Chapter Four
Artair
“Wake up, sleeping beauty. It's time for your adventure to begin.” I placed a steaming cup of coffee down on the bedside table, allowing the rich chicory aroma to float toward her, and stood back, watching her slowly become conscious.
Her cute little nose wrinkled and sniffed the air, reminding me of a bunny, which, like everything else about her, I found fascinating.
“Artair?”
“What?”
Luna's eyes flew wide as she struggled to sit up in bed.
She winced when her backside made contact and rolled onto her side.
Every emotion, every thought, so evident that, again, I found myself marveling at the purity of her expressions.
It was hard to find someone who wasn't hiding behind their outer bluster.
“I'm so sorry. I guess I really needed the sleep.”
“No apologies necessary, lass. Don't forget you're in day one of a new time zone; we are nine hours ahead of what you are accustomed to.”
She reached for her cup of brew and leaned back, a smile on her face. “Thank you for this. Oh! We should have dessert for breakfast.”
“Will a sugary treat get you out of bed?”
Her smile grew. “It sure would.”
“You're incorrigible.” I stood and made my way back to the tiny kitchen to grab a dessert from last night and cutlery.
“What does that mean?” she called out to my retreating back.
I just shook my head. How could she not know what that meant? “It means that your behavior is questionable and in need of correcting,” I shouted back. Okay, so not completely accurate, but fitting. “Here, let's enjoy this lovely dish.”
Luna sat up, wincing once again, but relaxed after a few breaths, her eyes widening at what lay on the plate I placed on the bed.
“What is that? It looks delicious.”
“Coffee Meringue—brandy ice cream with chocolate sauce and sugared walnuts.”
She blinked at me. “That was very specific. You've had this before?”
“No, but there is a reason I'm a damn good lawyer: I have an eidetic memory.”
“Seriously? So you know the entire menu just from reading it last night?”
“Exactly.”
“Wow, that's so cool. I don't have any gifts like that. I sometimes have a hard time remembering where anything is, and one time I found my keys in the fridge.”
I burst out laughing. “Luna, you are so refreshing.”
Pink tinged her cheeks. “Ah, thank you?”
I laughed again, and I watched her demolish the dessert in seconds.
“Sorry, I guess I was hungry. I'll get ready now.”
I wore what felt like a permanent smile, shaking my head in amusement, as she hustled to the bathroom, her pink bottom wiggling from side to side.
Her luggage was sitting where I'd left it last night, clothes spilling from the closed lid.
Under normal circumstances, this would be considered messy in my world, but considering the lack of time I'd given her both last night and today, it was more than acceptable.
I opened her bag and folded her clothes into piles at the end of the bed, noting three pairs of jeans and three pairs of leggings, a dozen shirts, a sweater, hiking boots, walking shoes, and then in the other room was her outfit from last night, which seemed to be the only somewhat dressy item she'd packed.
I'd make sure to take her shopping today and purchase not just textiles appropriate for Scottish weather, but also sexy things she'd wear underneath.
I heard the shower turn off and left to give her space to get ready. She entered the living area ten minutes later, looking fresh and happy. “Ready!” she proclaimed enthusiastically.
I called downstairs to make sure my driver was ready and then escorted Luna out to the car.
“Where are we going first?”
I wanted to say my bed, as her ass looked glorious in her figure-hugging jeans. Ravishing Luna would have to wait, though. Something she'd said at dinner alerted me to maybe this trip being more than a vacation. She had a purpose; I just didn't know what it was yet.
“I thought I'd take you to Doune for a quaint breakfast and a bit of shopping, and then to the castle, if it's on your to-do list?”
Her eyes were wide. It was her stunned look, the one where she was unsure of what to say, so I continued, “After, we can go directly into Stirling and see the castle, as well as the Wallace Monument if you like, and have dinner at The Orangery.”
She gulped and tried to speak but just gulped again.
“Lass, are you all right?”
