Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Zeke
I shoveled in another bite of the full Scottish breakfast in front of me. Across the table, Pippa did the same, occasionally lifting her eyes to mine and offering a shy smile. After last night—and this morning in the shower, where I’d had occasion to curse the close quarters of tiny British bathrooms because I was pretty sure I’d ended up with bruises in unmentionable places in the pursuit of making sure my lady was satisfied—we were both absolutely famished. I was entertaining a pretty fantastic fantasy of introducing Pippa to my big-ass walk-in shower back home—the one with the convenient bench seat and multiple showerheads—when the innkeeper stopped by our table with another rack of toast.
“Can I get you anything else? More bacon or eggs?” Her tone was absolutely innocent, but the knowing look she divided between us told me she knew very well why we were starving this morning.
Pippa blushed, and damn if that wasn’t the cutest thing ever. So we hadn’t been exactly quiet. I couldn’t bring myself to be bothered because it had been so very, very good. I was hoping for a repeat performance tonight when we made it back to Glenlaig and her place.
“No ma’am. I think this’ll do us. Unless you want some more tea, darlin’?”
I glanced at Pippa and saw her blush deepen. I’d figured out she really liked when I called her darlin’, so I vowed to do it as often as possible.
She shook her head.
The innkeeper nodded. “Seamus called from the garage this morning to say that they’ve got the tire and you should be good to go in a wee bit.”
“Already?” Given how slowly everything else seemed to move over here, I was surprised.
“It’s after ten,” Pippa said mildly, gaze cutting to mine before dropping back to her tea.
Okay, so we were getting a late start. I’d been really motivated in the shower, despite the confined space. She definitely hadn’t complained about the end results.
Fighting to keep the smug grin off my face, I turned my attention to the innkeeper again. “Well, great. I believe you said checkout is at eleven?”
“It is.”
“We’ll get out of your hair, then. And thank you again for the loan of the clothes.” I was back in what I’d worn last night. If they were a mite crunchy, I could deal with that. At least they were dry.
We finished breakfast and gathered up our few things before heading over to the garage. An older guy with silver hair and a full beard stood behind the counter when we strode in.
“You’d be the American and his friend.”
I arched a brow. “I see our reputation precedes us.”
“I’m Seamus McCoy. David’s just in the back putting on that tire.”
“Fantastic. Should we go ahead and settle the bill?”
“Already settled. I was on the phone this morning with the insurance company. As they were unable to fully fulfill their duties in terms of taking care of your horse, they’re covering the overage you’d have been responsible for. You dinna owe us a pound.”
I blinked. “Oh. Well, that’s… great. Thanks.”
Tow guy—David, I guessed—came into the office then, dangling the keys. “All set.”
Pippa took them. “Then I guess it’s time for us to collect our horse and get back on the road.”
We made our way down the street to Dr. Douglas’ office. Zodiac seemed none the worse for wear when I led him out of the stall.
“You ready to go see your daddy?”
As if he understood me, the gelding chuffed and bobbed his head. I stroked a hand down that long nose and loaded him back into the trailer. Pippa came after, hauling his saddle and bridle.
Once Zodiac was secure, and the trailer closed up, I offered a hand to the vet. “What do we owe you for a night’s boarding?”
He waved that off. “Och. Nothing. We were happy to help.”
“Seriously. You did us a major favor.”
“It was no trouble. We’re just glad no harm came to you or this sweet lad on the ride to get here.”
With final goodbyes, Pippa and I slid into the cab.
So much buzzed inside me, I almost bounced on the seat like a little kid. But it felt like all of yesterday’s awful had led up to last night, which was freaking incredible and felt like exactly where we were supposed to be. And then the tire thing had worked out and now it seemed as if everything was coming up roses.
That was a premature assessment, at best. I couldn’t assume that we were completely on the same page now, no matter how in sync we seemed in bed. Should I bring it up now? We had another three or four hours in this car where we could talk about what had happened between us and what it changed. Because it had to change something.
I knew I needed to tell her the truth about the fact that I wasn’t the simple cowboy she believed, and that I was the one behind that angel investment opportunity for her business. But I just wasn’t ready to do that yet. I wanted more time to explore this. More time to woo her, without all that as a factor.
“So what exactly are your plans after we get to Lochmara and you spring your surprise on Raleigh?”
Maybe this was her way of slowly working around to those answers herself.
“Well, I wasn’t planning to just drop off the horse and leave. I came all this way, so I intend to stick around for a bit. Hang with my best friend, and also see more of you.”
She shot me another of those shy smiles. It was so damned adorable because we’d basically explored every inch of each other naked by now.
“I’d like that.”
“Good. It’s settled then.” Or at least, settled enough. We’d go make this special delivery, then I’d turn my full attention to properly courting this woman that I wanted so much more than a single night with.