imposing Scot stared at me in that way that seemed to not only see right into me but electrify every nerve in my body. My throat was very dry all of a sudden.
“I’d return you by boat, but I let Quinn’s sister borrow it today to deliver furniture to a house on one of the smaller islands.”
Quinn’s sister Cammie (Cameron) was working with me on the interior design of the guesthouse. “I know Cammie.”
“Aye. Anyway.” He gestured to the house. “You’re stuck with me here for a while.”
It was quite diplomatic of him, considering his real thought was probably I’m stuck with you here for a while.
“I’m sorry. Quinn said … I’m sorry for trespassing.”
He nodded. “Quinn. Anyway, it happens. Until the council gives me the go-ahead to put barriers up at the causeway, it’ll keep happening.”
“Why won’t they let you?”
“I own the island, not the causeway.”
“Right.”
Akiva barked from her spot on the porch.
Ramsay jerked his chin. “Tea? Coffee?”
“Sure. Thanks.” I started after him. Now that I’d spent a couple of minutes in his presence, he didn’t give off the would-be killer vibes after all. However, I was still a woman alone with a strange man twice my size on an island. Trapped.
I reminded myself he was Quinn’s partner and the likelihood of Ramsay doing anything nefarious was slight.
“Nice Defender,” I said to his back.
Ramsay glanced over his shoulder, his attention swinging from me to my Suzuki. “Aye.” He turned to open the front door and I was pretty sure I heard him mutter, “You could see yours from space.”
Frowning, I looked back at my little SUV.
Okay, so she was vivid. But I liked her. I’d even painted my nails to match.
Ramsay held the door open for me and when I met his stunning gaze again, he seemed to read my mind because his lips twitched ever so slightly. As if I amused him.
I murmured my thanks, but when he closed the door, a sudden panic tightened my chest and my grip on my backpack.
Perhaps he heard my intake of breath because he said as he reached for something on the wall, “Signal on the island is patchy at best and nonexistent inside the house.” I realized he had what appeared to be a walkie-talkie in his hand.
“This is a VHF radio handset, and it patches into the same frequency as the voluntary lifeboat service back on Leth Sholas,” he explained as he held my stare and pressed a button on the handset. “Half-Light, this is McRae. Over.”
The handset crackled and a woman’s voice sounded in the house. “McRae, this is Half-Light. Annie here. Problem on Stòr? Over.”
Still holding me in that startling gaze of his, Ramsay replied, “The new guesthouse owner got caught out by the tide times. She’s here with me in case anyone is looking for her. I’ll get her back safely tonight. Over.”
Warmth suffused my cheeks when I realized what he was doing.
He sensed my unease at being alone with a strange man in his cabin in the woods.
He was letting someone else know where I was for my sake.
If Annie at the voluntary lifeboat service thought this interaction odd, she didn’t let on. “Understood. Enjoy your guest. Over.” Laughter rumbled in her voice like she knew he’d find me a complete inconvenience.
Ramsay smirked and I huffed, even though relief loosened my shoulders and my grip on my pack. “Sure. Over.” He held up the handset to me and pointed to a button. “This is the button you press if you need to contact Leth Sholas.”
“Thanks.”
He hooked the handset back on the wall and strode past me. Akiva bounded excitedly around his legs, and I understood why when he pulled a can of dog food out of the cupboard. As he fed the Malamute, I finally took in my surroundings.
It was a large open-plan space with vaulted ceilings—a kitchen, dining, office, and a living area. There was plenty of lighting, but it had the dull glow of energy-saving bulbs. I wondered if he had another bank of solar panels somewhere powering the home.
There were no paintings on the walls, no artwork, no photographs. No cushions or throws on the large leather sectional. No rugs on the floor. No television in sight.
If it weren’t for the tall bookshelves lining the entire length of one wall, there were no signs of anyone living here. It was utilitarian.
Except for the books.
There must have been thousands shelved along the length of the house.
And there were small piles of them on side tables and on his desk in the office area.
“You like to read, huh?”
He grunted.
I glanced over at him.
“Tea or coffee or water?” he asked.