“Uh, yeah, I'm just... Well, I'm suffering from surprise, to be honest. I thought my first day would be trying to figure out how to get around and find these important monuments and sites, and here you are serving me up Scotland on a China platter, and it's a little much. But I trust you, and you seem to have a great plan. I... uh, just forget I said anything and leave it at overwhelmed.”
I tugged her to my chest and held her until the tension drained from her body. “I'm sorry, I tend to be bossy. Correction, I am bossy. What would you like to do?”
“Honestly?”
“Yes,” I said in my strictest tone. “Only honesty is acceptable.”
“Could we go on the tour bus thing? You know, those double-decker buses, and just hop on and off wherever we want?”
She peeped up at me, craning her neck as if to read my reaction. I became very aware of two things at that moment: She was asking me for permission, which made me happy and hard at the same time, and also, she wasn't a gold digger, and I needed to wife her up right now.
“Of course, we can. I'll just let Graeme know that we won't be needing him.”
“He's here? Why not invite him?”
I wanted to laugh hysterically. Graeme on a bus tour? It was hard to picture. “Sure, let me ask him.”
An hour later, the three of us were on the tour bus, and Graeme was shamelessly flirting with our tour guide.
It was a surreal experience, seeing sites I'd taken for granted for years from Luna's perspective.
I felt as if I was seeing my homeland for the first time and found myself as in love with it as she was.
She oohed and awed at everything she saw and took hundreds of pictures.
What I found particularly stunning was the rainbow that seemed to follow us, almost like Glasgow was welcoming her.
Even I had to admit that she seemed a little magical, with all the bright sunshine she bestowed on those in her proximity.
We jumped off in the West End, leaving Graeme to get Donna, our tour guide's, phone number.
Luna, it turned out, was an Outlander fan and pointed out Stravithie Pub as being frequented and endorsed by the actor who played Jamie Fraser.
I quickly escorted her inside and sat us at a window seat overlooking the streets bustling with students and tourists.
“You know what I love?”
I didn't, but intended to store anything she loved in my memory banks.
“Everything here is different. Like back where I'm from, corporations own everything, and nothing is Mom-and-Pop original anymore. Here, nothing is duplicated, and I truly hope it stays that way.”
She seemed sad by the prospect of change. Interesting. Old soul, perhaps, or maybe something in her own past had turned for the worst.
“Tell me more about your home. I had pegged you for an American, but surprise, you're Canadian. What was it like growing up in B.C.?”
She dipped her eyes down to her plate and took a bite. Luna was stalling, and I wished to be a fly on the wall inside that brain of hers. She took a drag of her beer and put her fork down.
“It's a lot like here, weather-wise. In fact, did you know that Scotland gets one less day of rain per year than my province?” She took another sip of beer, as if it would bolster her courage to say what she wanted to say.
“I've always wanted to travel and decided to start my adventure here. I, uh, needed to get away and see some different scenery.”
I had questions but didn't interrupt her.
“I was attending university but decided to drop out. I feel I've learned way more from being in the real world than I ever could from a formal education. Besides,” she added, “I was bored and needed something new; Scotland seemed like a great place to start.”
A mystery. This woman became more intriguing with every minute I spent in her presence, but I couldn't ignore the warning bell either.
She got bored easily, and I was sure she would move on from my company the moment I no longer stimulated her.
I didn't like that disquieting revelation, quickly turning off the potential for this encounter to be negative and focusing on the present.
I'd told her I'd show her my home, and that was exactly what I planned to do.
“I'm sure you're right. Cheers to your first day!”
“Cheers!”
She clinked my mug, all appearances of sadness gone for the moment.
Something was wrong with her situation, and my spidey senses were telling me she may be in trouble.
But grilling her in my typical lawyer style would only make her clam up.
Whatever secrets she was harboring, I would learn as I got to know her better the old-fashioned way, with patience and time.
After a late lunch, we walked the bustling streets of the West End, and I finally got my way when we came along the shopping district filled with unique shops featuring vintage charm and chic, contemporary clothing styles.
When our arms were too full to carry any more, I called Graeme.
He took our packages back to her hotel as we continued our walk through Kelvingrove Park, arriving at the other end in time for the sunset.