Epilogue
Two days later at Ferne’s bookshop…
Rowen loved him. Mason could hardly believe it. He had hoped, prayed, but he hadn’t actually believed it would happen. Yet it had. She had chosen him out of everyone. He would spend the rest of their life together, cherishing her as she deserved.
He watched her in discussion with his sister about a book. A few days earlier, things had been so dire that he thought he’d lose everything. Instead, he’d ended up with the greatest gift of all.
“I was there no’ too long ago,” Theo said as he walked up beside him.
Mason shelved the book he had in his hand and tore his gaze from Rowen. “It almost doesn’t feel real.”
“It still doesna for me sometimes.” Theo looked over at Ferne and winked. “I’m one lucky bastard.”
Mason grunted and found himself searching for Rowen again. “Me, too.”
“What are your plans for London?”
He swung his head to Theo and searched his gaze. “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. Your parents need justice. I want that for Ferne as much as you want it for yourself. You might be on Skye, but you’re no’ giving up on taking London down.”
“My plan is to take Thomas down,” Mason corrected him. He sighed and glanced at Rowen. “She thinks I should be the one to head the movement to change London.”
“Why no’? I think you’d be a great candidate for that.”
“It wasn’t anything I ever wanted.”
Theo chuckled as he pressed a shoulder against a half-filled bookcase. “Sometimes, we doona know what it is we need until it’s before us.”
“Maybe,” Mason hedged. “But right now, my place is on Skye.”
Arms came around him from behind as Rowen asked, “What are you two talking about?”
“Just talking,” Theo said.
Ferne pulled a face as she came up beside Theo. “Right. What were you really discussing?”
“London,” Mason answered.
Rowen moved to his side, and he wrapped an arm around her. “They need to be dealt with.”
“They will undoubtedly show themselves here soon,” Ferne warned.
A muscle jumped in Theo’s jaw. “Let them.”
Rowen turned her face up to Mason. “The next time you go home, I’m going with you. No arguments.”
“Only if it’s safe.”
“If it’s safe for you, then it’s safe for me,” she argued.
Ferne smiled as she watched the exchange. “You might as well agree. Ro won’t give up.”
“Nope. I fight for what I want,” Rowen replied as she smiled up at him.
Mason pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. “You sure do.”
“No, none of that,” Ferne said as she dragged Rowen out of his arms. “We have work to do, and if you two start kissing, you’ll disappear like you did all of yesterday.”
Theo grabbed Ferne’s hips from behind and dragged her back to him. “Or we could disappear.”
“I was supposed to open a week ago. Look at this place. It’s a mess,” Ferne said, playfully batting at Theo’s chest.
Mason grabbed a box of books that Rowen tried to lift as their laughter filled the store. He walked with Rowen to the opposite side and set the box on a table. She touched his arm, drawing his attention. He looked down to find her watching him with a serene smile.
“I told you that Ferne would forgive you.”
Mason grinned. “So you did. I think we can list seer on your resume, now.”
“Oh, no,” Rowen said with a chuckle. “I have quite enough to handle. Let’s not add anything else.”
He pulled her close again. “You know, whenever you get homesick, just say the word. You left home expecting to return a few days after.”
“I will go back. I want to show you the islands and introduce you to my family, but that’s for later. When everything here is settled.”
“That might not be for weeks or months.”
She shrugged, linking her hands behind him. “Then that’s what it is.”
“I just don’t want you to start to resent—”
Rowen put a finger over his lips, silencing him. “I’m a grown woman, and I have no problem letting you or anyone else know if there’s something I need.”
“You’re right. Again.” He shot her a crooked smile.
“You keep looking at me like that, and we won’t get any work done.”
He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “Then let’s hurry. I have something planned for us later.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
Mason shook his head as he began to sort books. “It has something to do with a picnic, and a secret cove Carlyle told me about.”
“Let’s hurry,” Rowen whispered and tore open another box.
Somewhere in Scotland…
Beth looked out the passenger window at the scenery beyond.
“Are you sure about this?” Madeline asked.
Beth clutched the book in her lap, but she didn’t look at it. She didn’t tell Madeline about her uncertainty. She barely admitted it to herself. Was she making her own decisions, or was the book making them for her? She wasn’t sure anymore.
“Beth?” Madeline prodded.
She met her bodyguard’s dark gaze and nodded once. “I am.”
“All right, then.”
Beth’s future was ambiguous. The book wanted her to open it and find out, but she was too scared now—scared to know if she died. And terrified to know if she didn’t.
The hidden cottage…
“Edie.”
She sat up on the bed. “Has Rowen come?”
“She won’t be joining us.”
“Skye claimed another one, then? I should’ve done more to convince her,” she replied, ashamed that she had failed.
“You did exactly as asked. Rowen was never meant to join us.”
Edie frowned. “I don’t understand. You said—”
“We needed you to believe it so Rowen would believe it.”
“Then…why seek her out?”
“For a twist they’ll never see coming.”
A pub in Oban…
She leaned over and lined up her shot on the pool table, gently tapping the end of the cue stick to the ball. Five thousand pounds was on the line. She didn’t need the money. She played for the fun of it.
Just as she took the shot, she heard the voice in her head.
“It’s time.”
Slowly, she straightened, watching the ball roll across the table and sink into the corner pocket, winning her the game. She grabbed the money and shoved it into her cleavage as she winked at her opponent.
“Another game,” the biker demanded.
“Another time, sugar. I have somewhere to be.”
The man stepped in front of her. “I want a chance to win my money back.”
She smiled as she ran a long, red nail down his chest. “I’d suggest getting out of my way.”
“And I suggest we have another game.”
If that’s how he wanted it… She flung her hand to the side and watched him crash into tables and people as pandemonium erupted. She threw open the pub door and made her way to her motorcycle.
Thank you for reading KISS OF SKYE.